EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 27.2.2017 COM(2017) 88 final REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the implementation of EU waste legislation for the period 2010-2012



Implementation of Directive 2008/98/EC on waste, Directive 86/278/EEC on sewage sludge, Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste, Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste, Directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), and Directive 2006/66/EC on batteries and accumulators



REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the implementation of EU waste legislation for the period 2010-2012 1.INTRODUCTION This report provides information about the implementation of the following waste directives over the period 2010-2012: Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain directives (the Waste Framework Directive (WFD)); Council Directive 86/278/EEC of 12 June 1986 on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture (the Sewage Sludge Directive); Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste (the Landfill Directive); European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste (the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive); Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (the WEEE Directive); Directive 2006/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006 on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators and repealing Directive 91/157/EEC (Text with EEA relevance) (the Batteries Directive). The report is based on information Member States provided in their replies to the implementation questionnaires. In cases in which Member States did not provide the information requested, the report draws on other available sources of information such as European Environment Agency reports, information from Member State websites and replies submitted for previous reporting periods. Detailed information on the implementation of individual directives can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/reporting/index.htm . 2.Timeliness and Quality of Reporting Of the 27 Member States under the obligation to report, most have submitted replies to the implementation questionnaires for the directives this report covers. Member States could better fulfil their reporting obligations, by providing reports on time, answering all the questions and giving complete information. Annex 1 gives an overview of the reports provided. The quality and level of detail of reporting and of the information provided varied considerably. Unclear, vague answers were repeatedly provided. For instance, answers frequently only referred to national legislation or to answers given in previous reporting periods, without providing further information on the implementation of the directives on the ground, even when this was explicitly requested. When asked to provide statistical data and data on compliance with targets set in the directives, most Member States referred to the annual reports submitted to Eurostat. 3.Directive 2008/98/EC on Waste

Member States had to transpose the new Waste Framework Directive by 12 December 2010 at the latest. At the time of reporting all Member States had either transposed it or were in the process of doing so. Compared to the previous reporting period, municipal waste generation per capita was lower, the landfill of municipal waste had decreased and recycling and incineration with energy recovery had increased. By the end of 2012, at least half of the Member States reached or exceeded the 2020-target of preparing for re-use and recycling 50 % of household and similar waste or were well on track to reach them by then. Seven Member States reported that by 2012 they had already reached or exceeded that target. Seven other Member States reported that they had prepared for re-use and recycled more than 40 % of household and similar waste. A number of Member States submitted data on the recovery rates of construction and demolition waste for 2010-2012. Fourteen Member States reported that they had already reached or exceeded the target of recovering 70 % of construction and demolition waste. Most Member States have published waste prevention programmes. Eight Member States were still updating their waste management plans in line with the requirements of the Waste Framework Directive. Member States have incorporated the principles of extended producer responsibility, self-sufficiency and proximity and the polluter pays principle, along with the TEEP requirements, into national legislation and policy. There are significant shortcomings in the application of EU waste legislation to waste management in a number of Member States that still largely rely on landfilling of municipal waste. The Commission has developed targeted advice on the implementation of specific measures and the use of European funds to help these Member States improve their waste management. 4.Directive 86/278/EEC on Sewage Sludge The Sewage Sludge Directive has been in force for almost three decades and its implementation remains unproblematic. Little has changed since the previous reporting period. During the reporting period not all Member States used sewage sludge for agricultural purposes. In some Member States there is no or very little agricultural use of sludge. One Member State reported that it has begun to use sewage sludge for agricultural purposes. All Member States have put sludge treatment infrastructure in place and reported on the methods of treating sewage sludge before it is applied to land. The performance of Member States varies greatly with regard to the requirement to set frequencies for the testing of soil on which sludge is used. Some Member States have stipulated times at which soil should be analysed subsequent to initial applications of sludge. Other Member States have set frequencies as long as 10 or even 20 years. Others have not set frequencies, requiring soil testing only if it is expected that the limit values will be exceeded. The data the Member States have provided on sludge produced and used in agriculture confirm that this remains one of the predominant uses. Although the generation of sludge was reduced by 2 % between 2010 and 2012 compared to between 2007 and 2009, the Member States reported that almost the same amount of sludge was used in agriculture as in the previous period. This corresponds to approximately 45 % of the amount of sludge produced. 5.Directive 1999/31/EC on the Landfill of Waste The Landfill Directive has been in force for a long time and there has been little change since the previous reporting period Member States have taken measures to minimise or eliminate waste to landfill. The landfill of municipal waste in the EU-27 has decreased from a total of 96,055 million tonnes/193 kg per capita in 2009 to a total of 78,036 million tonnes/152 kg per capita in 2012. The average rate of landfilling of the total waste generated decreased to 32 % in 2012. Some Member States reported landfilling rates for municipal waste below 5 % in 2012. In a number of Member States, however, landfilling is still the predominant municipal waste treatment operation, with landfilling rates of more than 80 % of the total waste generated. These Member States have a lot to do to reduce landfilling. Most Member States reported a year-by-year reduction of landfilling of biodegradable municipal and other biodegradable waste. The completeness of the data submitted varies however. Member States have taken measures to provide for the collection, treatment and use of landfill gas and to minimise nuisances and hazards. They have also transposed the requirement for waste acceptance criteria into their national legislation, including technical requirements such as the monitoring of leachate, surface water, ground water and gas emissions. Data on the practical enforcement of these requirements by landfill operators were not always provided however. Fifteen Member States reported that all of their hazardous waste landfills meet the requirements of the directive and seven reported that they still had non-compliant landfills. Eleven Member States reported that all non-hazardous waste landfills comply with the directive and 10 Member States reported that they still had non-compliant landfills. Ten Member States reported that all inert waste landfills comply with the directive and eight Member States reported that they still had such non-compliant landfills. The number of non-compliant landfills in operation for all waste streams (hazardous, non-hazardous and inert) remains a matter of concern in certain Member States. This was also the case in the previous reporting period. A lot needs to be done to tackle the problem.

