European Waste List. Dr. Joachim Wuttke. Federal Environmental Agency, Berlin )

Transcription

1 European Waste List by Dr. Joachim Wuttke Federal Environmental Agency, Berlin ) 1. Introduction The European Waste List (EWL) is a harmonised list of wastes. It will be periodically reviewed on the basis of new knowledge and, in particular, of research results, and if necessary revised in accordance with Article 18 of Waste Framework Directive (75/442/EEC). However, the inclusion of a material in the list does not mean that the material is a waste in all circumstances. Materials are considered to be waste only where the definition of waste in Article 1(a) of Waste Framework Directive is met. The purpose of Commission Decision 2000/532/EC of 3 May 2000 is to replace Commission Decision 94/3/EC establishing a list of wastes pursuant to Article 1(a) of Waste Framework Directive and Council Decision 94/904/EC establishing a list of hazardous waste pursuant to Article 1(4) of Hazardous Waste Directive (91/689/EEC). Article 1(4) of Hazardous Waste Directive provides that, for the purpose of the Directive, hazardous waste is featured on a list. The wastes indicated with an * in the European Waste List (EWL) constitute the said list of hazardous wastes. According to the second indent of the Article 1(4), other wastes considered by a Member State to display any of the properties listed in Annex III of Hazardous Waste Directive are also classified as hazardous wastes in pursuance with the Directive. Member States have the obligation to notify such cases. The Commission reviews them with a view to possible adaptation of the list. ) Umweltbundesamt Berlin, Anlaufstelle Basler Übereinkommen, Postfach , D Berlin, , % , focal.point.basel@uba.de 1

2 2. Amendment Process The Commission received from Member States 540 notifications of wastes which are listed in their national legislation but not in Decision 94/904/EC. In 1999, 282 of the notifications were examined and proposals for modification of the list were submitted to the Committee established in accordance with Article 18 of Waste Framework Directive. The proposals were given a favourable opinion in all but one case. For the approved modifications the Commission adopted Decision 2000/532/EC. The proposal to classify end-of-life vehicles (entry ) as a hazardous waste did not get a favourable opinion. On 8 September 2000, as provided in Article 18 of Directive 75/442/EEC, the Commission transmitted to the Council a draft Council Decision on this point. As the Council did not act within three months, the Commission adopted the proposed measure. From January 2000 onwards, the remaining 258 notifications were examined by the Committee. Industrial and environmental NGOs were also consulted. With three Decisions 2001/118, 2001/119 and 2001/573, Decision 2000/532/EC was amended taking into account the remaining notifications. It also includes modifications to other parts of the list e.g. to take account of progress in waste management practices. Examples of such modifications are in the chapter on construction and demolition wastes (17) and the chapter on wastes from waste treatment operations (19). Since the Hazardous Waste List forms part of Annex V to EC-Waste Shipment Regulation (259/93/ EEC), any change to that List must be reflected in Annex V of this Regulation as well. 3. Classification System The EWL is based on a system which identifies certain types of waste according to the source generating the waste (e.g. wastes from the leather industry), whereas other wastes are identified according to the intended use of the product (e.g. wastes from organic substances used as solvents or waste packaging). This pragmatic approach, adopted in order to limit the number of entries, has given rise to difficulties in interpretation. The step-by-step approach described in the introduction to the EWL has been introduced to clarify the classification system. As regarding packaging waste, the classification provides for its inclusion in 15 01, even where such waste is collected separately from municipal sources (such as the glass packaging collected in bottle banks, or the mixed packaging collected by systems such as DSD (Germany) or FostPlus (Belgium)). This is also made clear in the headings and

3 The system of classifying wastes as hazardous has many similarities with the classification of substances and preparations. The general principle is the following: any substance which is classified as dangerous, pursuant to Directive 67/548/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances, should also be regarded as a hazardous waste when it becomes a waste. The same principle applies to preparations as defined in Directive 88/379/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous preparations. The EWL therefore includes the provisions of Article 2 (concentration limits taken from Directive 88/379EEC) and references to Directive 67/548/EEC when defining dangerous substances and heavy metals. 3.1 Mirror Entries This is of particular importance in cases where wastes are defined in the form of "mirror entries". In some cases a waste can be hazardous or non-hazardous depending on the specific circumstances generating the waste. Such wastes are listed as two waste types, one hazardous and the other non-hazardous (mirror entries). Such an example is waste number x: sludges from on-site effluent treatment containing dangerous substances (hazardous) next to sludges from on-site effluent treatment other than those mentioned in number x (non-hazardous). This implies that the waste is hazardous only if the concentrations of those substances are such (i.e. percentage by weight) that the waste presents one or more of the properties listed in Annex III to Hazardous Waste Directive. As regarding characteristics H3 to H8, H10 and H11, the thresholds included in Article 2 of EWL shall apply to determine the hazardousness of the waste. For the characteristics H1, H2, H9 and H12 to H14 Article 2 of HWL does not lay down any specifications at present. The proposal contains references to the classification of dangerous substances under Directive 67/548/EEC, which has already been amended nearly 30 times and is likely to be amended frequently in the future. In order to avoid having to amend the EWL of wastes too frequently, the reference to dangerous substances has been made in such a way, that any future amendment to the classification of dangerous substances will be incorporated in the EWL without requiring the adoption of a new decision. This 'dynamic reference' was already introduced in Decision 2000/532/EC. For the concentration limits in Article 2 it was decided, as in Decision 2000/532/EC, to apply another approach. Changes to the relevant 3

