Joint research projects aim to reduce the quantities of waste which cannot be recycled and to set up processes for recycling industrial and domestic waste and the use of waste for agricultural purposes or energy generation. It contains a list of toxic and dangerous substances divided into 27 groups. The Member States must ensure that such waste is stored and treated only in authorised plants. Costs of waste disposal not covered by recycling must be met according to the polluter-pays principle. The directive introduced supervision and control procedures aimed at preventing similar negligence in the future.
Different provisions apply to Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
It sets conditions for the operation of waste incineration plants and emission limit values. The Community signed the Basel Convention on transboundary movements of hazardous wastes in 1989. In response to a Community initiative, the third conference of the parties to the Basel Convention agreed to amend the Convention so as to ban exports of hazardous waste for final disposal with immediate effect and exports of hazardous waste from the OECD countries for recycling with effect from 1 January 1998. In a 1994 resolution on the need for further development of the Community's strategy on waste management, Parliament was in favour of forging ahead and urged the Commission to develop appropriate proposals placing stronger emphasis on waste prevention, more extensive recycling and market and fiscal incentives. In a further resolution of November 1996, Parliament criticised the Commission proposal on the Community's waste management policy as it did not include any new proposals, and called on the Commission to put in place a real waste management strategy based on sustainable development, ensuring that the present generation's use of resources did not jeopardise their use by future generations.