6.Directive 94/62/EC on Packaging and Packaging Waste The Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive has been in force for more than twenty years and there has been little change since the previous reporting period. Member States have taken action to prevent the generation of packaging waste through a variety of measures. These include prevention plans, producer responsibility schemes, taxation measures, pay as you throw systems, green public procurement, information and awareness-raising campaigns, eco-design and action plans for key industries. Between 2010 and 2012, the amount and composition of packaging and packaging waste reported remained stable, with the reported amount of packaging waste being generated across the EU-27 increasing by 0.16 % during that period. Most Member States have taken a variety of measures to encourage re-use. These include deposit and return systems for specific types of packaging, taxation measures, obligations to offer products in reusable packaging, promoting re-use in waste plans and as waste prevention measures, and information and awareness-raising measures. Some Member States have introduced, or plan to introduce, new deposit refund systems. The vast majority of Member States reached the targets for the overall recovery and recycling of packaging waste and the material-specific recycling targets. In general, Member States’ performance improved slightly for recovery (from 76.3 % in 2010 to 78.5 % in 2012) and recycling (from 63.3 % in 2010 to 64.6 % in 2012). Most Member States oblige producers to collect packaging waste for recovery and recycling. Packaging producers fulfil their obligations by setting up their own take-back schemes or by participating in a scheme covering the return, collection, re-use, recycling or other recovery of packaging waste. Some Member States have made progress by expanding existing collective packaging waste management schemes or by setting up additional return schemes and increasing the number of collective compliance schemes for packaging waste. Most Member States reported the existence of national standards for the maximum concentration levels of heavy metals in packaging. Based on Commission Decision 2009/292 EC of 24 March 2009, a derogation for plastic crates and plastic pallets from the heavy metal concentration levels set out in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive is in place. Despite the obligation to report on the functioning of the system provided for in this decision and on progress made in phasing out plastic crates and plastic pallets with too high a concentration of heavy metals, no Member State provided any information about this. 7.Directive 2002/96/EC on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) The current reporting exercise covers the old WEEE Directive. Directive 2012/19/EU has since replaced it. All Member States have set up collection systems and introduced measures concerning the environmentally sound treatment of WEEE and measures ensuring financing by producers of the collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE from private households. They have also introduced measures to ensure that producers provide consumers and the WEEE treatment facilities with relevant information. More WEEE was collected, re-used/recycled and recovered between 2010 and 2012 than during the previous reporting period. The amount of WEEE collected from private households across the EU-27 increased from 2.97 million tonnes by the end of 2009 to 3.02 million tonnes by the end of 2012. During this period, 17 Member States reached the collection target of 4 kg per inhabitant of WEEE from private households. Most Member States reached the directive’s category-specific targets for re-use/recycling and recovery, with rates improving over the reporting period. The highest rates were reported for consumer equipment and small household appliances. With regard to consumer equipment, 26 Member States reached the 65 % re-use/recycling target and the 75 % recovery target. These Member States also reached the 50 % re-use/recycling target and the 70 % recovery target for household appliances. The number of Member States that reached these targets was slightly higher than in the previous reporting period, although the list of Member States changes with each category of WEEE. The number of Member States that reached the category-specific targets for re-use and recycling fell slightly for only a few categories of WEEE. 8.Directive 2006/66/EC on Batteries and Accumulators This was the first time Member States were required to report to the Commission on the Batteries Directive. It is therefore not possible to compare with the previous reporting period. All Member States have transposed the requirements of the Batteries Directive into national legislation. Most Member States set up collection schemes for batteries and accumulators in the reporting period and a few reported that they were still making these schemes fully operational. Member States have measures in place for the treatment and recycling of waste batteries and accumulators. Member States reported that they had put in place a range of measures to prevent waste batteries and accumulators being sent to landfill, such as permit systems and lists of types of waste prohibited from landfilling. Eleven Member States reported to have put in place measures going beyond the obligations of the directive. These include minimising the disposal of waste from industrial and automotive batteries and accumulators as mixed municipal waste, awareness-raising campaigns in schools and communities and making collection points for free take-back available. By 26 September 2012 20 Member States had reached the minimum collection target of 25 %.

