The European Council of Ministers has adopted the revised Waste Framework Directive, a decision that means the UK will now be expected to reach a 50% household recycling rate by 2020. Directive 2008/98/EC, was published in the Official Journal on 22 November 2008, and the UK now has two years to implement it into law.
The Directive sets a revised framework for waste management in the EU, aimed at encouraging re-use and recycling of waste as well as simplifying current legislation. Its main requirement is the 50% target for household recycling and re-use and a 70% target for non-hazardous construction and demolition waste, both of which must be reached in the UK by 2020. It is these provisions which have aroused most controversy, and it remains unclear as to whether green and food waste will count towards the goal.
Alongside the recycling targets, the Directive also lays down the five-step hierarchy of waste management options, with waste prevention as the preferred option, followed by re-use, recycling, recovery and safe disposal, in descending order. As a result, it classes "energy efficient" incineration as recovery, in an attempt to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels.
Elsewhere the Directive also deals with the issue of "end of waste", clarifies the definitions of recovery, disposal and by-product, defines the conditions for mixing hazardous waste, introduces an "environmental objective" and moves towards establishing minimum standards for waste management operations. In addition, it encourages the prevention of waste, by requiring Member States to design and implement waste prevention programmes.
