Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

A climate-neutral Union by 2050 is the promise for current and future Europeans. The transition to a truly circular economy is the tool for getting there, which citizens, industry and lawmakers have already begun using. A robust framework for shipments of waste from its place of origin to its best place of treatment is the grid upon which all initiatives in this regard must rest.

Every year, around 67 million tonnes of waste are shipped between Member States. Yet barely 13 percent of material resources used in the EU come from recycled waste material. On the backdrop of this, the Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on Shipments of Waste is a valuable and long-anticipated outcome of the Circular Economy Action Plan.

The Rapporteur welcomes the Commission’s proposal as an ambitious and balanced starting point for the legislative process. The Rapporteur especially appreciates the high level of ambition, on behalf of climate, environment and public health; the measures put in place to combat illegal shipments, tackling this issue upstream; and the improvements proposed to the previous legal framework, which aims to increase the share of waste reused and recycled in the EU. In many areas of the proposal, the Rapporteur also finds that the Commission has, to a reasonable degree, struck a balance between control measures and positive incentives; between responsibilities delegated to the Member States and to the Commission respectively; and between the need for raw materials within the Union and access to international value chains.

However, the Rapporteur also finds that further measures are needed to reach the objective of a European circular economy. To this end, the Rapporteur proposes a number of key amendments as presented below.

An attractive European industrial environment for recycling

The circular economy depends on sufficient recycling capacity and technology to feed secondary raw materials into the production of new goods. For the environment as well as the autonomy of the EU it is important that a legislative framework, which fosters an attractive environment for the recycling industry, is established.

In this regard, the Commission’s proposal is strengthened by the Rapporteur in several aspects. Firstly, in relation to the access to laboratory analysis or experimental treatment trials. Secondly, additional legal clarity is provided in several areas, to reduce legal uncertainty for economic operators. Thirdly, changes are made to ensure that burdensome procedures, related to e.g., notifications of shipments, are reduced to only what is duly justified.

An ambitious digital system

The Commission’s proposal for a central system for electronic data interchange for waste shipments is welcomed. The system should provide more efficient exchanges between Member State authorities and economic operators, which may i.a. cut down procedural timelines significantly.

However, the Rapporteur proposes amendments, which will further strengthen this approach towards digitalisation. It is of great importance to ensure, that the system will actually provide a digital tool, which can facilitate more than just the exchange of documents. Notably, the system should also be a tool for effective case management and should provide data about waste shipments, which may prove useful for improvement of the future legal framework. To safeguard the continued usefulness of the system, amendments are made to ensure evaluations and updates of the system. The rapporteur also proposes that procedures must be established to safeguard the continuance of waste shipments in case of failure of the central electronic system.

A true EU internal market for waste

To establish a true internal market for waste shipments, the choice of a regulation - rather than a directive - is welcomed. This necessitates a procedure for disagreements and classifications, as provided by the Commission and welcomed by the Rapporteur. The proposal for a regulation aims to ensure that harmonized procedures will apply to all Member States and comply with international standards as regards cooperation with third countries.

The provided measures for removing internal barriers and improving cooperation between Member States are however not sufficient. Thus, the Rapporteur proposes to establish a “waste shipment coordination group” consisting of representatives of the Member States and the Commission. The group shall be tasked with i.a. providing solutions to disagreements of classifications between Member States, monitoring that bilateral agreements between Member States do not cause fragmentation of the market, and publishing an annual report on information gathered about the state of the EU internal market for waste shipments.

The Rapporteur further finds that the Commission’s proposal for a prohibition of shipments of waste for disposal on the EU internal market is too restrictive. Under certain conditions, Member States should be allowed to conduct bi- or multilateral agreements regarding shipments for disposal, to utilize shared waste management capacity.

Additionally, enforcement of the common legal framework is an indispensable part of strengthening the EU internal market for waste shipments. In this regard, the waste shipment enforcement group shall not be limited to cooperation and information sharing. Rather, the Rapporteur proposes that the group shall also propose to the Commission an action plan to tackle illegal waste shipments.

Environmentally sound export

The EU must be a global leader in the green transition, which uses its influence and incentives to promote transformative change in third countries also with regard to waste management. In the area of waste export, the Rapporteur finds that the Commission has made a strong and balanced proposal.

The Rapporteur proposes changes in this regard concerning the list of countries to which exports are authorised: In order to incentivise investments in recycling facilities in third countries, and ensure that countries who do not comply with requirements are removed swiftly, the list of countries authorised should be updated at least every year. Further amendments are proposed to ensure that audits are only carried out by certified and experienced third parties and to enable more transparency about audited facilities and international agreements.