Four Member States reported that they had achieved 100 % recycling and eight Member States reported rates between 50 % and 99 %. Nineteen Member States reached and/or exceeded the recycling efficiency rates for lead-acid, nickel-cadmium and other batteries and accumulators. Two Member States reached and/or exceeded the rates for lead-acid and other batteries and accumulators and two Member States reached and/or exceeded them for lead-acid batteries and accumulators only. Two Member States exported waste batteries and accumulators to third countries. A number of Member States exported them to other Member States, something the implementation questionnaire doesn’t fully convey. Member States without any domestic treatment or recycling facilities exported all of their collected batteries and accumulators. However, a number of Member States with domestic treatment facilities also reported that they had exported their waste batteries and accumulators for treatment elsewhere in the EU. 9.Conclusions Not all Member States fulfilled the obligation in the directives to report to the Commission on their implementation every three years. Some did not submit replies to the Implementation Questionnaire 2010-2012. Replies vary between detailed and complete to only referring to national legislation. Most Member States reported on whether measures had been transposed into national law but did not comment on whether actions had proved effective or had led to improvements in practice. Replies were also sometimes inconsistent. In some cases data were missing. In others, the replies did not enable any comparison between Member States or between a Member State’s performance in the previous and the current reporting period. In many cases replies did not provide sufficient information for an assessment of the state of actual implementation of the directives. For instance, many replies simply referred to national legislation or transcribed parts of legislative texts, without providing any further information on implementation, or referring only to replies to the implementation questionnaires for previous reporting periods, without providing the information requested or information on the evolution of the situation over time. In conclusion, the triennial implementation reports prepared by the Member States have not proven effective for verifying compliance with the directives, their implementation and their impact. The reporting exercise also requires a lot of resources and it may create unnecessary administrative burden. The most objective and accurate information for assessing performance on waste management across Member States is the data they have to provide every year on waste generated, waste collection, waste recycling and recovery, landfill and sewage sludge generation and use. They should therefore do more to improve the quality, reliability and comparability of such data. They could do this by benchmarking reporting methodologies and introducing a data quality check report, so that when reporting on the achievement of the targets set out in the legislation, Member States use the most recent and harmonised methodology. These conclusions are addressed in the recent review of waste policy and legislation. In it, the Commission proposed to repeal provisions obliging Member States to produce triennial implementation reports and to base compliance monitoring exclusively on quality statistical data that Member States must provide the Commission with annually.



