Source: European Parliament
1. The Commission has been made aware of this, e.g. by the Written Question E-002085/2024. Projects should be planned and implemented covering all aspects of sustainability highlighted in the publication ‘EU principles for sustainable raw materials’[1]. In combination with legal requirements, e.g. from the Water Framework Directive[2], a safeguard framework ensures that such impacts on the environment, social cohesion and drinking water are minimised.
2. Recycling plays a crucial role to ensure secure and sustainable supply of antimony. Secondary antimony is mainly recovered from lead-acid batteries and to a lesser extent from polymers[3]. The Commission aims to increase such recycling efforts by setting the right legal framework in the critical raw materials, waste and product legislation but also by funding several projects to develop innovative antimony recovery processes[4]. The Extractive Waste Directive[5] encourages the recovery of extractive waste by means of recycling, reusing or reclaiming such waste in accordance with the existing environmental standards.
3. National bodies are primarily responsible to verify compliance of individual projects with the EU environmental legislation. For example, the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive[6] requires to assess environmental impacts for projects, which might have such adverse impacts. In its role as guardian of the Treaties, the Commission will continue monitoring the situation and may decide to take appropriate action. The Commission aims to swiftly follow up on systemic issues involving the application of EU law in EU countries. However, one-off instances of this are better dealt with at national level, as long as there are available remedies, including judicial ones.
- [1] https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/6d541f66-0f81-11ec-9151-01aa75ed71a1/language-en
- [2] Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy, OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1-73, as amended by Commission Directive 2014/101/EU of 30 October 2014, OJ L 311, 31.10.2014, p. 32-35.
- [3] Raw Materials Information System (RMIS) — https://rmis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/rmp/Antimony
- [4] Project Close WEEE — CORDIS — https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/641747
Project PLAST2bCLEANED — CORDIS — https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/821087
Project NONTOX — CORDIS — https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/820895/results
Project Stibiox- CORDIS — https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/824871 - [5] Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the management of waste from extractive industries and amending Directive 2004/35/EC — Statement by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, OJ L 102, 11.4.2006, p. 15-34.
- [6] Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, OJ L 26, 28.1.2012, p. 1-21, as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014, OJ L 124, 25.4.2014, p. 1-18.