GEIR
As part of the Waste Framework Directive implementation, the European Commission’s Joint Research Center is entrusted with responsibility to develop end-of-waste criteria for the different waste streams. The objective of end-of-waste criteria is to remove the administrative burdens of waste legislation for safe and high-quality waste materials, thereby facilitating recycling. Within this framework, the process to develop end-of-waste criteria for waste derived fuels commenced in 2011. The Austrian Environmental Agency is in charge of developing a report on end-of-waste status for waste-derived fuels. A draft report was published for stakeholder consultation in September 2011. Currently, the Austrian Environmental Agency is evaluating the contributions from stakeholders with a view to finalize the report by the end of 2011. Subsequently, the Joint Research Center will use the results of the study to develop end-of-waste criteria for waste-derived fuels.
In this perspective, the European Re-refining Industry provided its position to the draft report of the Austrian Environmental Agency emphasizing that EU waste hierarchy should be taken into account when end-of-waste criteria are developed. Essentially, GEIR underlined that the scope of the study needed clarifications that it examines only one use of waste-derived fuels - energy recovery. The study should not undermine the other different uses of waste-derived fuels such as recycling; the latter has higher priority in the EU waste hierarchy too. In addition, GEIR provided input to the waste oil section of the report explaining about the intended use of waste oils e.g. for lubricants production and not incineration as well as information on waste oil recycling facilities across Europe.
As part of its wider advocacy and outreach activities, the European Waste Oils Regeneration Industry worked on reinforcing its relations with other recyclers through close involvement in the Recycling Platform. This Platform existed during the adoption of the EU Waste Framework Directive advocating the views of recyclers’ vis-à-vis the European Institutions. A meeting of the Recycling Platform took place in November with main goal to agree on common actions during 2012. However, because of specifics of the different industries involved, the Platform had to be suspended for the time being and possibly split into smaller groups where there is common accord.
In the coming months, the European Re-refining Association will continue its advocacy efforts on issues related to resource efficiency, EU waste management, the ecolabel criteria for lubricants & their future revision to include re-refined oils, REACH and its envisaged review, modernization of EU public procurement rules and enhancing the Green Public Procurement aspect in it, etc.