M. Arunas Kundrotas

According to you, what are the main issues in waste policies today : in Europe, and/or in Lithuania?

The key goals of the current European Union waste policy – to avoid accumulation of waste and promote their reuse, recycling and other recovery in order to reduce adverse impact on the environment and people’s health – are relevant both in every EU Member State and Lithuania. Concerning waste prevention and treatment, it is particularly important to implement the principle of waste hierarchy, i.e. the best way is to avoid accumulation of waste, and waste that cannot be avoided should be recycled or used for other recovery so that as little waste as possible is disposed in landfills.
  
In Lithuania, waste management is a priority field of the environmental policy. Considerable progress has been made in the field over the recent years. The legal framework of waste management has been developed in conformity with the European Union requirements. With a view to developing an effective system of municipal waste management in Lithuania, 10 regional waste management systems are created. 11 new regional non-hazardous waste landfills are built and other regional waste management infrastructure developed, also closure of over 800 landfills (rubbish dumps) that do not meet environmental and public health care requirements is planned. Collection and recycling of hazardous waste is improved, and the system of hazardous waste handling is developed. The creation of a regional system of management of sludge and other biodegradable waste has been started. With the view of implementing the polluter pays principle, the system of management of product and packaging waste based on the principle of responsibility of a producer or importer is created.

Despite these successful processes, however, certain waste management issues are still of concern in Lithuania. After assessing the current waste management situation in Lithuania and seeking to develop an effective waste management system, the following priority directions have been envisaged for the period 2007–2013:

The key objectives of waste management are the following:

How urgent do you regard issues of waste production prevention on the one hand and the recycling of waste on the other, issues that are at very heart of current changes to European regulations (Thematic Strategy and draft Framework Directive)?

Promotion and implementation of waste prevention and recycling are not a novelty. These aims of the waste policy were set long ago, but have not been implemented yet, thus we must do this as soon as possible.

For many years now, waste prevention has been the key aim of the waste policy in each country and the European Union; unfortunately, the progress that has been made concerning the practical implementation of this aim is not sufficient. We think that greater attention should be paid to waste prevention at the EU level, instead of simply stipulating the requirements to shape the policy at the national level, i.e. to prepare national programmes on waste prevention specifying therein the aims of waste prevention, qualitative and quantitative objectives or indicators for waste management measures. We think that the Commission should develop guidelines on waste prevention. We suggest providing for the recommendations concerning the preparation of national waste prevention programmes in these guidelines.

We approve of the EU long-term strategy that aims to help Europe become a waste recycling society that seeks to avoid waste and uses waste as a resource. We think that after the guidelines concerning waste attributing or non-attributing and minimum standards of waste recycling and recovery at the EU level are prepared, they will facilitate solving of practical waste management problems in Member States.

Do you believe that this European regulation is moving in the right direction?

In our opinion, it is moving in the right direction, and the European Commission did considerable work when preparing the Thematic Strategy on the Prevention and Recycling of Waste. The Strategy is a step forward towards the goals of the 6th Environmental Action Programme, which highlights the need for improved resource efficiency and minimisation of the adverse environmental impacts of resource use. We also welcome the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and Council on waste as the major measure of the implementation of the Thematic Strategy on the Prevention and Recycling of Waste.
  
Modernisation of the current legal framework, i.e. in shaping the policy to apply the life cycle analysis and explain, simplify and rationalize the EU legislation regulating waste management, is, in our opinion, very relevant and necessary. We approve of the proposal to partially amend the Waste Framework Directive by combining it with the Hazardous Waste Directive, and cancelling the Directive on the Disposal of Waste Oils by transposing some of its provisions into the Waste Framework Directive.
  
We are of the opinion that the priority of regeneration of waste oils should be rejected, and the focus should centre on collection and safe handling of waste oils. We approve of the European Commission opinion that giving priority to regeneration cannot be fully justifiable with respect to environment. Various regeneration technologies of waste oils differ in environmental impact, and the incineration technologies are constantly improved. Furthermore, most EU Member States have faced difficulties in implementing the requirements of the directive concerning the priority of regeneration of waste oils.

Despite the huge work done, the proposal for a new directive on waste should be improved paying particular attention to the definitions, differences of recovery and disposal, economic measures, the provisions on handling biological waste and waste oils, waste handling plans and waste prevention programmes.

What is your perception of the various waste realities in the European area: in each of the Member States or between the different Member States?

European Union Member States are very different. Waste management goals, objectives or priority directions thus differ. This is also proved by ongoing discussions on the new draft directive on waste in the Council working groups on environment. For instance, rejection of the priority of regeneration of waste oils would have particularly adverse effects in some states, whereas other states find it difficult to implement this requirement. Some states have been sorting municipal biodegradable waste for long and have already implemented the envisaged objectives of disposal of municipal biodegradable waste in landfills, thus, they are seeking for the establishment of the objectives of separate collection of this waste at the EU level. While for other states, this would cause huge problems of implementation. Some states are against the proposal to prepare national waste prevention programmes and establish the requirements for the content of waste management plans at the EU level, whereas other states approve of it. And these are only several examples that are particularly relevant today. We have to take into consideration the different situation in Member States and seek a compromise.

What is your perception of the challenges posed by the social acceptability of waste and waste treatment plants: how should we inform the population? How should we involve the population?

When preparing various programmes or plans on waste management such as the National Strategic Plan for Waste Management, the Programme for Hazardous Waste Handling, etc., the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment of these plans and programmes is carried out. According to the Procedure for the Strategic Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes approved by the resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, the population is involved in the process of the strategic environmental assessment of a plan or a programme. The population, therefore, may express its opinion about the strategic environmental assessment of a plan or a programme at an early stage of drafting the planning document. This may be done when the strategic environmental assessment is announced in the press, on the internet and in other media. The population may familiarise itself with the plan or programme drafted, and its strategic environmental assessment in more detail, and express its opinion about the implementation of a plan or a programme, as well as submit substantiated proposals during the public deliberation of the report of the strategic environmental assessment of a plan or a programme. The population is also informed about the decision made concerning the approval of a plan or a programme. To summarise, it could be noted that effective participation of the population in the process of the strategic environmental assessment may help to prepare better quality plans and programmes, foresee and solve possible conflicts of interests at an early stage of drafting the planning document, improve the transparency of planning and decision-making, and ensure that the local population does not contradict the implementation of a plan or a programme, and that plan or programme solutions are in conformity with the public interests of the population.

Another process, in which the population is entitled to participate and be informed about the planned activity of waste handling, is an environmental impact assessment. In accordance with the requirements of the Republic of Lithuania Law on Environmental Impact Assessment of Planned Economic Activities, the procedures of environmental impact assessment of planned economic activities must be performed when there are plans to build or install waste disposal or recovery facilities. The above law provides for information and involvement of the population in certain stages of the process of environmental impact assessment. Thus the population is provided with an opportunity to learn about waste management activities at the initial stage of planning these activities. 

How do your country’s experience and stances benefit and/or contribute to a European policy on waste?

Although our country’s experience as regards waste management is not as big as that of older European Union Member States, we try to take active participation in shaping the EU policy on waste, and submit reasoned observations and proposals concerning the prepared draft legislation and other documents regulating waste management.