European Union lawmakers voted on Tuesday (13/02) to set strict limits on rubbish generation in the 27-nation bloc, setting up a potential clash with EU states over new rules on recycling and waste disposal. The European Parliament, voting in favour of an amendment to a proposal by the European Commission, said it wanted to stabilise EU waste production at 2008 levels by 2012.

It also tried to maintain a "hierarchy" of priorities when dealing with waste, starting with prevention and followed by re-use, recycling, recovery and disposal. The Commission, which proposed new rules to update existing EU waste legislation, said it did not support the parliament's call to cap waste production because an EU-wide target would be too challenging for states with strong economic growth and not ambitious enough for some others.

The Commission said it preferred to have such targets set at the national level. Caroline Jackson, the conservative parliament member who proposed the stabilisation targets, disagreed. "It's no good the EU being a world leader in waste terminology if it continues to be a world leader in waste generation," she said in a statement before the vote. Europeans throw away about 1.3 billion tonnes of waste per year, abut 500 kilos per person. The rise in waste generation is roughly in line with economic growth, the Commission says.

The EU executive wants to turn the EU into a "recycling society" by preventing waste when possible and using it as a resource when trash cannot be avoided. The measures are rather late for countries such as Greece. Athens' main waste dump recently reached capacity levels and is facing closure to reduce the risk of toxic fires and landslides, officials have said. Environmental and health groups welcomed Tuesday's vote. "We welcome the call by MEPs for the stabilisation of the levels of waste generation by 2012, based on 2008 levels," said Jill Evans, a parliament member from the Greens party.

"Reducing our waste must be the ultimate goal but it is crucial that we start to stem the amount of waste we generate." Activist groups Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) and Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) said in a statement they were pleased that the lawmakers had rejected the Commission's proposals to treat energy recovery from burning trash as "equally preferable to recycling" and to classify some incinerators as recovery facilities.
(Por Ingrid Melander, Planet Ark, 14/02/2007)