The End of Waste criteria for glass have been adopted by the European Commission in a move which has been welcomed by the glass industry. The criteria appear to say that for end of waste to be achieved, the glass cullet must be of a quality suitable for remelting into bottles or other products such as fibreglass. But, cullet sent for use in aggregates would still count as waste and it remains to be seen whether this would affect the UK's counting of this material as recycled. Only glass cullet of a quality suitable for remelt will be able to achieve European End of Waste, under the criteria adopted in July. Despite the agreement on glass, there was no agreement over separate criteria for paper and copper, which were also considered by the Commission. End of Waste criteria specify when certain waste ceases to be waste and obtains the status of a product or a secondary raw material. At present, a number of quality protocols exist in the UK defining when certain products cease to be a waste, but these are being superseded by European End of Waste criteria being developed under the revised Waste Framework Directive. In March 2011, the EU agreed its first End of Waste criteria, for aluminium, iron and steel (see letsrecycle.com story). And, at a meeting of the Commission's Technical Adaptation Committee yesterday, a set of criteria was agreed for glass cullet. Importantly, the criteria indicate that only glass cullet suitable for remelt will qualify for end of waste status, meaning that it could make remelt applications more attractive. And, it could also have implications for the PRN system.
