Rhondda MEP Jill Evans said following the vote on the European Commission’s proposals on waste management:

“I have been working very hard to try and strengthen this proposal to encourage recycling and reduce the amount of waste we produce.

We need targets to reduce waste production in Wales. Prevention has been talked about a lot but we have had very little action and many excuses. The only way to ensure stabilisation of waste levels and move on to real reductions is by planning ahead and setting targets”.

Plaid’s Jill Evans played a leading role in the campaign to close the Nantygwyddon Landfill site. Jill continued:

“The terrible experiences with Nantygwyddon show how important it is that we solve the waste problem. Even five years after it closed the tip is still causing problems.I have asked the Assembly to investigate the way the tip has been managed since the closure.

Progress in Wales with regard to recycling has been slow and patchy. The national recycling averages 15% against a target of a 40% recycling and composting level by 2009-10. Under Labour Rhondda Cynon Taf has slipped below the Wales average for both recycling and composting.

I welcome the European Parliament’s call to stabilise the levels of waste we produce by 2012 and setting new recycling targets of 50% for municipal waste and 70% for industrial and manufacturing waste by 2020.”

Notes

The EP report (Jackson) on the revision of the waste framework directive was adopted by the European Parliament with 647 in favour, 21 against and 19 abstentions.

The report confirms the five-step waste hierarchy for waste management with waste prevention as a first priority, followed by reusing, recycling, recovery and finally safe disposal.

Some amendments had been tabled to the report adopted by the Environment Committee in November in an attempt to reclassify incineration as a form of recovery, rather than waste disposal. However the EP rejected these attempts at a greener re-branding of incineration.

National Assembly Performance Indicators by local authority are listed below. The National Waste Strategy for Wales for local authority recycling and composting of municipal waste are: