This document is meant purely as documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
"BCOUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 15 July 1975
on waste
(75/442/EEC)
(OJ L 194, 25.7.1975, p. 39)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
"M1 Council Directive 91/156/EEC of 18 March 1991 L 78 32 26.3.1991
"M2 Council Directive 91/692/EEC of 23 December 1991 L 377 48 31.12.19911975L0442 — EN — 23.12.1991 — 002.001 — 1
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 15 July 1975
on waste
(75/442/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Articles 100 and 235 thereof;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission;Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament (
1);
Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2);
Whereas any disparity between the provisions on waste disposal already
applicable or in preparation in the various Member States may create
unequal conditions of competition and thus directly affect the
functioning of the common market; whereas it is therefore necessary
to approximate laws in this field, as provided for in Article 100 of the
Treaty;
Whereas it seems necessary for this approximation of laws to be
accompanied by Community action so that one of the aims of the
Community in the sphere of protection of the environment and
improvement of the quality of life can be achieved by more extensive
rules; whereas certain specific provisions to this effect should therefore
be laid down; whereas Article 235 of the Treaty should be invoked as the
powers required for this purpose have not been provided for by the
Treaty;
Whereas the essential objective of all provisions relating to waste
disposal must be the protection of human health and the environment
against harmful effects caused by the collection, transport, treatment,
storage and tipping of waste;
Whereas the recovery of waste and the use of recovered materials should
be encouraged in order to conserve natural resources;
Whereas the programme of action of the European Communities on the
environment (3), stresses the need for Community action, including the
harmonization of legislation;
Whereas effective and consistent regulations on waste disposal which
neither obstruct intra-Community trade nor affect conditions of
competition should be applied to movable property which the owner
disposes of or is required to dispose of under the provisions of national
law in force, with the exception of radioactive, mining and agricultural
waste, animal carcases, waste waters, gaseous effluents and waste
covered by specific Community rules;
Whereas, in order to ensure the protection of the environment, provision
should be made for a system of permits for undertakings which treat,
store or tip waste on behalf of third parties, for a supervisory system for
undertakings which dispose of their own waste and for those which
collect the waste of others, and for a plan embracing the essential factors
to be taken into consideration in respect of the various waste disposal
operations;
Whereas that proportion of the costs not covered by the proceeds of
treating the waste must be defrayed in accordance with the ‘polluter
pays’ principle,!B
(1) OJ No C 32, 11. 2. 1975, p. 36.
(2) OJ No C 16, 23. 1. 1975, p. 12.
(3) OJ No C 112, 20. 12. 1973, p. 3.1975L0442 — EN — 23.12.1991 — 002.001 — 2
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
For the purposes of this Directive:
(a) ‘waste’shall mean any substance or object in the categories set out in
Annex I which the holder discards or intends or is required to
discard.
The Commission, acting in accordance with the procedure laid down
in Article 18, will draw up, not later than 1 April 1993, a list of
wastes belonging to the categories listed in Annex I. This list will be
periodically reviewed and, if n ecessary, revised by the same
procedure;
(b) ‘producer’ shall mean anyone whose activities produce waste
(‘original producer’) and/or anyone who carries out pre-processing,
mixing or other operations resulting in a change in the nature or
composition of this waste;
(c) ‘holder’ shall mean the producer of the waste or the natural or legal
person who is in possession of it;
(d) ‘management’ shall mean the collection, transport, recovery and
disposal of waste, including the supervision of such operations and
after-care of disposal sites;
(e) ‘disposal’ shall mean any of the operations provided for in Annex II,
A;
(f) ‘recovery’ shall mean any of the operations provided for in Annex II,
B;
(g) ‘collection’ shall mean the gathering, sorting and/or mixing of waste
for the purpose of transport.
Article 2
1. The following shall be excluded from the scope of this Directive:
(a) gaseous effluents emitted into the atmosphere;(b) where they are already covered by other legislation:
(i) radioactive waste;
(ii) waste resulting from prospecting, extraction, treatment and
storage of mineral resources and the working of quarries;
(iii) animal carcases and the following agricultural waste: faecal
matter and other natural, non-dangerous substances used in
farming;
(iv) waste waters, with the exception of waste in liquid form;(v) decommissioned explosives.