Annex 1: Member States’ responses to the implementation Questionnaires received by the Commission before the end of 2014 Member States Waste Framework Directive

2008/98/EC WEEE Directive

2002/96/EC Landfill Waste Directive

1999/31/EC Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive

94/62/EC Sewage Sludge Directive

86/278/EEC Batteries Directive

2006/66/EC Austria + + + + + + Belgium - + + + + + Bulgaria + + + + + + Croatia +

not required Not Required Not Required +

not required +

not required Not Required Cyprus + - + + + + Czech Republic + + + + + + Denmark + - + - - - Estonia + + + + + + Finland + + + + + + France - + - + - + Germany + + + + + + Greece + + + + + - Hungary + + + + + + Ireland + - + + + + Italy + + - + + + Latvia + + + + - - Lithuania + + + + + + Luxembourg + - + + + + Malta + + - + + + Netherlands - + + + + + Poland + + - + - + Portugal + + + - + + Romania + - + - - + Slovakia + + + + + + Slovenia + + + + + + Spain + + + + + + Sweden + + + + + + United Kingdom + - + + + + EU-28: percentage received (%) 89 % (25/28) 75 % (21/28) 82 % (23/28) 89 % (25/28) 82 % (23/28) 86 % (24/28) On time: by 30.09.2013 Between 1.11.2013 and 31.12.2014 Between 1.10.2013 and 31.10.2013 No report received before 31.12.2014



Annex 2: generation and treatment of waste Municipal waste generated by Member State (thousand tonnes)

Source: EUROSTAT (online data code: t_env_wasst) Treatment of municipal waste by Member State (2012) Source: EUROSTAT (online data code: t_env_wasst) Re-use and recycling of household waste by Member State Source: Data provided by Member States to the European Commission in Implementation Questionnaires 2010-2012 or to EUROSTAT using the EDAMIS portal



Preparation for the re-use and recycling of household waste — calculation method Member State Rates of preparation for the re-use and recycling of household waste Calculation method the Member State used: 2010 2011 2012 Austria 2 79 % - 79 % Belgium 3 58 % 59 % 57 % Bulgaria 3 29 % 32 % - Croatia 2 - 15 % - Cyprus 2 20.3 % 22.4 % - Czech Republic 2 38 % 50 % 46 % Denmark 1 - - 53 % Estonia 2 - 27 % 27 % Finland 4 33 % 35 % 33 % France 2 - 59 % - Germany 4 63 % 63 % - Greece - - - - Hungary 2 34 % 40 % - Ireland 1 53 % 45 % 44 % Italy 2 37 % 39 % 41 % Latvia 4 16 % 18 % 18 % Lithuania 2 37 % 43 % 42 % Luxembourg 3 51 % 50 % - Malta 1 - 23 % 24 % Netherlands 2 48 % 48 % 48 % Poland 2 - - 18 % Portugal 2 19 % 19 % 22 % Romania - - - - Slovakia 3 9 % 13 % 13 % Slovenia 4 22 % 34 % - Spain 4 29 % 27 % - Sweden 2 62 % - - United Kingdom 3 40 % 43 % 44 % Notes: To verify compliance with the target under Article 11(2)(a) of the Waste Framework Directive, Decision 2011/753/EU allows Member States to use four different calculation methods to report their re-use and recycling rates for household waste. The difference between the calculation methods relates to the waste types each covers, as follows. Method 1: paper, metal, plastic and glass household waste. Method 2: paper, metal, plastic and glass waste and other single waste streams from households or similar waste streams. Method 3: household waste. Method 4: municipal waste. Source: Data provided by Member States to the European Commission in Implementation Questionnaires 2010-2012 or to EUROSTAT using the EDAMIS portal.



Recovery of construction and demolition (C&D) waste by Member State Source: Data provided by Member States to the European Commission in Implementation Questionnaires 2010-2012 or to EUROSTAT using the EDAMIS portal.

Annex 3: sewage sludge The amounts of sludge produced and used in Member States, 2010-2012

