Environment : topics related to waste management and clean technology in the European Union

Abstract

Pollution is no respecter of national borders: it carries on the wind and water and damages environments far distant from its point of origin. That is why the European Union's policy in this area, has been developed over the last 2 decades, and that is the reason why global agreements on environmental protection are now part of the international agenda. Aiming at a high level of protection, the European Union's current policies extend for beyond air quality and water quality to include the protection of snails, habitats and fauna and flora, and the conservation of wild birds. The Environment is not an entity which a particular person, body, nation or association can define as its own. It has a unique feature, in that it is everybody's. The clouds that form about one part of a continent, end up as rainwater in another part of another continent. The sea-water in a particular ocean moves on to another. The smoke and exhaust which from a particular city decorate and infiltrate the air, move on to another city's population. In broad terms, European Union's environmental legislation covers, products activities, production processes, environmental quality, procedures and procedural rights. The countries of the European Union are deemed to be industrialized nations. The environmental problems and pollution levels that these states encounter are very similar to those in other industrialized nations, such as the United States, and Japan. In this respect, it has been felt that a number of examples regarding practical implementation of projects be chosen in relation to those occurring in the United States. This has been purposely done, in order to highlight the congruency existing between the two entities, namely the European Union and the United States of America, in respect of waste treatments and associated matters. In reality the occurrence of one project, incident, accident in any of both these entities, can easily be seen to have occurred in the other entity. Even more, the solutions on offer, are soon divulged everywhere, not only by the massive speed of the communications industry, but by the very fact that the major waste operators are to be found in these same countries, for them having the technology and working in a known environment, help to broaden their potential profit-margins. Can one address the Environmental problems in the European Union as a separate entity? Or rather, can at least theoretically the European Union, raise the necessary finance to solve all its environmental problems, immaterially of outside interferences? Or more specifically, can the European Union, set a target to solve its waste problems? These very questions beg an answer. The European Union is not a planet in itself, it is not even a continent, and thus its sole action (whilst helping to solve its own problems), cannot deter environment-related problems, from crossing its boundaries - the sea, the air, the emissions, the acquifier cannot be compartmentalized. Even if one tries to encase the topics which relate to the environment or to a particular aspect of it, soon one will find, that new problem-areas arise every so often: what will be the effect of the toxic wastes in the landfills, in 20, 30, 40, 100 years time? ln trying to thus address some topics which relate to waste-management in the European Union, one must necessarily keep in mind: • That the problems faced by the European Union are neither unique nor particular to it. Problems faced by countries in the same level of development, are bound to surface some time. • That the problem-areas/topics are continually cropping up, and an exhaustive list to same is impossible. One must thus limit oneself, to addressing a defined part of those problem-areas/topics. • That the practical side of the problem is at times most important. It is the European Court of Justice itself, which has from time to time, confirmed the unique importance of environmental problems.