Bio-Waste (Communication)

Pursuant to the Waste Framework Directive, the Commission is obliged to evaluate the management of bio-waste and, where necessary, to make proposals for action. According to the Commission, the existing EU waste legislation is adequate, but poorly implemented in several Member States. To this end, such Member States are to receive EU subsidies. Moreover, the Commission assesses whether or not minimum requirements for the management of bio-waste and quality standards for compost and digestate from bio-waste should be set.

cepPolicyBrief

The Commission is right in primarily criticising the implementation of EU rules on the management of bio-waste. It is, however, not comprehensible, why several Member States should receive EU subsidies. To be welcomed are the EU-wide standards for compost which increase market transparency and facilitate the marketing of compost in the internal market and provide new incentives for an environmentally friendly management of bio-waste.