Despite EU action to reduce its generation, the amount of hazardous waste generated in the EU has continued to increase since 2004 according to report published last week by the European Court of Auditors (ECA).
EU legislation defines hazardous waste as waste displaying one or more hazardous properties, for example explosive, irritant or toxic. Hazardous waste can harm human health and the environment.
Manufacturing (especially metals), water and waste treatment, construction, and mining together account for 75 % of the hazardous waste generated in the EU. Hazardous waste can also be produced in households (e.g., certain medicines, used batteries, cleaning products, electronic appliances). Households are currently responsible for 4 % of hazardous waste in the EU.
The report sheds light on existing and future challenges in dealing with hazardous waste: improving classification, ensuring traceability, increasing recycling, and combating illegal trafficking, which is still a lucrative business.
“The generation of hazardous waste is on the increase, and the EU has to address this problem”, underlined Eva Lindström, the Swedish ECA member responsible for the review.
“The most preferable ways to handle hazardous waste are recycling and energy recovery. Disposal should only be used as a last resort. However, over 50 % of the EU’s hazardous waste is still simply disposed of. In this review, we show that preventing and treating hazardous waste remains challenging, but also presents opportunities”.
Review instead of audit report
She told The Brussels Times that ECA chose the review form because a regular performance audit would have taken more time. A review report is mainly based on publicly available information or material specifically collected for this purpose. “We wanted our analysis to feed into the current debate and the legislative process in this area.”
The publication of the report at the beginning of 2023 provides an opportunity for the EU institutions to include it in their current debate on the update of relevant legislation, such as the Waste Shipment Regulation and the Directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law. The Commission could also take it into account in its future reviews of the Waste Framework Directive.
She explained that the main difference between reviews and audits is the lack of recommendations. “A review provides a state of play and stresses main challenges and opportunities. Though some ways forward for the Commission and Member States are provided, these are not recommendations that the Commission should accept and implement.”
Another difference is that published reviews do not include the Commission’s replies, as it is the case for special audit reports. Asked at the Commission’s press conference on Friday about its response to the report, a spokesperson told The Brussels Times that it has taken note of it. He referred to the Waste Framework Directive which prioritizes prevention of hazardous waste.
The Commission has also proposed to revise the industrial emissions directive and will launch a study this year in support of reuse and recycling targets.
Overall trend on the increase
In 2018, around 102 million tonnes of hazardous waste were generated in the EU, representing 4 % of all waste generated. Hazardous waste in the EU increased by 26 % from 2004 to 2018, from 80.8 million tonnes to 101.7 million tonnes.
According to the Commission, this increase is mostly due to better reporting on hazardous waste generation. ECA agrees that better classification of hazardous waste ensure better data on the waste. “But the overall trend since 2004 is on the increase, with hazardous waste growing at a faster pace than GDP.”
The report covers the period from 2004, when data on hazardous waste became available at EU level, until September 2022. One of the main findings is that EU data on how hazardous waste is treated only accounts for 79 % of the hazardous waste generated, leaving a gap of 21 %. The gap varies widely by EU member states, from 1 % in some countries to more than 50 % in others.
Furthermore, available data indicates that more than half of the hazardous waste generated in the EU is disposed of - the least preferable waste treatment option. A small part of this waste, around 10 %, was incinerated without energy recovery while the remaining 90 % was landfilled or deposited into natural cavities, in the seabed or in artificially created lakes and ponds. Reuse and recycling account for only 34 %.
On a positive note, recycling targets set by the EU do work. So far, the EU has set targets for three waste streams that are partially hazardous (electrical and electronic equipment waste, batteries and end-of-life vehicles). These were the three most recycled hazardous waste streams in the EU, with recycling rates of above 90 % in 2018 for their hazardous components.
Why are there such gaps in the member states in reporting on treatment of generated hazardous waste?
