Doctors' Associations Criticise Proposed EU Waste Laws

Main Category: Water - Air Quality / Agriculture
Article Date: 13 Jun 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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Doctors' Associations representing over 33,000 physicians have criticised on health grounds a set of proposed reforms to EU waste management laws, due to be voted on next week in the European Parliament.

In an open letter undersigned by organisations including the International Society of Doctors for the Environment and ARTAC, a prominent organisation of French doctors, MEPs have been asked to vote against ratification of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD).

In the letter, the doctors state they fear the Directive encourages incineration of waste, which will have negative consequences for public health.

Key Facts

Next week the European Parliament is voting to ratify the Waste Framework Directive. The proposed laws have been criticised by environment groups, particularly Health Care Without Harm Europe and GAIA, for promoting incineration at the expense of public health and recycling.

Those endorsing the letter include the International Society of Doctors for the Environment, ARTAC and a number of Italian physicians and organisations. They are concerned about evidence that people who live near incinerators are more likely to develop chronic illnesses including a range of cancers.

Illness around incinerators is suspected to be due partly to ultrafine particle emissions. Although they are connected with heart disease, stroke and cancer, ultrafine particle emissions from incinerators are not even measured.

If the European Parliament refuses to ratify the Waste Framework Directive, the legislation will go into conciliation. This will give MEPs a chance to reintroduce the more ambitious proposals tabled earlier in the process.

Quotes

Dr. Vyvyan Howard MB. ChB. PhD. FRCPath, President of ISDE and Board Member of HCWH Europe, says: "We can't stand by as doctors and watch as the EU encourages the incineration of waste while disregarding the possible health consequences."

Joan Marc Simon, Waste Policy Advisor to HCWH Europe and GAIA, says: "In the EU we should be taking advantage of the WFD as an opportunity to make waste management more environmentally-friendly and safer for people. If the Parliament approves the Council's text, the EU will end up promoting incineration instead of recycling."

About HCWH Europe

Health Care Without Harm Europe is the European branch of an international network of organisations working to reduce the harm healthcare does to human health and the environment. The coalition also has offices in Latin America, the US and South East Asia, with over 450 members representing 55 countries.

Members of the HCWH international coalition include Kaiser Permanente (the largest US non-profit healthcare provider), Karolinska University Hospital (Sweden's leading hospital in environmental issues in healthcare), the Viennese Hospital Association (Austria's largest healthcare provider), and the Royal College of Nursing (UK).

http://www.noharm.org/europe

About GAIA

GAIA is a worldwide alliance of more than 500 grassroots organizations, non-governmental organizations and individuals in over 80 countries whose ultimate vision is a just, toxic-free world without incineration. GAIA works both against incinerators and for safe, sustainable and just alternatives. GAIA Europe includes over 100 members in almost 30 European countries.

GAIA