EU Annual Environment Policy Review Published

Report reveals lack of waste infrastructure

16 August 2010

The European Commission has published its Annual Environment Policy Review, for 2009. The review covers several areas of environmental policy and in terms of waste, it criticised current patterns of consumption and production, which the EU has attempted to tackle through a programme of policies to promote resource efficiency and better waste management.

The report states that landfilling currently accounts for more than 50% of the municipal waste treated in 19 out of the 27 member states. It further notes that EU waste law is not being enforced and implemented correctly, particularly on issues of the Waste Framework Directive and the Landfill Directive, which in many cases is due to the lack of waste treatment infrastructure and lack of sorted collections.

To this end, the review states that the European Commission is currently assessing the costs and benefits of creating an EU Waste Implementation Agency to deal with these problems. Any further steps on the matter may be proposed in 2011.