Amounts of sludge produced by waste water plants, dry matter (tonnes/year) Amounts of sludge used in agriculture 2010 2011 2012 2010 2011 2012 Austria * 117 471 119 069 34 798 33 076 113 248 13 029 Bulgaria 49 757 51 388 59 261 13 644 17 561 21 241 Croatia 21 315 18 570 19 457 546 681 954 Cyprus 7 083 6 815 6 533 5 294 3 912 2 756 Czech Republic 162 724 163 739 162 217 27 253 20 562 35 542 Denmark 131 900 no data no data 79 140 no data no data Estonia 27 950 27 780 22 796 14 100 16 030 12 536 Finland 142 700 140 900 no data 7 500 3 800 no data France 1 127 039 1 094 836 1 124 363 779 609 790 780 787 300 Germany 1 774 793 1 836 952 1 742 920 610 249 600 270 580 031 Greece 103 866 90 655 89 978 270 180 9 358 Hungary ** 236 043 217 494 no data 24 580 22 322 no data Ireland 89 991 85 648 72 429 82 670 57 699 68 329 Italy 839 725 851 760 654 024 248 215 299 159 274 095 Latvia 23 258 22 458 22 686 8 131 5 307 6 740 Lithuania 67 990 65 971 no data 15 517 15 877 no data Luxembourg 7 434 7 852 8 733 2 738 3 569 4 292 Netherlands 523 744 513 786 510 000 23 853 20 708 20 000 Poland 533 400 567 300 562 000 98 200 112 000 123 000 Portugal *** 162 680 140 013 284 776 5 646 23 087 29 171 Romania **** 138 850 124 500 no data 0 0 no data Slovakia 54 760 58 720 58 706 923 462 1 140 Slovenia 29 996 26 808 26 171 3 0 2 Spain 1 086 720 1 058 999 1 082 669 895 791 863 765 870 059 Sweden 211 100 214 420 207 460 49 600 44 170 48 340 United Kingdom 1 422 024 1 434 710 1 152 327 1 067 672 1 074 424 834 202 * Data for 2011 do not include data from Lower Austria. ** Not final data as the final calculation of 2011 data is ongoing. *** An estimated average value of 20 % dry matter was used. **** Data used for 2007-2009.



Annex 4: waste landfill Table 1: Number of Landfills in 2012 Member State hazardous waste Non-hazardous waste Inert waste Other waste Austria 0 156 35 505 Belgium 7 31 14 1 Bulgaria 8 174 3 - Cyprus 1 119 2 - Czech Republic 26 152 62 - Croatia Not required Denmark 6 52 6 0 Estonia 7 6 - - Finland 22 90 4 - France - - - - Germany 76 2 643 1 742 11 Greece 2 74 - 2 Hungary 13 72 11 - Ireland 0 36 5 45 Italy - - - - Latvia 1 11 - - Lithuania 0 11 3 0 Luxembourg 0 2 11 0 Malta 0 - - - Netherlands 22 22 22 - Poland - - - - Portugal 2 63 4 0 Romania 105 105 105 - Slovakia 11 90 17 - Slovenia 2 71 14 0 Spain 14 206 170 - Sweden 46 108 30 0 United Kingdom 225 423 429 - EU27: 355 3 719 2 362 564



Table 2: Rest capacity of landfills for non-hazardous waste in 2012 (in 1 000 tonnes or m3) Member State hazardous waste Non-hazardous waste Inert waste Other waste Austria 0 38 900 5 300 - Belgium 3 354 t + 607 460 m3 8 763 t + 16 385 m3 3 992 2 076.52 Bulgaria 3 693 235 258 1 439 0 Cyprus - - - 0 Czech Republic 8 821 33 584 9 830 0 Croatia Not required Denmark 463 692 260 0 Estonia 205 500 6 200 0 0 Finland 18 061 48 667 496 0 France - - - - Germany 54 800 455 200 184 100 7 600 Greece 1.5 - 0 - Hungary 185 per year 38 900 16 800 0 Ireland - 14 500 - - Italy - - - - Latvia 180 16 211 0 0 Lithuania 0 1 250 per year 106 per year 0 Luxembourg 0 1 160 127 m3 14 593 544 m3 0 Malta 0 - - - Netherlands - 39 690 m3 0 0 Poland - - - - Portugal 1 670 28 275 653 0 Romania - - - - Slovakia 813 8 964 - 0 Slovenia 75 6 464 609 0 Spain 5 130 t +

80 000 m3 124 168 t + 53 307 000 m3 102 254 0 Sweden 7 050 34 726 637 0 United Kingdom 18 545 485 174 130 024 0 EU-27 551 120 2 288 590 978 550 Source: Implementation Questionnaires 2010-2012 and EUROSTAT 2015.



ANNEX 5: packaging and packaging waste

Packaging and packaging waste generated by Member State (tonnes) Source: EUROSTAT (online code: t_env_wasst)



Recovery of packaging waste by Member State (%) Source: EUROSTAT (online code: t_env_wasst) Recycling of packaging waste by Member State (%) Source: EUROSTAT (online code: t_env_wasst)

Annex 6: waste of electrical and electronic equipment Total amount of WEEE collected from private households by Member State (kg per capita) Source: EUROSTAT (online code: env_waselee)



ANNEX 7: batteries and accumulators Collection of waste batteries and accumulators by Member State (%) Source: Data provided by Member States to the European Commission (EC, 2014)