EU waste management law
Directive 2008/98/EC on waste
It establishes a legal framework for treating waste in the EU. This is designed to protect the environment and human health by emphasising the importance of proper waste management, recovery and recycling techniques to reduce pressure on resources and improve their use.
KEY POINTS
The legislation establishes a waste hierarchy: prevention, re-use, recycling, recovery for other purposes such as energy and disposal.
It confirms the ‘polluter pays principle’ whereby the original waste producer must pay for the costs of waste management.
It introduces the concept of ‘extended producer responsibility’. This may include an onus on manufacturers to accept and dispose of products returned after use.
It makes a distinction between waste and by-products*.
Waste management must be carried out without any risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals, without causing a nuisance through noise or smells, or harming the countryside or places of special interest.
Producers or holders of waste must treat it themselves or have it handled by an officially recognised operator. They require a permit and are inspected periodically.
Competent national authorities must establish waste management plans and waste prevention programmes.
Special conditions apply to hazardous waste, waste oils and bio-waste.
It introduces recycling and recovery targets to be achieved by 2020 for household waste (50 %) and construction and demolition waste (70 %).
The legislation does not cover certain types of waste such as radioactive elements, decommissioned explosives, faecal matter, waste waters and animal carcasses.
It applies from 12 December 2008. EU countries had to incorporate it into their national law by 12 December 2010.
ACTS
Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain directives (OJ L 312, 22.11.2008, pp. 3–30)
Successive amendments to Directive 2008/98/EC have been incorporated in the basic text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.
Commission Decision 2014/955/EU of 18 December 2014 amending Decision 2000/532/EC on the list of waste pursuant to Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 370, 30.12.2014, pp. 44–86).
Commission Directive (EU) 2015/1127 of 10 July 2015 amending Annex II to Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste and repealing certain Directives (OJ L 184, 11.7.2015, pp. 13–15). See corrigendum.
Management of waste from extractive industries
The European Union has introduced measures to prevent or minimise any adverse effects on the environment and health arising from the management of waste from extractive industries.
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
Directive 2006/21/EC introduces measures for safe management of waste resulting from the extraction, treatment and storage of mineral resources and the working of quarries.
KEY POINTS
A facility operator needs a permit to run an extractive industry waste facility. This Directive lays down the rules for the granting of permits to operators by the authorities designated by each EU country
Authorities must take measures when a new facility is built or an existing one is modified concerning:
location;
its physical stability;
ensuring prevention of soil, air and water pollution;
monitoring and inspection;
facility closure, land rehabilitation and the after-closure phase.
Category A waste facilities*
Operators of Category A facilities (which pose particular health and environment risks) must draw up:
a policy for accident prevention and a safety management system;
an internal emergency plan specifying the on-site measures to be taken if an accident occurs.
Classification criteria for Category A facilities are further defined in Decision 2009/337/EC.
National authorities must draw up external emergency plans specifying off-site measures in the event of an accident.
Operators must provide a financial guarantee to ensure that the Directive’s obligations are covered prior to operations beginning. They must also ensure that funding is available for site restoration when a facility closes down.
Decision 2009/335/EC defines technical guidelines for the establishment of financial guaranties.
Waste management
Operators must draw up a waste management plan that prevents or reduces waste generation, and encourages waste recovery and safe waste disposal. It must be reviewed every 5 years by the authorities.
It must include:
a description of the waste and its characterisation (i.e. its chemical, physical, geological features). Technical requirements for waste characterisation laid down in Annex II of the Directive are elaborated by Decision 2009/360/EC. In addition, Decision 2009/359/EC completes the definition of inert waste;
a description of the substances that process mineral resources and methods used to transport and process the waste;
the control and monitoring procedures;
measures for facility closure and after-closure monitoring;
preventive measures for water and soil pollution.
Authorities must ensure that operators have taken measures to prevent water and soil contamination, in particular by:
evaluating and preventing leachate (i.e. any liquid percolating through the deposited waste, including polluted drainage) generation so that surface water and groundwater can escape waste contamination;
collecting and treating contaminated water and leachate to ensure their discharge.
Regarding the use of cyanide in mineral extraction, the Directive introduces measures aimed at limiting its concentration in tailings ponds* and waste waters.
Inspections and reports
The authorities must inspect waste facilities at regular intervals, including after their closure. Operators are required to keep up-to-date records of all operations and to make them available for inspection by authorities. Every 3 years, EU countries must send the European Commission a report on the Directive’s implementation.
KEY TERMS
Category A waste facilities: a waste facility is classed as Category A if:
a failure or incorrect operation, e.g. the collapse of a heap or the bursting of a dam, could give rise to a major accident, on the basis of a risk assessment taking into account factors such as the present or future size, the location and the environmental impact of the waste facility; or
it contains waste classified as hazardous (above a certain threshold); or
it contains substances or preparations classified as dangerous (above a certain threshold).
Tailings ponds: tailings are the waste rock and effluents (some of them chemical, such as cyanide) from the mining process. Tailings are often pumped into ponds to undergo sedimentation where the various solids are separated from the water.