2. Specific rules for particular instances or supplementing those of this
Directive on the management of particular categories of waste may be
laid down by means of individual Directives.
Article 3
1. Member States shall take appropriate measures to encourage:
(a) firstly, the prevention or reduction of waste production and its
harmfulness, in particular by:
— the development of clean technologies more sparing in their use
of natural resources,
— the technical development and marketing of products designed
so as to make no contribution or to make the smallest possible
contribution, by the nature of their manufacture, use or final!B
!M11975L0442 — EN — 23.12.1991 — 002.001 — 3
disposal, to increasing the amount or harmfulness of waste and
pollution hazards,
— the development of appropriate techniques for the final disposal
of dangerous substances contained in waste destined for
recovery;
(b) secondly:
(i) the recovery of waste by means of recycling, re-use or
reclamation or any other process with a view to extracting
secondary raw materials, or
(ii) the use of waste as a source of energy.
2. Except where Council Directive 83/189/EEC of 28 March 1983
laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of
technical standards and regulations (1) applies, Member States shall
inform the Commission of any measures they intend to take to achieve
the aims set out in paragraph 1. The Commission shall inform the other
Member States and the committee referred to in Article 18 of such
measures.
Article 4
Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that waste is
recovered or disposed of without endangering human health and without
using processes or methods which could harm the environment, and in
particular:
— without risk to water, air, soil and plants and animals,
— without causing a nuisance through noise or odours,
— without adversely affecting the countryside or places of special
interest.
Member States shall also take the necessary measures to prohibit the
abandonment, dumping or uncontrolled disposal of waste.
Article 5
1. Member States shall take appropriate measures, in cooperation with
other Member States where this is necessary or advisable, to establish an
integrated and adequate network of disposal installations, taking account
of the best available technology not involving excessive costs. The
network must enable the Community as a whole to become self-
sufficient in waste disposal and the Member States to move towards that
aim individually, taking into account geographical circumstances or the
need for specialized installations for certain types of waste.
2. The network must also enable waste to be disposed of in one of the
nearest appropriate installations, by means of the most appropriate
methods and technologies in order to ensure a high level of protection for
the environment and public health.
Article 6
Member States shall establish or designate the competent authority or
authorities to be responsible for the implementation of this Directive.
Article 7
1. In order to attain the objectives referred to in Article 3, 4 and 5, the
competent authority or authorities referred to in Article 6 shall be
required to draw up as soon as possible one or more waste management
plans. Such plans shall relate in particular to:
— the type, quantity and origin of waste to be recovered or disposed of,
— general technical requirements,!M1
(1) OJ No L 109, 26. 4. 1983, p. 8.1975L0442 — EN — 23.12.1991 — 002.001 — 4
— any special arrangements for particular wastes,
— suitable disposal sites or installations.Such plans may, for example, cover:
— the natural or legal persons empowered to carry out the managment
of waste,
— the estimated costs of the recovery and disposal operations,
— appropriate measures to encourage rationalization of the collection,
sorting and treatment of waste.
2. Member States shall collaborate as appropriate with the other
Member States concerned and the Commission to draw up such plans.
They shall notify the Commission thereof.
3. Member States may take the measures necessary to prevent
movements of waste which are not in accordance ance with their waste
management plans. They shall inform the Commission and the Member
States of any such measures.
Article 8
Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that any
holder of waste:
— has it handled by a private or public waste collector or by an
undertaking which carries out the operations listed in Annex II A or
B, or
— recovers or disposes of it himself in accordance with the provisions
of this Directive.
Article 9
1. For the purposes of implementing Articles 4, 5 and 7, any
establishment or undertaking which carries out the operations specified
in Annex II A must obtain a permit from the competent authority
referred to in Article 6.
Such permit shall cover:— the types and quantities of waste,
— the technical requirements,
— the security precautions to be taken,— the disposal site,
— the treatment method.
2. Permits may be granted for a specified period, they may be
renewable, they may be subject to conditions and obligations, or, notably,
if the intended method of disposal is unacceptable from the point of view
of envrionmental protection, they may be refused.
Article 10
For the purposes of implementing Article 4, any establishment or
undertaking which carries out the operations referred to in Annex II B
must obtain a permit.