“The gap can be partially explained by illegal trafficking of hazardous waste, ECA member Lindström replied. “But a part of it is also explained by differences in the way data on generation and treatment are reported. For example, some hazardous waste streams are 100% reported as waste generated, while only the hazardous components are reported as treated (for example end of life vehicles.”
Trafficking and illegally dumping hazardous waste remains a lucrative business: annual revenues are estimated to be between €1.5 billion and €1.8 billion for trafficking alone. Detection, investigations and prosecutions are rare, and penalties are low, according to ECA.
| Shortcomings in all phases of the waste hierarchy Since 2008, member states must ensure that hazardous waste is treated in line with the waste hierarchy. Hazardous waste should preferably be prepared for reuse, followed by recycling. Fractions of waste that cannot be recycled should be recovered through incineration with energy production. As a last resort, hazardous waste should be disposed of. - There are challenges with the prevention of hazardous waste. It has been an EU priority since 1991. In spite of many initiatives at EU level focusing on prevention, hazardous waste continued to increase. On one hand, we do not have a complete picture of how much hazardous waste we actually generate due to an inconsistent classification of hazardous waste across EU member states. On the other hand, measures put in place to prevent hazardous waste from being generated take a long time to show their effects. In the review, we give the example of asbestos, which has been almost fully banned since 2005. It is estimated that by 2050 only 25% of buildings that might contain asbestos would have been phased out. - Preparation for reuse is a treatment option that isn’t suitable for hazardous waste. - Recycling is constraint by technical difficulties to recycle hazardous waste on a large scale and in an economically viable way. When possible to recycle, recycling facilities have difficulties to find market opportunities for the recycled output. - Recovery of hazardous waste through incineration with energy recovery is not really a prerogative for hazardous waste. Incineration is mostly used with the aim to destroy contaminants/hazardous substances in such waste. - Disposal is still the most used treatment option for hazardous waste, with more than half of all hazardous waste in the EU being incinerated without energy recovery (10%) and landfilled or otherwise deposited (90%). |
In the area of waste management, EU countries are responsible for enforcing EU legal requirements at national level. The Commission has launched 216 such procedures over the last three decades against member states for failing to transpose EU requirements into national rules or for non-compliance with EU requirements.
Has the average number of infringement procedures decreased over the years and how effective are they?
“In our review we didn’t include the evolution of infringement procedures over the years. It’s normal to have more infringement procedures closely after legislation and the transposition of directives in national legislation. But we also saw cases where infringement procedures took a very long time, such as in the case of Greece where the initial procedure was launched in 2003 and was still not fully solved in 2021.”
Should lithium-ion batteries be labelled as hazardous waste in the EU as in the US?
“In the review we point to this inconsistency between the EU and the US classification of hazardous waste. Considering the increase expected in this waste stream, the Commission should examine further this aspect and ensure that the hazardous properties and their concentrations are correctly taken into account.”
Lithium-ion batteries are used in many products such as toys, laptops, mobile phones and electric vehicles. A recent study estimated that, in the EU, the volume of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries could reach about 0.2 million tonnes per year from 203022. In the US, these batteries are classified as hazardous waste.
How much can households contribute to the reduction of hazardous waste?
“Households are currently responsible for 4 % of hazardous waste in the EU or around 4 million tonnes of hazardous waste in 2018. Starting with 2025, the separate collection of hazardous household waste will be mandatory for all member states. Households will therefore have an important part to play in this process.”
“They can also influence the way economic operators design their products by the choices they make when buying these products. Yet, we should not forget that the biggest share of hazardous waste comes from economic operators. They can reduce the quantity of hazardous waste they generate by operating in a more sustainable way.”
In a previous review report published in May 2021, ECA stated that the EU member states collect and recover more discarded electrical and electronic equipment than most of the world but risk missing more ambitious e-waste collection targets.
E-waste – discarded electrical and electronic tools, household appliances and even large equipment such as photovoltaic panels – is harmful to the environment if it is not treated properly. E-waste also often contains recyclable materials such as metals and plastics. Recycling e-waste can therefore contribute to the circular economy.
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
