Keep the Promise, Eliminate POPs in Waste! 

Public interest NGOs and experts position paper

The EU has ratified both the Stockholm Convention on POPs and the POPs Protocol to the UN ECE LRTAP Convention. These instruments commit the EU to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Unfortunately, it appears the EU is moving towards a policy to regulate persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in wastes that is inconsistent with both these Conventions. If enacted, this policy would significantly undermine existing protective legislation of Member States.

The European Parliament and Council promulgated Regulation 850/2004/EC to bring the EU's legislative framework in line with its Stockholm Convention's obligations. This regulation requires that by the end of 2005, limits for POPs content in waste be established. To help develop these limits, the EU contracted a private consultant company, BiPRO, to prepare a study and provide recommendations. BiPRO's client list includes governmental institutions; but it also includes interested parties such as Verband der Chemischen Industrie and Dow Europe GmbH.

In our view, the limits recommended by BiPRO were inappropriately high, and did not properly take into account potential impacts on public health and the environment. Article 6 of the Stockholm Convention requires that Parties dispose of wastes that contain POPs in such a way that the POP content of the waste is destroyed or irreversibly transformed. However, wastes with so called "low POPs content" are exempt from this requirement. If BiPRO's proposed inappropriately high values are adopted by the EU, wastes containing significantly dangerous POPs content will be exempted from this important Convention requirement.

For example, the report proposes the main threshold for dioxins and furans (PCDD/PCDF) in waste to be set at 10 or 15 ppb; and the derogation threshold to be set at 5000 ppb. It sets similarly inappropriate thresholds for PCBs, POPs pesticides and other POPs. These thresholds ignore the fact that POPs can greatly biomagnify when released to the environment. If the EU adopts these recommendations, wastes containing significant and potentially dangerous POPs content will be sent to landfills or may be disposed by other inappropriate means.

We are concerned that if these values are adopted by the EU, they will undermine the protection of public health and the environment in EU countries, and they may contribute to weakening existing protective legislation. We are also concerned that these values may be adopted by the Stockholm Convention itself. This would mean that financial and technical assistance would likely become unavailable to developing countries and countries with economies in transition to deal with wastes that contain POPs below the proposed excessive limits. More seriously, if the proposed limits were adopted by the Basel Convention, this would open the door to waste trade in dangerous, POPs-containing wastes. We do not think the EU would like to be seen as a leader in re-opening waste trade of unmanageable toxic substances such as POPs.

Moreover, the process for developing the EU POPs limits was flawed. It was closed and lacked public input and discussion that is common practice in decision-making processes in the EU. Despite claiming to integrate comments of participating experts into their report, for example, BiPRO ignored all comments from the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN). The comments IPEN submitted are attached to this letter.

We urge European governments to reject the BiPRO recommendation in favor of a standard that is protective of human health and the environment and consistent with the EU's obligations under the Stockholm Convention. In addition, we believe that discussion about this important decision should be opened to the public as required by the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information and in accordance with Article 10 of the Stockholm Convention, both of which were endorsed by EU. We believe the EU should Keep the Promise to eliminate POPs. Future generations depend on your decision.

More detailed is a letter sent to European Commissiners