Article 11
1. Without prejudice to Council Directive 78/319/EEC of 20 March
1978 on toxic and dangerous waste (
1), as last amended by the Act of!M1
(1) OJ No L 84, 31. 3. 1978, p. 43.1975L0442 — EN — 23.12.1991 — 002.001 — 5
Accession of Spain and Portugal, the following may be exempted from
the permit requirement imposed in Article 9 or Article 10:
(a) establishments or undertakings carrying out their own waste disposal
at the place of production;
and
(b) establishments or undertakings that carry out waste recovery.This exemption may apply only:
— if the competent authorities have adopted general rules for each type
of activity laying down the types and quantities of waste and the
conditions under which the activity in question may be exempted
from the permit requirements,
and
— if the types or quantities of waste and methods of disposal or
recovery are such that the conditions imposed in Article 4 are
complied with.
2. The establishments or undertakings referred to in paragraph 1 shall
be registered with the competent authorities.
3. Member States shall inform the Commission of the general rules
adopted pursuant to paragraph 1.
Article 12
At intervals of three years Member States shall send information to the
Commission on the implementation of this Directive, in the form of a
sectoral report which shall also cover other pertinent Community
Directives. The report shall be drawn up on the basis other of a
questionnaire or outline drafted by the Commission in accordance with
the procedure laid down in Article 6 of Directive 91/692/EEC (
1). The
questionnaire or outline shall be sent to the Member States six months
before the start of the period covered by the report. The report shall be
made to the Commission within nine months of the end of the three-year
period covered by it.
The first report shall cover the period 1995 to 1997 inclusive.
The Commission shall publish a Community report on the implemen-
tation of the Directive within nine months of receiving the reports from
the Member States.
Article 13
Establishments or undertakings which carry out the operations referred
to in Articles 9 to 12 shall be subject to appropriate periodic inspections
by the competent authorities.
Article 14
All establishments or undertakings referred to in Articles 9 and 10 shall:
— keep a record of the quantity, nature, origin, and, where relevant, the
destination, frequency of collection, mode of transport and treatment
method in respect of the waste referred to in Annex I and the
operations referred to in Annex II A or B,
— make this information available, on request, to the competent
authorities referred to in Article 6.
Member States may also require producers to comply with the provisions
of this Article.!M1
(1) OJ No L 377, 31. 12. 1991, p. 48.!M2
!M11975L0442 — EN — 23.12.1991 — 002.001 — 6
Article 15
In accordance with the ‘polluter pays’ principle, the cost of disposing of
waste must be borne by:
— the holder who has waste handled by a waste collector or by an
undertaking as referred to in Article 9,
and/or
— the previous holders or the producer of the product from which the
waste came.
Article 16
1. Every three years, and for the first time on 1 April 1995, Member
States shall send the Commission a report on the measures taken to
implement this Directive. This report shall be based on a questionnaire,
drawn up in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 18,
which the Commission shall send to the Member States six months
before the above date.
2. On the basis of the reports referred to in paragraph 1, the
Commission shall publish a consolidated report every three years, and
for the first time on 1 April 1996.
Article 17
The amendments necessary for adapting the Annexes to this Directive to
scientific and technical progress shall be adopted in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 18.
Article 18
The Commission shall be assisted by a committee composed of the
representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of
the Commission.
The representative of the Commission shall submit to the committee a
draft of the measures to be taken. The committee shall deliver its opinion
on the draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay down
according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by
the majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the EEC Treaty in the case of
decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the
Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member States
within the committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that
Article. The chairman shall not vote.
The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they are in
accordance with the opinion of the committee.
If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the opinion of the
committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the Commission shall, without
delay, submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be
taken. The Council shall act by a qualified majority.
If, on the expiry of a period of three months from the date of referral to
the Council, the Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall be
adopted by the Commission.
Article "M1193
Member States shall bring into force the measures needed in order to
comply with this Directive within 24 months of its notification and shall
forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
Article "M1203
Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the
main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by
this Directive.!M1
!B1975L0442 — EN — 23.12.1991 — 002.001 — 7
Article "M1213
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.!B1975L0442 — EN — 23.12.1991 — 002.001 — 8
ANNEX I
CATEGORIES OF W ASTE
Q1 Production or consumption residues not otherwise specified below
Q2 Off-specification products
Q3 Products whose date for appropriate use has expiredQ4 Materials spilled, lost or having undergone other mishap, including any
materials, equipment, etc., contaminated as a result of the mishap
Q5 Materials contaminated or soiled as a result of planned actions (e.g.
residues from cleaning operations, packing materials, containers, etc.)
