Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-04-02-Speech-1-069"
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"en.20010402.6.1-069"2
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"Mr President, allow me to start by thanking Mr Sacconi. He has certainly made every effort to see whether a compromise could be struck. However, this has taken us away from a specific line of thought, so much so that the report is merely portraying all sides of the argument, and that is not the fault of Mr Sacconi alone, but of the entire Commission. I would in any event like to thank him for the consultations on this matter.
PVC has often been at the centre of a controversial debate of late. The opinions on PVC and its effects on health and the environment are very diverse. A number of Member States have already taken measures regarding specific aspects of the life cycle of PVC. Those measures are not the same across the board and can thus have implications for the internal market too. We, as the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats, welcome the Green Paper and are in favour of an integrated approach which, on the one hand, protects the environment and health, and, on the other, guarantees the smooth operation of the internal market, whilst also very much taking into account the interests of employment.
PVC is different from other plastics in that a large quantity of chlorine has been added, namely 25% to 50%, and that many other additives are also used in PVC. In terms of application, PVC is inherently a sound material, something which we very nearly overlook in the discussion as a whole. Pure PVC is a rigid material, which is mechanically strong, weather resistant, waterproof and chemical resistant. We are thus fortunate, especially in the medical sphere, to have PVC. Consequently, the environmental and health issues surrounding PVC mainly gravitate towards the presence of the additives and the way in which PVC waste is handled.
Allow me to list a few of these additives. There are the plasticisers to start with. In the case of soft PVC, up to 60% of plasticisers, mostly in the form of phthalates, are added to render the material flexible. As phthalates are rarely used in other plastics, their primary application is in soft PVC. There is an ongoing debate whether or not phthalates have an impact on living organisms.
The second additive is cadmium. I believe that industry has already entered into a large number of effective commitments voluntarily. Cadmium is being phased out. In this respect, the Green Paper is in fact outdated. The case of lead is quite different. Lead stabilisers, in other words organotin and lead compounds, are the most relevant ones and the environmental risks are higher, especially in the case of lead stabilisers. After all, once waste has been incinerated, lead additives from PVC account for approximately 10% of the unwanted high lead content in residues of waste plants, which necessitates a more stringent policy in this respect.
This brings me to production and incineration in general. In terms of production, industry has signed a large number of voluntary commitments in order to introduce very strict restrictions with regard to chlorine which may be released. Furthermore, research has shown that these self-imposed emission values have been achieved comfortably.
Insofar as PVC is not reused, it is generally incinerated in a waste incineration plant. An important aspect in this connection is the high chlorine content. There are two sources of chlorine in waste incineration plants: firstly vegetable, fruit and garden waste, which contains a large amount of chlorine too, and then there is PVC. That means that that waste in those waste incineration plants, and the possible release of dioxins, must be very closely monitored. The elimination of PVC from waste plants is thus important. In fact, incineration and the emissions released in the process are not the only concerns: chlorine also impacts on the recovery of energy in the waste incineration plant. This should therefore be closely monitored.
Mr President, we would like the Commission and industry to join forces and to examine how we, in the framework of self-regulation, can make effective and clear commitments in the very short term. Industry is prepared to do this, and I would also ask the Commission to examine this issue closely."@en1
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