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Resolution 1775 (2010)1

Military waste and the environment

1. The production of weapons used in war,
their detonation and the eventual storage of the hazardous
material in military waste disposal sites could have serious
consequences for the environment. The utilisation and
management of military waste is an issue that needs to be
addressed by the Council of Europe member states as a serious
environmental threat.

2. Many substances present in military waste
are still active and can endanger nature and human health.
Furthermore, it has only recently been shown that the exposure
to detonated material can have disastrous effects.
Unfortunately, these problems cannot be solved by simply
displacing stored waste, ignoring the dangers of abandoned
arsenals or implementing standards on a country-by-country
basis.

3. During the last two decades, 10 serious
incidents involving military waste have been reported, all of
which resulted in victims, environmental damage and expense
for repairing the damage caused. Such incidents affect not
only the states in question, but go beyond their frontiers and
are in fact a pan-European problem.

4. Important quantities of weapons dating
from the First and Second World Wars and the Cold War are
still stored by the military. However, competition in weapons
production and rapid technological developments have resulted
in most of these weapons becoming obsolete.

5. In a special category of hazardous
military waste are weapons that have been dumped into the sea,
and in some cases into rivers, in vast quantities. Most of
this waste is still chemically active and could be the source
of serious environmental problems. The Parliamentary Assembly
has already dealt with this particular issue in its
Resolution 1612 (2008) on chemical munitions dumped in the
Baltic Sea.

6. The Assembly consequently calls upon
member states to de-classify information about military waste,
where such classification still exists.

7. In the light of the above, and especially
with regard to the negative effects on the environment, the
Assembly believes that military waste has become a problem
that is common to all European countries.

8. The Assembly therefore invites the Council
of Europe member states to:

8.1. create and implement a common European
policy and methodology for military waste management, which
also addresses means of recycling a part of this military
waste, with a view to preserving the planet’s resources and
ensuring sustainable development;

8.2. adopt acceptable regulations on freedom
of information concerning the disposal of military waste in
Europe and guarantee the availability of information on the
types of waste material and any de-classification of
information in this respect;

8.3. consider creating a new international or
European body to deal with the issue and to co-ordinate the
efforts of member states. Such an institution could help
member states that face serious difficulties in solving their
military waste problems, co-operate with European neighbouring
countries on the utilisation of their military waste and
establish a joint control mechanism;

8.4. initiate co-operation in this respect
with NATO member states, as well with those Council of Europe
member states that are not members of NATO, with a view to
harmonising policies and methodologies on utilisation of
military waste.

1. Text adopted by the
Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on
12 November 2010 (see Doc.
12354, report of the Committee on the Environment,
Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs, rapporteur: Mr
Toshev). See also
Recommendation 1946 (2010).

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