Q6 Unusable parts (e.g. reject batteries, exhausted catalysts, etc.)Q7 Substances which no longer perform satisfactorily (e.g. contaminated
acids, contaminated solvents, exhausted tempering salts, etc.)
Q8 Residues of industrial processes (e.g. slags, still bottoms, etc.)Q9 Residues from pollution abatement processes (e.g. scrubber sludges,
baghouse dusts, spent filters, etc.)
Q10 Machining/finishing residues (e.g. lathe turnings, mill scales, etc.)
Q11 Residues from raw materials extraction and processing (e.g. mining
residues, oil field slops, etc.)
Q12 Adulterated materials (e.g. oils contaminated with PCBs, etc.)
Q13 Any materials, substances or products whose use has been banned by law
Q14 Products for which the holder has no further use (e.g. agricultural,
household, office, commercial and shop discards, etc.)
Q15 Contaminated materials, substances or products resulting from remedial
action with respect to land
Q16 Any materials, substances or products which are not contained in the above
categories.!
M11975L0442 — EN — 23.12.1991 — 002.001 — 9
ANNEX IIA
DISPOSAL OPERATIONS
NB: This Annex is intended to list disposal operations such as they occur in
practice. In accordance with Article 4, waste must be disposed of withoutendangering human health and without the use of processes or methods
likely to harm the environment.
D1 Tipping above or underground (e.g. landfill, etc.)D2 Land treatment (e.g. biodegradation of liquid or sludge discards in soils,
etc.)
D3 Deep injection (e.g. injection of pumpable discards into wells, salt domes
or naturally occuring repositories, etc.)
D4 Surface impoundment (e.g. placement of liquid or sludge discards into
pits, ponds or lagoons, etc.)
D5 Specially engineered landfill (e.g. placement into lined discrete cells
which are capped and isolated from one another and the environment, etc.)
D6 Release of solid waste into a water body except seas/oceansD7 Release into seas/oceans including seabed insertion
D8 Biological treatment not specified elsewhere in this Annex which results in
final compounds or mixtures which are disposed of by means of any of theoperations in this Annex
D9 Physico-chemical treatment not specified elsewhere in this Annex which
results in final compounds or mixtures which are disposed of by means of
any of the operations in this Annex (e.g. evaporation, drying, calcination,etc.)
D10 Incineration on land
D11 Incineration at sea
D12 Permanent storage (e.g. emplacement of containers in a mine, etc.)D13 Blending or mixture prior to submission to any of the operations in this
Annex
D14 Repackaging prior to submission to any of the operations in this Annex
D15 Storage pending any of the operations in this Annex, excluding temporary
storage, pending collection, on the site where it is produced.!
M11975L0442 — EN — 23.12.1991 — 002.001 — 10
ANNEX II B
OPERATIONS WHICH MAY LEAD TO RECOVERY
NB: This Annex is intended to list recovery operations as they are carried out in
practice. In accordance with Article 4, waste must be recovered withoutendangering human health and without the use of processes or methods
likely to harm the environment.
R1 Solvent reclamation/regenerationR2 Recycling/reclamation of organic substances which are not used as
solvents
R3 Recycling/reclamation of metals and metal compounds
R4 Recycling/reclamation of other inorganic materialsR5 Regeneration of acids or basesR6 Recovery of components used for pollution abatement
R7 Recovery of components from catalysts
R8 Oil re-refining or other re-uses of oilR9 Use principally as a fuel or other means to generate energyR10 Spreading on land resulting in benefit to agriculture or ecological
improvement, including composting and other biological transformation
processes, except in the case of waste excluded under Article 2 (1) (b) (iii)
R11 Use of wastes obtained from any of the operations numbered R1 — R10R12 Exchange of wastes for submission to any of the operations numbered R1
— R11
R13 Storage of materials intended for submission to any operation in this
Annex, excluding temporary storage, pending collection, on the site whereit is produced.!
M11975L0442 — EN — 23.12.1991 — 002.001 — 11