Establishment of European waste agendy discussed

A stakeholder workshop involving Member States, industry and other stakeholders on European Commission plans to strengthen the implementation of European waste legislation was held in Brussels earlier this month. The workshop follows the launch of a Commission feasibility study, which will weigh up the benefits and costs of creating a dedicated agency to support the implementation of European waste legislation. The consultants carrying out the study sent a questionnaire to the Member States and other stakeholders to collect their ideas on the feasibility of a Waste Implementing Agency. The April workshop was the first of two proposed workshops; the second will be held in September 2009, while the feasibility study is due to be completed by October 2009.

At the April workshop, Member States were not particularly supportive of creating a new European Agency, due partly to the fact that there are already national waste agencies in many countries. The focus, they argued, should be on better implementation of waste legislation, including more a uniform interpretation of EU waste legislation. This point was also raised by industry sectors present. Industry also saw the need for better inspections, in particular for shipments of waste leaving the EU.

The workshop also discovered that many organisations present, including CEMBUREAU, had not been consulted. The Commission therefore accepted that late responses from these stakeholders could be collected through a questionnaire.