4 provisions of Directive 88/379/EEC have to be incorporated into the Decision on the List via an amendment of Article 2 of EWL. The reason for this is that changes in the concentration-limits and changes in the properties that render a waste hazardous are the basic principles of the classification. Such changes must be included explicitly and formally in the Decision. The frequency of this type of change is such that the Decision would not have to be amended very often on the basis of new knowledge and, in particular, of research results. The thresholds laid down in Article 2 of EWL reflect the relevant provisions of Directive 1999/45/EC, which is the latest amendment to Directive 88/379/EEC, requiring the introduction of a limit value for the property "carcinogenic", due to substances classified as carcinogenic category 3. In two cases the proposal does not follow the approach laid down in Directive 88/379/EEC, as amended. The property "sensitising", present in the legislation on substances and preparations, has no equivalent in Annex III to Directive 91/689/EEC. Inclusion of a new property into Article 2 of the Decision would require an amendment of Annex III to Directive 91/689/EEC. The properties R50, R51, R54, R55, R56, R57, which are included in Directive 1999/45/EEC, are among the properties that could be grouped under the general definition of "toxic for the environment" which finds its equivalent in Annex II as "ecotoxic" (H14 in Annex III to Hazardous Waste Directive. However, the methodology for assessing this property is still under development and the way to apply the property to waste are not yet clearly defined. It has therefore been decided not to include limit values for this property in the current proposal. For the changes necessary to introduce the property "sensitising" and to change the wording "teratogenic" to "toxic for reproduction" (a change already been included in Article 2 of Decision 2000/532/EC) this seems possible. However, the development of a Community-wide approach on ecotoxicity for waste will require more time. 4. Use of the European Waste List The different types of wastes in the EWL are fully defined by the six-digit code for the waste and the respective two-digit and four-digit chapter headings. This implies that the following steps should be taken to identify a waste in the EWL. a) Identify the source generating the waste in chapters 01 to 12 or 17 to 20 and identify the appropriate six-digit code of the waste (excluding codes ending with 99 of these chapters). A specific production unit may need to classify its activities in several chapters. For instance, a car manufacturer may find its wastes listed in chapters 12 (wastes from shaping and surface treatment of metals), 11 (inorganic wastes containing metals from metal 4

5 treatment and the coating of metals) and 08 (wastes from the use of coatings), depending on the different process steps. Note: separately collected packaging waste (including mixtures of different packaging materials) shall be classified in 15 01, not in b) If no appropriate waste code can be found in chapters 01 to 12 or 17 to 20, the chapters 13, 14 and 15 must be examined to identify the waste. c) If none of these waste codes apply, the waste must be identified according to chapter 16. d) If the waste is not in chapter 16 either, the 99 code (wastes not otherwise specified) must be used in the section of the list corresponding to the activity identified in step one. Any waste marked with an asterisk (*) is considered as a hazardous waste pursuant to Hazardous Waste Directive, and subject to the provisions of that Directive unless Article 1(5) of that Directive applies. For the purpose of the EWL, "dangerous substance" means any substance that has been or will be classified as dangerous in Directive 67/548/EEC and its subsequent amendments; "heavy metal" means any compound of antimony, arsenic, cadmium, chromium(vi), copper, lead, mercury, nickel, selenium, tellurium, thallium and tin, as well as these materials in metallic form, as far as these are classified as dangerous substances. If a waste is identified as hazardous by a specific or general reference to dangerous substances, the waste is hazardous only if the concentrations of those substances are such (i.e. percentage by weight) that the waste exhibits one or more of the properties listed in Annex III to Hazardous Waste Directive. As regarding H3 to H8, H10 and H11, Article 2 of the EWL shall apply. For the characteristics H1, H2, H9 and H12 to H14 Article 2 of the EWL does not provide specifications at present. In line with Directive 1999/45/EC, which states in its preamble that the case of alloys has been considered to need further assessment because the characteristics of alloys are such that it may not be possible to accurately determine their properties using currently available conventional methods, the provisions of Article 2 would not apply to pure metal alloys (not contaminated by dangerous substances). This will be pending further work that the Commission and Member States have taken the commitment to undertake on the specific approach of the classification of alloys. The waste materials which are specifically enumerated in this List, shall remain classified as at present. The following rules for the numbering of the items in the EWL have been used: For those wastes that were not changed, the code numbers from Commission Decision 94/3/EC have been used. The codes for wastes that were changed have 5

6 been deleted and remain unused in order to avoid confusion after implementation of the new list. Wastes added have been given a code that has not been used in Commission Decision 94/3/EC and Commission Decision 2000/532/EC. 5. Implementation in Germany National legislation implementing the European Waste Catalogue came into force on 1 January The Ordinance to Implement the European Waste Catalogue was promulgated on 10. December It transposes the amended European Waste List as adopted in Council Decision 2000/532/EC and as amended by Decisions 2001/118/EC, 2001/119/EC and 2001/573/EC. The amended European catalogue combines hazardous and non hazardous wastes in a single list. Hazardous wastes are marked with an asterisk. These wastes will be categorised as "waste requiring special supervision" under German waste management law. As well as introducing the new ordinance, the "article" ordinance brings in necessary changes to six further pieces of waste legislation including those that define detail waste management licensing. 6