Hazardous waste fine on the cards

The European Commission has asked the European Court of Justice to fine Greece for its failure to manage hazardous waste.

Previously convicted by the court in 1999 for failing to comply with the EU’s landfill directive, Greece could pay 17.7 million euros in fines, plus a daily penalty of 8,096 euros until it solves the problem.

The Commission has identified problems in four key areas: failure to record the amount of trash being produced, failure to treat about one third of hazardous waste which ends up in so-called temporary storage, lagging infrastructure such as waste treatment facilities, and insufficient monitoring.

Greek industries produce 280,120 tons of hazardous waste a year. Another 7,000 tons comes from households and construction.