MAYER PARRY Ⅱ: THE ECJ FAILS TO CLARIFY THE LAW

摘要

The question of when waste ceases to be waste has vexed courts in the UK and elsewhere in the European Union for many years. This legal problem has been particularly acute in relation to the metal recycling industry, and especially in relation to the question of when during the metal recycling process 'waste'has actually been 'recycled'. The recent decision of the European Court of Justice on the current Mayer Parry case, delivered on 19 June, has not satisfactorily clarified the situation. The current Mayer Parry proceedings relate to the recycling of metal packaging waste. A dispute arose between the Environment Agency and Mayer Parry over the issue of when scrap metal is recycled for the purposes of the EU Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste (the Packaging Waste Directive). The dispute arose because of an Environment Agency decision in November 1999 not to accredit Mayer Parry as a metal packaging reprocessor for the purposes of the Producer Responsibility (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997. Accreditation would have entitled Mayer Parry to issue Packaging Waste Recovery Notes (PRNs) as evidence of the recovery and recycling of packaging waste.