12/07/11 Eunomia appointed to assess waste prevention measures for Brussels
Eunomia has recently won a contract to compare economic instruments that have a direct or indirect impact on waste prevention. The study, commissioned by Bruxelles Environnement, the Brussels region’s Environment Department, is particularly timely given the increased emphasis placed on waste prevention by the 2008 Waste Framework Directive.
The new Directive:
- Makes waste prevention one of its primary objectives (Article 1);
- Gives it a specific definition (Article 2 (2));
- Places it at the top of the waste hierarchy (Article 4);
- Introduces a system of extended producer responsibility with a view in particular to increasing that responsibility (Article 8);
- Requires the Commission to produce various reports, accompanied where necessary by proposals for any measures necessary to support preventive activities and the implementation of prevention programmes (Article 9);
- Obliges Member States to promote re-use (Article 11); and
- Makes the implementation of prevention programmes an essential requirement (Article 29).
This represents a significant development from the previous Directive (2006/12/EC), in which prevention was addressed in only one provision, which outlined a waste hierarchy (Article 3).
The study will involve developing an inventory of the following economic instruments:
- Taxes, fees and charges;
- Tradable permit systems;
- Deposit-refund systems;
- Subsidies; and
- Voluntary Approaches linked specifically to an economic incentive, such as green procurement.
Advantages and disadvantages of different types of instrument will be considered, and waste prevention impacts will be evaluated, where data permits. We will also seek to identify the supporting actions that increase the chances of an economic instrument leading to a successful waste prevention outcome.
The results of the study will be presented at a conference in Brussels on the 22nd November, as part of the second European Week on Waste Reduction.
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