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Attempt to cut EU waste mountain MEPs vote to cut waste mountain
(about 5 hours later)
Members of the European Parliament are on Tuesday expected to vote in favour of binding targets to reduce the amount of waste produced in the EU. Members of the European Parliament have voted for binding targets to reduce the amount of waste produced in the EU.
The parliament's environment committee wants waste production stabilised by 2012 and scaled back by 2020. The parliament said production of waste should be stabilised at 2008 levels by 2012, and scaled back by 2020.
The proposal is expected to be approved by the parliament, but rejected by the EU's member states. MEPs also said 50% of municipal waste and 70% of industrial waste should be recycled by the same 2020 deadline
Each EU citizen produces more than 500kg of waste per year, of which only about one third is recycled on average. Each EU citizen produces more than 500kg of waste per year, with recycling rates varying from below 10% to above 50% in some countries.
However, recycling rates vary widely, with some countries recycling more than half of their municipal waste, and others less than 10%. Member states are expected to fight the parliament's proposals, but MEPs say the vote at least allows an important debate to begin.
Incineration disputeIncineration dispute
The call for reductions in waste is contained in amendments proposed by the parliament's environment committee to the EU's Waste Framework Directive. The European Parliament vote came as MEPs gave a first reading to a revised version of the EU's Waste Framework Directive, first adopted in 1975.
We should be aiming to burn or bury nothing that could be re-used, recycled or composted Michael Warhurst, Friends of the Earth The European Commission put forward a revised version of the directive in 2005. It makes no attempt to impose binding standards on waste production. The European Commission, which put forward the revised directive in 2005, does not favour binding limits on waste production.
The revised directive has been criticised by environmental pressure groups for promoting incineration of waste, by allowing it to be classified as "recovery" rather than "disposal" when the incinerator is used to produce energy. MEPs also rejected the Commission's proposal to allow incineration of waste to be classified as "recovery" rather than "disposal" when the incinerator is used to produce energy.
Friends of the Earth says incineration wastes materials that could be recycled, and produces greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental group Friends of the Earth - whose activists protested outside the parliament with a giant placard saying "Stop the waste, vote recycling" - says incineration wastes materials that could be re-used, and produces greenhouse gas emissions.
"With their vote, MEPs have a key opportunity to spur increased recycling across the EU, which - unlike incineration - would minimise greenhouse gas emissions and make efficient use of resources," said Michael Warhurst, Waste and Resources Campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe said. "We should be aiming to burn or bury nothing that could be re-used, recycled or composted," aid Michael Warhurst, Waste and Resources Campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe.
"We should be aiming to burn or bury nothing that could be re-used, recycled or composted." However, other experts say incinerating waste to produce energy reduces consumption of fossil fuels and prevents the waste being sent to landfill, where it may produce methane - a greenhouse gas 21 times more powerful than CO2.
But Caroline Jackson MEP, who is responsible for guiding the legislation through the European Parliament, points out that the alternative to incineration is often disposal of waste in landfill sites, where it produces methane - a gas with a greenhouse effect 21 times stronger than carbon dioxide.
Burning waste to produce electricity also reduces consumption of fossil fuels.
The German EU presidency aims to get EU member states to agree a common position on the revised directive before the end of June.The German EU presidency aims to get EU member states to agree a common position on the revised directive before the end of June.
If, as expected, the parliament votes in favour of binding waste prevention targets, and the member states reject them, the two sides will attempt to reach a compromise in a process known as conciliation. If, as expected, governments reject binding waste prevention and recycling targets, the two sides will attempt to reach a compromise in a process known as conciliation.