Subject: Protecting the Aegean and Mediterranean from pollution with plastic refuse imported from EU countries by Turkey
According to international sources (WWF, Greenpeace, POLITICO, Deutsche Welle, Hürriyet, etc.) Turkey has announced that it is encountering difficulties in recycling plastic waste imported from EU countries.
In fact, it appears to be discarding most of the plastics in the Mediterranean and the Aegean, particularly around Izmir (WWF, June 2019).
At the same time, plastics pollution is high on the EU agenda (Communication of 22 December 2020 from the Directorate-General of the Environment and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/2174).
In view of this:
1. How will the Commission help to protect the Aegean and Mediterranean ecosystems from pollution by Turkey, a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which appears, however, to be unable or unwilling to guarantee the legal and effective recycling of plastic waste?
2. Given that exports of plastic waste are legal only when the importing country is demonstrably able to recycle them, what sanctions will be imposed on EU Member States that export waste to Turkey despite the fact that it is manifestly unable or unwilling to recycle it in compliance with EU and international standards?
Answer given by Mr Sinkevičius on behalf of the European Commission (13 April 2021)
The EU has been implementing since 1 January 2021 new rules on the export of plastic waste. As a result, the export of such waste to Turkey and other Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries is subject to a stricter regime of control: for unsorted plastic waste, export can only take place after the competent authorities of both the countries of export and import have given their authorisation (1).
As part of this process, the authorities of the country of export need to verify that the waste will be managed sustainably in the country of destination. For sorted waste which is sent for recycling (2), the obligation that the waste is managed sustainably is also contained in EC law (3) and exporters need to ensure that this is the case, as well as provide information on the types, volume, destination and treatment of the exported waste.
The export of plastic waste from the EU to Turkey has considerably increased in the last two years and the Commission is aware of the environmental and public health problems linked to such export, which have been reported by the civil society and the media.
The Commission raised this issue at several occasions with the Turkish authorities (4). The legislation in Turkey has been amended a number of times recently to restrict the import of plastic waste, although the Commission notes that Turkey has not implemented the new rules on plastic waste agreed by 187 Parties of the Basel Convention in 2019.
The Commission has also been working with the Member States to avoid that waste is exported illegally to Turkey. The Commission will continue to pay attention to these exports and will also (5) explore if even stricter rules should be adopted to mitigate environmental problems linked to the export of waste.
⋅1∙ Pursuant to the ‘ prior written notification and consent’ procedure foreseen in Article 3(1) of the Waste Shipment Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste, OJ L 190, 12.7.2006, p. 1‐98). ⋅2∙ So-called ‘green-listed’ waste.
⋅3∙ Article 49 of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006.
⋅4∙ E.g. EU — Turkey Subcommittee No 6 ‘Transport, Environment, Energy and Trans — European Networks’.
⋅5∙ As part of the upcoming review of the Waste Shipment Regulation:
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/shipments/review_of_the_wsr.htm
