EN    EN  
 EUROPEAN COMMISSION 
Brussels, XXX   
[…](2012) XXX  draft 
  
COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No …/.. 
of XXX  
establishing criteria determining when recovered paper ceases to be waste under 
Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 
  
EN 1   EN COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No …/.. 
of XXX 
establishing criteria determining when recovered paper ceases to be waste under 
Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, 
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Directive 2008/98/EC of the Eu ropean Parliament and of the Council of 19 
November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives
1 and in particular Article 6 (2) 
thereof, 
Whereas: (1) It results from an evaluation of several wa ste streams that recycling markets for paper 
would benefit from the development of sp ecific criteria determining when paper 
obtained from waste ceases to be waste. Thos e criteria should en sure a high level of 
environmental protection. They should be w ithout prejudice to th e classification of 
recovered paper as waste by third countries. 
(2) Reports of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission have shown that a 
market and demand exist for recovered paper to be used as feedstock in paper mills. 
Recovered paper should therefore be suffici ently pure and meet the relevant standards 
or specifications required by the paper producing industry. 
(3) The criteria determining when recovered pape r ceases to be waste should ensure that 
paper resulting from a recovery operation m eet the technical requirements of the paper 
producing industry, comply with existing le gislation and standa rds applicable to 
products and do not lead to overall adverse environmental or human health impacts. 
Reports of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission have shown that the proposed criteria on the waste used as input in the recovery operation, on the 
treatment processes and techniques, as well as  on the paper resulting from the recovery 
operation fulfil those objectives as they shoul d result in the generation of paper devoid 
of hazardous properties and sufficien tly free of non-paper components. 
(4) In order to ensure compliance with the criteria, it is appropriate that information on 
recovered paper which has ceased to be waste is issued and that a management system 
is implemented. 
                                                
 
1 OJ L 312, 22.11.2008, p. 3.  
EN 2   EN (5) In order to allow operators to adapt to th e criteria determining when recovered paper 
ceases to be waste, it is appropriate to provide for for a reasonable period to elapse 
before this Regulation applies. 
(6) Specific end-of-waste criteria should be set up for multi-material paper with a high 
content of non-paper material in order to ensu re that effectively the paper is recycled 
and the non-paper materials are recovered. 
(7) The measures provided for in this Regulati on are in accordance with the opinion of the 
Committee established by Article  39 of Directive 2008/98/EC, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
Subject matter 
This Regulation establishes criteria determining when recovered paper de stined for the use of 
paper fibres for paper manufact uring ceases to be waste. 
Article 2 
Definitions 
For the purposes of this Regulation, the defini tions set out in Dir ective 2008/98/EC shall 
apply . 
In addition, the following definitions shall apply: 
1. 'recovered paper' means paper and cardboard ge nerated from the recovery of waste;  
2. ‘recovered multi-material paper’ means recovered paper, such as used beverage 
cartons and layered and coated packaging, c ontaining more than 5% of air dry weight 
of non-paper materials that cannot be se parated using dry so rting techniques. 
3. 'holder' means the natural or legal person who is in possession of recovered paper; 
4. 'producer' means the holder who transfers r ecovered paper to another holder for the 
first time as recovered paper which has ceased to be waste; 
5. 'importer' means any natural or legal person established within the Union who 
introduces recovered paper which has ceased to  be waste into the customs territory of 
the Union; 
6. 'qualified staff' means staff which is qualif ied by experience or training to monitor 
and assess the properties of recovered paper; 
7. 'visual inspection' means inspection of recovered paper covering all parts of a 
consignment and using human senses or any non-specialised equipment;   
EN 3   EN 8. 'consignment' means a batch of recovered paper which is intended for delivery from 
a producer to another holder and may be cont ained in either one or several transport 
units, such as containers; 
Article 3 
Criteria for recovered paper  
Recovered paper shall cease to be waste where,  upon transfer from the producer to another 
holder, all of the following conditions are fulfilled: 
1. the paper resulting from the recovery operatio n complies with the criteria set out in 
Section 1 of Annex I; 
2. the waste used as input for the recovery ope ration complies with the criteria set out in 
Section 2 of Annex I; 
3. the waste used as input for the recovery  operation has been treated in accordance 
with the criteria set out in Section 3 of Annex I; 
4. the producer or importer has satisfied the re quirements set out in Articles 4 and 5; 
5. the recovered paper is destined for the use of paper fibres for paper manufacturing. In 
addition, the non-paper materials in cons ignments of multi-material paper are 
destined for recovery. 
Article 4 
Statement of conformity 
1. The producer or the importer shall issue, for each consignment of recovered paper, a 
statement of conformity conforming to the model set out in Annex II. 
2. The producer or the importer shall transmit th e statement of conformity to the next 
holder of the recovered paper consignment. The producer or the importer shall retain 
a copy of the statement of conformity for at least one year after its date of issue and 
shall make it available to co mpetent authorities upon request. 
3. The statement of conformity may be in electronic form. 
Article 5 
Management system 
1. The producer shall implement a manageme nt system suitable to demonstrate 
compliance with the criteria referred to in Article 3. 
2. The management system shall include a se t of documented procedures concerning 
each of the following aspects:  
EN 4   EN (a) monitoring of the quality of recovered paper resulting from the recovery 
operation as set out in Section 1 of A nnex I (including sampling and analysis); 
(b) acceptance control of waste used as input for the recovery operation as set out 
in Section 2 of Annex I; 
(c) monitoring of the treatment processes a nd techniques described in Section 3 of 
Annex I; 
(d) monitoring of the recovery operati on of non-paper components of multi-
material paper as set out in Secti on 3 of Annex I, where appropriate; 
(e) feedback from customers concerning compliance with recovered paper quality; 
(f) record keeping of the results of monito ring conducted under points (a) to (d); 
(g) review and improvement of the management system; 
(h) training of staff. 
3. The management system shall also prescrib e the specific monitoring requirements set 
out in Annex I for each criterion. In particul ar as regards multi-material paper, the 
producer shall keep records for at least th ree years, of the id entification of next 
holders until the recovery of all the materi als in the multi-material paper and of the 
amounts transferred, and shall make these re cords available to competent authorities 
upon request. 
4. A conformity assessment body, as defined in Regulation (EC) No 765/20082 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council,  which has obtained accreditation in 
accordance with that Regulation, or an envi ronmental verifier, as defined in Art 2 
(20) (b) of Regulation (EC) No 1221/20093 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council, which is accredited or licensed in  accordance with th at Regulation, shall 
verify that the management system complie s with the requirements of this Article. 
The verification shall be carried out ever y three years. Only verifiers with the 
following scopes of accreditation or licen ce based on the NACE Codes as specified 
in Regulation (EC) No 1893/20064 of the European Parlia ment and of the Council 
are regarded to have sufficient specifi c experience to perform the verification 
mentioned in this Regulation: 
– * NACE Code 38 (Waste collection, treatmen t and disposal activities; material 
recovery); or 
– * NACE Code 17 (Manufacture of  paper and paper products). 
5. The importer shall require his suppliers to implement a management system which 
complies with the requirements of paragraphs  1, 2 and 3 of this Article and has been 
verified by an independent external verifier. 
                                                 
