The European Parliament adopted by 580 votes to 44, with 37 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste.
The matter had been referred back to the committee responsible for interinstitutional negotiations at the sitting of 14.3.2017.
The European Parliament’s position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure amended the Commission proposal as follows:
Progressive reduction of landfilling: with a view to supporting the Union's transition to a circular economy, the revised landfill Directive shall aim to ensure a progressive reduction of landfilling of waste, in particular waste that is suitable for recycling or any other recovery.
By way of stringent operational and technical requirements on the waste and landfills, it shall provide for measures, procedures and guidance to prevent or reduce as far as possible negative effects on the environment, in particular the pollution of surface water, groundwater, soil and air, and on the global environment, including the greenhouse effect, as well as any resulting risk to human health, from landfilling of waste, during the whole life-cycle of the landfill.
This objective shall be part of an integrated policy which ensures the correct application of the waste hierarchy, as laid down in Directive 2008/98/EC, which enhances a shift towards prevention including re-use, preparing for re-use and recycling, and prevents a shift from landfilling towards incineration.
Target for 2035: by 2035, the annual amount of municipal waste going to landfill should be reduced to 10% or less of the total amount of municipal waste produced.
A Member State may postpone the deadline for attaining the target by up to five years provided that that Member State landfilled more than 60 % of its municipal waste generated in 2013.
In the event of postponing the deadline, the Member State shall take the necessary measures to reduce by 2035 the amount of municipal waste landfilled to 25 % or less of the total amount of municipal waste generated.
To benefit from a postponement of the deadline, the Member States concerned shall, at the latest 24 months before the deadline, notify the Commission of its intention to postpone the deadline and submits an implementation plan in accordance with Annex IV to this Directive.
In order to ensure proper application of the waste hierarchy, appropriate measures should be taken to apply, as of 2030, restrictions on landfilling to all waste that is suitable for recycling or other material or energy recovery. Those restrictions should not apply where it can be demonstrated that waste is not suitable for recycling or other recovery and that landfilling would result in the best overall environmental outcome in accordance with the waste hierarchy laid down in Directive 2008/98/EC.
Rules on the calculation of the attainment of the targets: in order to ensure the reliability of data, it is important to lay down more precisely the rules according to which Member States shall report municipal waste that has been landfilled.
Reporting shall be based on the amount of municipal waste landfilled after treatment operations to prepare such waste for subsequent landfilling, such as the stabilisation of biodegradable municipal waste, and on the input into disposal incineration operations.
As for municipal waste that enters treatment operations prior to recycling and recovery of waste, such as sorting and mechanical treatment, the waste resulting from such operations that is ultimately landfilled shall also be considered for the purposes of calculating the landfill target.
Where municipal waste is shipped to another Member State or exported from the Union for the purposes of landfilling, it shall be counted towards the amount of waste landfilled by the Member State in which that waste was collected.
Exchange of information and best practices: the Commission shall organise a regular exchange of information and of best practices among Member States, including, where appropriate, with regional and local authorities, on the practical implementation of the requirements of this Directive.