Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2001:610
Date: 2001-11-15
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Environment;Approximation of laws;Waste
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Austria

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Environment — Waste — Regulation No 259/93 on shipments of waste — Classifi­
cation of planned shipments by the notifier — Competence of the authority of 
dispatch to scrutinise the classification of the purpose of a shipment (recovery or 
disposal) and to object to a shipment on the ground of an incorrect classification 
(Council Regulation No 259/93, Arts 2(c), 7(2), 26 and 30(1)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-6/00 
2. Environment — Waste — Directive 75/442 on waste — Annexes II A and II B — 
Distinction between disposal and recovery operations — Deposit of waste in a disused 
mine — Classification on a case- by-case basis 
(Council Directive 75/442, Annexes II A, item D, and II B) 
1. It follows from the system established 
by Regulation No 259/93 on the super­
vision and control of shipments of 
waste within, into and out of the 
European Community, as amended by 
Commission Decision 98/368, and in 
particular Articles 20 and 30(1) 
thereof, that the competent authority 
of dispatch, within the meaning of 
Article 2(c) of that regulation, is com­
petent to verify whether a proposed 
shipment classified in the notification 
as a 'shipment of waste for recovery' 
does in fact correspond to that classifi­
cation, and that, if that classification is 
incorrect, the authority must oppose 
the shipment by raising an objection 
founded on that misclassification 
within the period prescribed by 
Article 7(2) of that regulation. 
(see paras 40-41, 50, operative part 1) 
2. The deposit of waste in a disused mine 
does not necessarily constitute a dis­
posal operation for the purposes of D 
12 of Annex II A to Directive 75/442 
on waste, as amended by Directive 
91/156 and by Decision 96/350. The 
deposit must be assessed on a case-by-
case basis to determine whether the 
operation is a disposal or a recovery 
operation within the meaning of that 
directive since a single operation can­
not be classified simultaneously as both 
a disposal and a recovery operation. 
Such a deposit constitutes a recovery if 
its principal objective is that the waste 
serve a useful purpose in replacing 
other materials which would have had 
to be used for that purpose. 
(see paras 63, 71, operative part 2) 
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