Use of modern incinerators in waste management
30.1.2020
Priority question for written answer P-000568/2020
to the Commission
Rule 138
Nicolae Ştefănuță (Renew)
On 27 August 2019, Bucharest City Council adopted its Master Plan for Waste Management, which provides for the construction of a huge incinerator in that city.
EU legislation states that waste management must ensure differentiated waste collection, respect for the waste hierarchy and a reduction in landfill before resorting to solutions such as incineration that affect the environment and health. Under Article 3(3) of Directive 2018/2001, Member States must not finance incineration projects if they have not previously complied with the waste hierarchy laid down in Articles 24 and 25 of that directive and in Article 4 of Directive 2008/98/EC.
According to a recent 2018 survey by ToxicWatch, the modern incinerators used in the Netherlands exceed the limits imposed for dioxin emissions, which severely affect health. The survey is all the more worrying in the case of the population of Bucharest, who live in a city which is already very polluted.
In its Circular Economy Action Plan, the EU, along with the EIB, plans to end financing for the construction of incinerators and to encourage investment in line with the notion of the circular economy.
Does the Commission consider the construction of a huge incinerator to be compatible with EU legislation on waste management? Have any impact studies been conducted on the environment and health effects of emissions from modern incinerators?