2 OJ L 218, 13.8.2008, p. 30. 
3 OJ L 342, 22.12.2009, p. 1. 
4 OJ L 393, 30.12.2006, p. 1.  
EN 5   EN The management system of the supplier sh all be certified by a conformity assessment 
body which is accredited by an  accreditation body successfully peer evaluated for 
this activity by the body recognised in Artic le 14 of Regulation (EC) 765/2008; or by 
an environmental verifier which is accred ited or licensed by an accreditation or 
licensing body according to Regulation (EC)  No 1221/2009 which is also subject to 
peer evaluation according to Article 31 of that Regulation, respectively. 
Verifiers who want to operate in third c ountries must obtain a specific accreditation 
or licence, in accordance with the specifi cations laid down in Regulation (EC) No 
765/2008 or Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 together with Commission Decision 
2011/832/EU5. 
6. The producer shall give competent author ities access to the management system 
upon request. 
Article 6 
Entry into force 
This Regulation shall enter into  force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of  the European Union . 
It shall apply from […] 2012. [ Please insert a specific date; transitional period 6 month after 
publication ] 
This Regulation shall be binding in  its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 
Done at Brussels,  
 For the Commission 
 The President
                                                 
5 OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 25.  
EN 6   EN ANNEX I  
Criteria for recovered paper  
Criteria Self-monitoring requirements 
Section 1. Quality of paper resulting from the recovery operation 
1.1 The paper resulting from the recovery operation shall be graded  
according to the European standard EN 643. Qualified staff shall grade each consignment.  
 
