According to reports in Euwid and Recyclingmagazin, the proposed regulation presented by the EU Commission this week provides for non-OECD countries to be able to request waste from the EU in Brussels if it can be proven to be recycled in an environmentally sound manner in the exporting country. On this basis, a list of countries to which waste exports from the EU are permitted is to be drawn up. Countries and types of waste not included in this list are to be subject to an export ban. The EU Commission also wants to monitor shipments of waste from the EU to other OECD countries and stop them if they cause environmental problems in the country of destination. According to the Commission proposal, companies based in the EU should also ensure that the facilities of their customers outside the EU are subject to an independent audit. According to the EU Commission's plans, waste exports for recovery within the European Union are to be facilitated, among other things, by a complete digitalisation of all administrative procedures and by accelerated procedures for facilities with prior authorisation. This applied in particular to waste on the green list.
Clear criticism of the submitted draft for the Waste Shipment Regulation has already come from the bvse-Bundesverband Entsorgung und Sekundärrohstoffe e.V.. The bvse points out, that he was also strictly against waste exports to countries that do not have suitable waste treatment facilities and whose eco-social conditions do not meet minimum standards. But the EU Commission did not distinguish between waste and secondary raw materials, criticises bvse Managing Director Eric Rehbock. With its draft, the Commission was missing the opportunity to create equal conditions on the European market for secondary raw materials and imported primary raw materials and is counteracting its own efforts to build a functioning circular economy, Rehbock continued. The Waste Shipment Regulation is an important piece of legislation on the way to circular value chains, but the burdensome procedures are more of a burden on the intended further development than promoting the shipment of secondary raw materials from recycling and their marketing within the EU, Rehbock criticises.

Sources:

• euwid-recycling.de, recyclingmagazin.de (11/17/2021)
• bvse.de (11/18/2021)
• Photo: Fotolia