Last January, a reasoned opinion from the European Commission forced the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment in two months to resolve the illegal status of several landfills if he wanted to avoid the initiation of legal proceedings by the EU executive body. It's been almost 10 months since then and, at least publicly, no progress on the issue is not known. The opacity and the delay in resolving the illegal situation denounced by the European Commission of 22 landfills in Andalusia, Aragon, the Basque Country, Canary Islands, Cantabria, Catalonia, Galicia and Murcia is total.
During these months, the organizations that drive returns, including Ecologists in Action, have tried unsuccessfully to determine the facts of the complaint and to the progress of the process with both the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment with the European Commission. On 7 March, the ministry said Arias Cañete receipt of the letter in which he asked 'How many, where and which companies are managed landfills that breach European law since 2009 reported by the European Commission? '.
Today, following the line of darkness with all that has to do with landfills in our country, has not yet responded. For its part, the European Commission, to the same question, is shielded to protect their interests in a future judgment for not disclosing that information.
This week, with the glaring silence of ministry partnerships that drive returns have formally asked the European Commission to report on the state of a process that should have been solved in two months and public manner and that, 10 months later, there is nothing new.
It is important to note that Spain signed the European Directive 2003/4/EC on access to environmental information (the Aarhus Convention) Act and the Administration is required to respond within a month to ask any question related to the environment data.
It should also be remembered that this process only limited to legal landfills, but is the spearhead of a much more serious situation. In Spain, thousands of illegal landfills and uncontrolled populate our territory as a result of ineffective management model, limited and short-sighted that prioritizes waste and buried above the prevention, reuse or recycling.
Returns is why, alongside Ecologists in Action and Friends of the Earth, present on Monday a report that attempts to shed some light on the dark situation of landfills, where they end up almost 70% of our waste. A pact of silence prevents knowing the numbers of what is recycled or poured. They do not want witnesses and that, since 2006, there was published a report that x ray state of affairs.