1.2 The non-paper component  content shall be less than or equal to 
1.5 % of air dry weight. 
A non-paper component  is any material di fferent from paper, 
which is present in recovered pa per, and can be separated using 
dry sorting techniques. Exampl es of non-paper components are 
metals, plastic, glass, textiles , earth, sand, ash, dust, wax, 
bitumen, ceramics, rubber, fabr ic, wood, and synthetic organic 
substances. 
Mineral fillers bound to paper fi bres such as clay, calcium 
carbonate, and starch are considered  as part of paper and do not 
count as non-paper components. 
Multi-material paper with a cont ent of non-paper materials of 
more than 30% of air dry weight shall count in its totality as non-paper component. 
 Qualified staff shall carry out visual  inspection of each consignment. 
At appropriate intervals and subject to  review if significant changes in 
the operating process are made, repres entative samples of each grade of 
recovered paper shall be analysed  gravimetrically to measure the 
content of non-paper components. The non-paper components content 
shall be analysed by weighing after mechanical or manual (as 
appropriate) separation of material s under careful visual inspection. 
The appropriate frequencies of monitoring by sampling shall be 
established taking into acc ount the following factors: 
• the expected pattern of variab ility (for example as shown by 
historical results); 
• the inherent risk of variability in  the quality of the waste used as 
input for the recovery operation and any subsequent processing, for 
instance the higher average content of plastics or glass in sorted paper from multi-material collection systems;  
EN 7   EN • the inherent precision of the monitoring method; and 
• the proximity of results  of the non-paper compon ents content to the 
maximum limitation of 1.5 % of air dry weight. 
The process of determining mo nitoring frequencies should be 
documented as part of the management system and should be available for auditing. 
1.3 The recovered paper, including it s constituents and in particular 
ink and dyes, shall not display any of the hazardous properties 
listed in Annex III to Directive 2008/98/EC. The recovered paper shall comply with the c oncentration limits laid down in 
Commission Decision 2000/532/EC
6, and not exceed the 
concentration limits laid down in Annex IV of Regulation 
850/2004/EC7 of the European Parlia ment and of the Council. 
 Qualified staff shall carry out a visual inspection of each consignment. 
Where visual inspection reveals any indications for possible hazardous properties, further appropriate monitoring measures shall be taken, such as sampling and testing, where appropriate. 
The staff shall be trained on potenti al hazardous properties that may be 
associated with recovered paper and on material components or features 
that allow hazardous properties to be recognised. 
The procedure of recognising hazardous  materials shall be documented 
under the management system. 
1.4 Recovered paper must not contain absorbed oil, solvents, paint, 
aqueous and/or fatty foodstuffs th at can be detected by visual 
inspection. 
 Qualified staff shall carry out a visual inspection of each consignment. 
Where visual inspection reveals signs  of fluid absorption except water 
that may result in e.g. mould growth  or odours, and these signs are non-
negligible, the consignment shall remain waste. 
The staff shall be traine d on potential types of contamination that may 
be associated with recovered pa per and on material components or 
                                                 
6 OJ L 226, 6.9.2000, p. 3.  
7 OJ L L 229, 30.4.2004, p. 1.   
EN 8   EN features that allow recognising the contaminants. 
The procedure of recognising contam ination shall be documented under 
the management system. 
Section 2. Waste used as input  for the recovery operation 
2.1 Hazardous waste, bio-waste, mixe d municipal waste, health care 
waste, and used products of personal hygiene shall not be used as input. 
 Acceptance control of all paper-cont aining waste received (by visual 
inspection) and of the accompanying documentation shall be carried out 
by qualified staff which is trained on how to re cognise paper-containing 
input that does not fulfil the cr iteria set out in this Section.  
Section 3. Treatment processes and techniques  
3.1 The waste paper shall have been segregated at source or while 
collecting, or the input wastes sha ll have been treated to separate 
the paper from the non-paper components. The paper resulting from these operations shall be kept separate from any other waste. 
3.2 All treatments needed to prepare the paper for direct input to pulping in the manufacture of pa per products, such as sorting, 
separating, cleaning, or  grading, and except de -baling, shall have 
been completed. 
3.3 The non-paper materials held in consignments that contain more than 1.5% of air dry weight of multi-material paper shall undergo 
a dedicated treatment process. The different materials in multi-material paper shall be effectively separated from each other. The separated paper fibres from the multi-material paper shall be used for paper manufacturing. The non-pa per materials separated from 
the multi-material paper shall be recovered.
  
    As regards multi-material paper consignments, the producer/importer 
shall identify the next ho lders of the consignment as well as the amounts 
transferred until the recovery of all the materials in the multi-material paper. Such identification can be undertaken by use of a traceability 
system.
  
EN 9   EN Annex II 
Statement of Conformity with the end-of-w aste criteria referred to in Article 4(1)  
1. Producer/importer of the recovered paper: 
Name: Address: Contact person: Telephone: Fax: E-mail:  
2. a) Grade of waste paper in acco rdance with standard EN-643: 
b) Content of non-paper components, in percentage points of  air dry weight: 
c) Origin of the material  (tick where appropriate). 
c.1) multi-material origin, such as from comingled collection. c.2) mono-material origin, such as  from source-separated collection. 
3. The consignment complies with the specifications of standard EN-643. 
4. Quantity of the consignment in kg. 
5. This consignment meets the criteria referred to in paragraphs (1) to (3) of Article 3 of 
(Regulation). 
6. The producer of the recovered paper applie s a management system complying with the 
requirements of Regulation No… [ will be inserted once the regulation adopted ], and 
which has been verified by an accredite d conformity assessment body or by an 
environmental verifier or, where paper which has ceased to be waste is imported into the 
customs territory of the Union, by an  independent external verifier. 
7. The material in this consignment is intende d exclusively for the us e of paper-fibres for 
paper manufacturing, and where applicable, also for the recovery of the non-paper 
materials contained in multi-material paper. 
8. 
  Declaration of the producer/impor ter of the recovered paper: 
I certify that the above information is comple te and correct and to my best knowledge: 
Name:  
EN 10   EN Date: 
Signature: