EU Commission wants to fine Greece for inadequate management of hazardous waste
The European Commission is referring Greece back to the European Court of Justice for poor treatment of hazardous waste and is asking the Court to impose fines, proposing a lump sum of 14, 904, 736 euros and a daily penalty payment of 72, 864 euros until the obligations are fulfilled.
Five years after the first ruling, Greece is still failing to comply with EU standards. The 2009 ruling noted the absence of a management plan to deal with various types of hazardous waste, such as medical waste and chemicals, which persist in the environment for a long time and are likely to cause cancer (polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) and polychloroterphenyls (PCTs).
According to the Commission, in order for Greece to comply, it has:
- To adopt an adequate management plan for hazardous waste
- To create adequate facilities to deal with the hazardous waste generated. By way of example, Greece lacks installations for the regeneration of oils, treatment of end-of-life vehicles, recycling of batteries, recuperation of some metals.
- To tackle the issue of "historical waste which has been temporarily stocked until it can be efficiently managed.
Greece was expected to comply in full in 2013. However, the first step necessary to solve the problem, the adoption of an adequate national management plan for hazardous waste, has still not been taken and to date the Commission has not received any credible calendar of compliance.