REFERENCES
Directive 2006/21/EC
Regulation (EC) No 596/2009
Commission Decision 2009/335/EC of 20 April 2009 on technical guidelines for the establishment of the financial guarantee in accordance with Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the management of waste from extractive industries (OJ L 101, 21.4.2009, pp. 25-25)
Commission Decision 2009/337/EC of 20 April 2009 on the definition of the criteria for the classification of waste facilities in accordance with Annex III of Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the management of waste from extractive industries (OJ L 102, 22.4.2009, pp. 7-11)
Commission Decision 2009/358/EC of 29 April 2009 on the harmonisation, the regular transmission of the information and the questionnaire referred to in Articles 22(1)(a) and 18 of Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the management of waste from extractive industries (OJ L 110, 1.5.2009, pp. 39-45)
Commission Decision 2009/359/EC of 30 April 2009 completing the definition of inert waste in implementation of Article 22(1)(f) of Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and the Council concerning the management of waste from extractive industries (OJ L 110, 1.5.2009, pp. 46-47)
Commission Decision 2009/360/EC of 30 April 2009 completing the technical requirements for waste characterisation laid down by Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the management of waste from extractive industries (OJ L 110, 1.5.2009, pp. 48-51)
Landfill of waste
There are many different ways of disposing of waste. Burying it in the ground, known as landfilling, is the least environmentally sustainable and should be kept to the absolute minimum.
Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste.
It aims to prevent, or reduce as much as possible, any negative impact from landfilling on surface water, groundwater, soil, air or human health. It does so by introducing stringent technical requirements.
KEY POINTS
Landfill sites are divided into three categories: landfills for hazardous waste, landfills for non-hazardous waste and landfills for inert waste (waste which will not decompose or burn, such as gravel, sand and stone).
EU governments must implement national strategies to progressively reduce the amount of biodegradable waste sent to landfills.
Landfill facilities may not accept used tyres or waste which is liquid, flammable, explosive or corrosive, or from hospitals and medical and veterinary practices.
Only waste that has been treated may be landfilled.
Municipal waste may go to landfills for non-hazardous waste.
National authorities must ensure that the price operators charge for disposing of the waste covers all the costs involved from opening to final closure of the site.
Operators of landfill sites must apply for a permit and provide the following information:
the identity of the applicant, and, in some cases, the operator;
a description of the type and quantity of waste to be deposited;
the capacity and a description of the site, including operating, monitoring and control plans;
ways of preventing and reducing pollution; and
details of closure and after-care procedures.
On 16 April 2014, EU legislation was adopted to strengthen the quality of the environmental impact procedure set out in Directive 2011/92/EU. This was necessary to ensure coherence and synergy with other areas of European legislation and policies.
Decision 2003/33/EC lays down the criteria and procedures for the acceptance of waste at landfills.
REFERENCES
Directive 1999/31/EC
Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003
Regulation (EC) No 1137/2008
Directive 2011/97/EU
Successive amendments and corrections to Directive 1999/31/EC have been incorporated in the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.
Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 amending Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (Official Journal L 124, 25.4.2014, pp. 1-18).
Council Decision 2003/33/EC of 19 December 2002 establishing criteria and procedures for the acceptance of waste at landfills pursuant to Article 16 of and Annex II to Directive 1999/31/EC (OJ L 11, 16.1.2003, pp. 27-49).
Waste statistics
Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 on EU waste statistics
This European Union (EU) law permits the gathering of regular and comparable data on waste in EU countries and their transmission to Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office.
The statistics collected allow EU waste policy implementation to be monitored and evaluated.
Scope
The law covers the production of statistics by EU countries and the European Commission in their respective fields of competence:
waste generation (Annex I to the regulation);
recovery and disposal of waste (Annex II to the regulation).
Nomenclature
EU countries and the Commission are required to use the nomenclatures (categories) set out in Annexes I to III to produce their statistics. These nomenclatures refer to
waste categories (e.g. spent solvents, mineral and metallic wastes),
economic activities (ranging from mining to food or textile production) and
waste management operations (e.g. sewerage, industrial waste treatment or materials recovery).
Data collection
The data used to produce the statistics are to be collected by means of surveys, statistical estimation procedures or referral to administrative or other sources. Unless they generate large amounts of waste, firms with fewer than 10 employees are excluded from surveys.
Transmission of statistics to Eurostat
EU countries must transmit the statistical results (including confidential data) to Eurostat within 18 months of the end of the reference periods laid down in Annexes I and II. The frequency is biennial.
The Commission is able to adopt measures necessary for applying or amending the regulation. These measures relate to:
the appropriate format for the transmission of results by EU countries;
adjustment to economic and technical developments in the gathering, processing and communication of statistics;
the adaptation of the specifications listed in Annexes I, II and III;
the formulation of proper quality assessment criteria;
the implementation of the results of pilot studies.
Reports
Every 3 years, the Commission reports to the European Parliament and Council on the statistics prepared under this regulation, their quality and the burden on businesses.
DOCUMENTS
Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2002 on waste statistics (OJ L 332, 9.12.2002, pp. 1–36)
Subsequent amendments to Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 have been incorporated in the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1445/2005 of 5 September 2005 defining the proper quality evaluation criteria and the contents of the quality reports for waste statistics for the purposes of Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 229, 6.9.2005, pp. 6–12)
Commission Regulation (EC) No 782/2005 of 24 May 2005 setting out the format for the transmission of results on waste statistics (OJ L 131, 25.5.2005, pp. 26–37)