Vol. 401 No. 6
163 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment if the Irish Presidency of the EC proposed a resolution setting out a comprehensive waste policy; and the progress which was made to advance a programme of specific measures on critical aspects of waste control and management.
Following a communication from the Commission to the Council on a Community Strategy for Waste Management, the Irish Presidency proposed a comprehensive Resolution on Waste. The Resolution set out the basic guidelines for Community waste management and established priorities and timescales for specific aspects of waste control. The resolution was adopted by Council on 22 March 1990. The text is contained in the Official Journal of the European Communities No. C 122/2 of 18 May 1990.
The adoption of the resolution enabled work to be advanced on a number of specific waste control measures. The Council, on 7 June, agreed a Directive which gives priority to waste prevention and the use of clean technologies; requires an emphasis to be put on recycling; and establishes self-sufficiency in waste disposal as the norm. The Council also reached a common position, which is subject to further consideration by the Parliament, on a Directive banning the sale of batteries with a high mercury content, promoting recycling and requiring disposal of used batteries separate from ordinary household waste.
