Seite - 249 - in Freshwater Microplastics - Emerging Environmental Contaminants?
Bild der Seite - 249 -
Text der Seite - 249 -
memberstates“mayinvolve theuseofeconomic instrumentssuchaspricing, taxes
andlevies,whichhaveprovedparticularlyeffective inreducingtheconsumptionof
plastic carrier bags” [23, p. 2]. Theoriginal directive onpackaging andpackaging
waste of 1994 [21] aimed at preventing or reducing the impact of packaging and
packagingwasteon theenvironment.Even thoughplasticcarrierbagsare included
in thisdirective [21], it doesnotcomprise specificmeasureson theconsumptionof
suchplastic bags.
WasteLegislation
In thepresentEuropeanwaste legislation, somestrategic elements alreadyexist to
tackle the problem of plastic waste in the environment. TheWaste Framework
Directive [24], for example, relates to issuesofproductdesign, life cycle thinking,
extended producer responsibility, resource efficiency and conservation, aswell as
waste prevention throughwaste operations. This directive aims at “lay[ing] down
measures to protect the environment and human health by preventing or reducing
the adverse impacts of the generation andmanagement ofwaste and by reducing
overall impactsof resourceuseandimprovingtheefficiencyofsuchuse”[24,p.6].
It sets general recycling targets for household waste including plastics “[. . .] by
2020, the preparing for re-use and the recyclingofwastematerials such as at least
paper, metal, plastic and glass from households [. . .] shall be increased to a
minimum of overall 50 % by weight” [24, p. 11]. Furthermore, in Article 4(1),
an explicit waste hierarchy is defined as a priority order inwaste prevention and
management legislation andpolicy. It gives precedence towaste prevention; reuse
and recycling over recovery, including energy/thermal recovery; and disposal. In
addition to theWaste FrameworkDirective [24], other directives [25–28] also set
out recovery and recycling targets.
Another key element inwastemanagement is the extended producer responsi-
bilityasdescribedinArticle8of theWasteFrameworkDirective [24].Next to this,
it introduces the polluter-pays principle as “guiding principle at European and
international levels. Thewaste producer and thewaste holder shouldmanage the
waste in away that guarantees a high level of protection of the environment and
human health” [24, p. 4]. Furthermore, “[In] accordance with the polluter-pays
principle, the costs of waste management shall be borne by the original waste
producer or by the current or previous waste holder” [24, p. 12]. The “polluter-
pays principle” is alsomentioned in the directive on environmental liability [29]
with regard to the prevention and remedyingof environmental damage.
According to thewastemanagement hierarchy as laid out in theWaste Frame-
workDirective [24], disposal ofwaste is the least preferable option and should be
limited to thenecessaryminimum.Ifdisposedwasteneeds tobe landfilled, ithas to
be sent to landfills, which comply with the requirements of the directive on the
landfill of waste [30]. Themain objective of this directive is the prevention and
reduction of negative effects on the environment, including freshwaters, from the
landfillingofwaste by introducing strict technical requirements.
In2014theEuropeanCommissionmadealegislativeproposal [31],whichstates
that “clear environmental, economic and social benefits would be derived from
FreshwaterMicroplastics:Challenges forRegulation andManagement 249
Freshwater Microplastics
Emerging Environmental Contaminants?
- Titel
- Freshwater Microplastics
- Untertitel
- Emerging Environmental Contaminants?
- Autoren
- Martin Wagner
- Scott Lambert
- Verlag
- Springer Open
- Datum
- 2018
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-319-61615-5
- Abmessungen
- 15.5 x 24.1 cm
- Seiten
- 316
- Kategorien
- Naturwissenschaften Chemie