Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) For a year I worked as the chief negotiator on the revision of the EU’s Waste Shipment Regulation to ensure that it becomes a tool in the circular economy. In fact, a lot of value can be created in the shipment of waste. Furthermore, handling waste the right way can save us a lot of regrettable money for cleaning up and repairing the environmental and health damage that we otherwise will experience.
The same accounts for the countries around the world that receive our waste. We need to make absolutely sure that they can carry out the task without adding more damage to their own environment. This is without mentioning the climate burden, of which the waste sector also has a large share, and where the climate consequences know no boundaries and are therefore a shared responsibility.
With the revision of the Waste Shipment Regulation, higher demands are placed on the countries to which we export waste. In many cases, the demands will be so high that those countries are no longer suitable to receive our waste. Therefore, more waste will stay in the EU, even though we will also work on reducing the amount of waste we create.
We need much more momentum in the EU’s green transition towards a reality where the climate is in balance and society functions sustainably. The market is once again the strongest engine for driving change in society, we just need to create the right laws and incentives to pull the market in the right direction at the most optimal pace.
The right pace is as fast as possible towards the highest possible goals, but in a manner that does not make contractors, companies, investors, and innovative environments for public-private partnerships leave the EU.
Public-private partnerships on waste handling are essential in developing new technologies. Therefore, the revised Waste Shipment Regulation calls on the European Parliament, the Council, and the Commission to facilitate sector-specific climate dialogues and partnerships within the waste sector of the economy. These partnerships can lead the way for new innovative solutions.
The relevant EU agencies will report on the treatment of waste and analyse the shipment and treatment of specific waste streams and their contribution towards the transition to a circular economy. The waste sector shall be invited to review and give comments on the report ahead of its publication to ensure that the experts from the sector are being heard.
We must not scare off the most innovative waste treatment companies with complicated and bureaucratic rules and heavy procedures. For far too many years, the market has been characterised by overly complex paperwork and illogical nation-specific rules, which has hindered the progress that we can make if the entire EU joins together to create a truly circular internal market for waste.
Therefore I put great emphasis on making the waste market less bureaucratic for companies in my amendments, because the resources spent on bureaucratic rules should instead be used on innovation and developing new technologies. Bureaucracy is often the greatest burden for small companies. And small and new businesses are often the ones to bring new technologies to the markets. Hence, fewer bureaucratic rules can lead to more innovation.
Additionally, my contribution to the revision of the Waste Shipment Regulation is also to urge the Member States to support the circular economy, and innovative business initiatives such as taking back waste for the purpose of recycling, refurbishment, research or for improvement of product design in the implementation of the regulation. Furthermore, it calls on them to include industry, universities, and other research institutions and to make the procedure as smooth and unbureaucratic as possible when waste is being shipped for experimental treatment trials in order to support research purposes.
Waste is a goldmine of resources – we just have to open it. These are resources that are crucial for the green and digital transition of Europa. It contains critical raw materials for things like batteries for electrification and as ingredients in semiconductors, which are both ingredients needed to reach our climate targets in due time, and therefore something we must have an autonomous power and technology to control ourselves.
We risk having to buy these resources expensively and conditionally on the world market and without the security of supply if we do not succeed in creating a well-functioning internal market for waste management, so that all critical raw materials in the EU travel around in a well-functioning circular economy. Therefore, we need to harmonise our rules and technologies across countries and industrial borders, ensuring a sustainable and competitive economy where the most innovative waste concepts can thrive.
We have concrete proposals for how it can be easier to carry out research, experiments, and innovation with more realistic amounts of waste. The paper jungle of administrative burdens must be burned down by digitisation and more flexible timeframes for authority approvals. I also wanted to make it possible to transport several types of waste at the same time if it does not harm the environment. In this way, transport can become more sustainable. Unfortunately, it did not make it into the EP’s position, but perhaps it is something that the Council will try to achieve in the negotiations.
As chief negotiator for the revision of the EU law on waste shipment, I stand with a solid majority in the European Parliament for the above strategy. Now, we are waiting to get started with the trialogue negotiations with the Council.
Soon, we will create partnerships with the many different players in the industry – both big and small, and sector-specific, across ecosystems and national borders – to keep developing the waste industry and stay at the top of the international league, ensuring sustainability and establishing Europe as a role model for waste industries all over the world.
