Order — ECLI:EU:C:2003:108
Date: 2003-02-27
Language of the case: Dutch
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Environment;Free movement of goods;Measures having equivalent effect;Approximation of laws;Quantitative restrictions;Waste
Concepts: Environment
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Netherlands

Summary of the Order 
1. Environment — Waste — Directive 75/442 on waste — Annex IIB — Recovery 
operations — Recycling or reclamation of metals and metal compounds and of other 
inorganic materials — Notion — Inclusion of the notion of 're-use' 
(Council Directive 75/442, Art. 3(l)(b), and Annex IIB, points R4 and R5) 
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SUMMARY — JOINED CASES C-307/00 TO C-311/00 
2. Environment — Wastes — Directive 75/442 on waste — Annexes IIA and IIB — 
Distinction between disposal and recovery operations — Case-by-case classifi­
cation — Criteria — Main objective of the operation 
(Directive 75/442, Annexes IIA and IIB) 
3. Environment — Waste — Regulation No 259/93 on shipments of waste — Classifi­
cation of a waste treatment operation — Differing classifications by the competent 
authorities of dispatch and destination — Precedence of one over the other — None 
(Council Regulation No 259/93) 
4. Environment — Waste — Regulation No 259/93 on shipments of waste — Classifi­
cation of a proposal to ship waste by the notifier — Erroneous classification — 
Obligation for the competent authority to base its opposition to the shipment solely on 
that error of classification 
(Council Regulation No 259/93, Art. 4(2) and (3)) 
5. Environment — Waste — Regulation No 259/93 on shipments of waste — Ship­
ment of waste oils with PCB concentrations in excess of the required standard — 
Illegal waste traffic — Obligation for the competent authority to raise an objection on 
the sole ground of that illegality 
(Council Regulation No 259/93, Art. 26(1)(e); Council Directive 75/439, Art. 8(2)(b)) 
1. Recovery operations entailing the 
recycling or reclamation of metals and 
metal compounds or the recycling or 
reclamation of other inorganic 
materials, as referred to in R4 and R5 
of Annex IIB to Directive 75/442 on 
waste, as amended by Directive 91/156 
and by Decision 96/350, may also 
cover the 're-use' referred to in 
Article 3(1)(b)(i) of that directive. 
Those operations do not necessarily 
imply that the substance in question 
undergoes processing, can be used 
several times or can subsequently be 
reclaimed. 
(see para. 90, operative part 1) 
2. A waste treatment operation may not 
be classified simultaneously as both 
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OLIEHANDEL KOEWEIT AND OTHERS 
disposal and recovery within the mean­
ing of Directive 75/442, as amended by 
Directive 91/156 and Decision 96/350. 
Where an operation, having regard 
solely to its wording, may a priori be 
covered by a disposal operation set out 
in Annex IIA to that directive or a 
recovery operation referred to in 
Annex IIB to that directive, it must be 
ascertained on a case-by-case basis 
whether the main objective of the 
operation in question is that the waste 
serves a useful purpose, by replacing 
the use of other materials which would 
have had to be used to fulfil that 
function, and in such a case to uphold 
the classification as recovery. 
(see para. 99, operative part 2) 
3. It follows from the system put in place 
by Regulation No 259/93 on the super­
vision and control of shipments of 
waste within, into and out of the 
European Community that the classifi­
cation chosen by the competent auth­
orities of the Member State of desti­
nation as regards a given operation 
does not prevail over the classification 
chosen by the competent authorities of 
the Member State of dispatch, any 
more than the classification chosen by 
the latter prevails over that chosen by 
the competent authorities of the 
Member State of destination. 
(see para. 103, operative part 3) 
4. It follows from the system put in place 
by Regulation No 259/93 on the super­
vision and control of shipments of 
waste within, into and out of the 
European Community that, when the 
competent authority of the Member 
State of dispatch considers that the 
purpose of a waste shipment has been 
incorrectly classified as recovery in the 
notification, that authority must base 
its objection to the shipment on the 
ground of that error in classification, 
without reference to a particular provi­
sion of that regulation which, like 
Article 4(3)(b)(i) thereof, defines the 
objections which Member States may 
make to shipments of waste for dis­
posal. 
(see para. 112, operative part 4) 
5. Having regard to Article 8(2)(b) of 
Directive 75/439 on the disposal of 
waste oils, as amended by Directive 
87/101, the shipment of waste oils 
containing more than 50 ppm of PCB 
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SUMMARY — JOINED CASES C-307/00 TO C-311/00 
for use as a fuel constitutes illegal 
traffic in waste within the meaning of 
Article 26(1)(e) of Regulat ion 
No 259/93 on the supervision and 
control of shipments of waste within, 
into and out of the European Commu­
nity, to which the competent authority 
of dispatch is required to object on the 
sole ground of that illegality, without 
reference to any of the specific provi­
sions of that regulation setting out the 
objections which Member States may 
raise to waste shipments. 
(see para. 123, operative part 5) 
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