EEB

Waste

Prevention

• The Role of the EU
• What is the EEB doing?
• Prevention
• WEEE Directive
• The effects of waste on other key environmental issues
• The WEEE Directive recast: from a good report to an even better law?

The key priority is to implement prevention programs for all types of waste.

By prevention we mean an absolute stabilization then minimization of the amount of waste, and the absolute minimisation of hazardous substances released in the environment. The current legal hierarchy of waste management, starting with prevention before any other waste management practice - as stated in the Waste framework Directive - should now serve as an inspiration for all waste policy.

An ongoing challenge is to improve the implementation of waste policy at European level. Despite decades of efforts at harmonisation, there is scarcely any environmental policy field where national differences could be greater than in waste.

This is because waste issues are strongly associated with everyday practices, consumption behaviour and life-styles. There is a necessity to ensure that minimum legal objectives are fulfilled and that the best achievements in waste management become the new legal requirements.

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