Commission recommends European waste enforcer

The European Commission should set up a dedicated agency to oversee and enforce EU waste laws, a study published this week recommends.

The new waste agency would carry out a number of tasks, such as reviews of enforcement systems in Member States, coordinated controls and inspection activities. This would be combined with the creation of a specific European body responsible for direct inspections and controls of facilities and sites in serious cases of non-compliance.

The study is part of a series of steps being taken by the Commission to improve waste management and ensure it meets the standards set by EU legislation.

Illegal dumping of waste continues on a significant scale, many landfill sites are sub-standard and, in some Member States, basic waste infrastructure is still missing, says the Commission.

Illegal waste shipments are also a concern. A related report published this week reveals that almost one fifth of waste shipments inspected as part of recent enforcement actions in Member States were illegal.

"Compliance with EU legislation is essential if we are to achieve the overarching goal of EU waste legislation, which is to protect the health of European citizens and the environment, " said environment commissioner Stavros Dimas in a statement. "We must look at all the options, including setting up an EU agency… which could enable EU legislation to deliver the maximum benefits for citizens, the environment and the EU economy."

Overseeing the safe and environmentally sound management of waste is one of the most serious environmental challenges facing the EU today, says the Commission. An estimated 2.6 billion tonnes of waste is generated in the EU each year – about 90 million tonnes of this is classified as hazardous.

The scale of the problem has grown in recent years following increases in waste generated and shipped in the enlarged EU. In 2008. The European Parliament adopted a resolution urging the Commission to report on the feasibility of establishing a Community environmental inspection force.

The annual cost for carrying out the recommendations is estimated at just over €16m. In addition to other waste-related benefits, full implementation of EU waste law would reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, including methane from landfills, equivalent to almost 200MtCO2e a year.