Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - Second report on the results of the pilot studies referred to in Article 4(3) and Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2002 on waste statistics
Date: 2008-08-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU statistics, export of waste, report, waste, waste disposal, waste management, waste recycling

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 1.8.2008 
COM(2008) 501 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

Second report on the results of the pilot studies referred to in Article 4(3) and Article 
5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
25 November 2002 on waste statistics  

(presented by the Commission) 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION  

Regulation  (EC)  No  2150/2002  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  25 
November  2002  on  waste  statistics1  (Waste  Statistics  Regulation)  came  into  force  on  29 
December  2002.  The  Regulation  establishes  a  framework  for  the  production  of  Community 
statistics on the generation, recovery and disposal of waste.  

The  Regulation  was  formulated  after  giving  careful  consideration  to  the  complexities  and 
difficulties  of  producing  waste  statistics.  During  the  process  of  developing  this  Regulation 
with  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament,  it was  agreed  that  a  number  of  pilot  studies 
would  be  needed  to  clarify  a  number  of  fundamental  issues  concerning  new  areas  of  waste 
statistics. These areas are statistics on waste generated in ‘Agriculture, hunting, forestry and 
fisheries’ (Article 4(3)), and statistics on the ‘Import and export of waste’ (Article 5(1)) for 
which  no  data  are  collected  under  the  Regulation  (EC)  No  1013/2006  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  14 June  2006  on  shipments  of  waste  (Waste  Shipment 
Regulation).2 

The Waste Statistics Regulation stipulates in Article 8(3) that “the Commission shall, within 
two years after the entry into force of this Regulation, submit to the European Parliament and 
the Council a report on the progress of the pilot studies referred to in Article 4(3) and Article 
5(1).” 

Such a report informing the Council and the European Parliament on the progress of the pilot 
study  programme  was  produced  in  early  2005.3  At  that  stage  this  programme  was  not  yet 
finalised. Due to constraints in human resources at Community and Member States level more 
time  was  needed  to  properly  carry  out  the  pilot  studies.  Therefore  the  progress  report  from 
2005 contained only preliminary results and announced another call for proposals as well as a 
final report with recommendations for further implementing measures based on the results of 
these studies.  

2. 

THE PILOT STUDY PROGRAMME 

The Commission has drawn up a programme of pilot studies to be carried out in the Member 
States and the candidate countries. Financial support has been provided to help the countries 
carry  out  these  studies.  Despite  the  difficulties and  delays  in  setting  up  the  programme,  the 
Commission believes that positive long-term effects are expected for each Member State and 
for the Commission.  

Three restricted calls for proposals were sent out by official letter, the first call in May 2003, 
the second in October 2003 and the last call for proposals in May 2005; they were addressed 
to the European Statistical System (ESS), the National Statistical Institutes of the Accession 
Countries  and  the  European  Economic  Area  (EEA).  By  mid-2007  all  pilot  studies  had  been 
finalised, and the final reports are available on the following internet site: 

http://circa.europa.eu/Public/irc/dsis/pip/library?l=/wastesstatisticssregulat/pilotsstudies 

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3 

OJ  L  332,  9.12.2002,  p.  1,  as  last  amended  by  Regulation  (EC)  No  1893/2006  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 393, 30.12.2006, p. 1). 
OJ L 190, 12.7.2006, p. 1. as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1379/2007 (OJ L 309, 
27.11.2007, 7)  
COM(2005)223 

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2.1. 

Framework of the pilot studies 

2.1.1. 

Statistics on the import and export of waste 

Article  1(3)  of  the  Waste  Statistics  Regulation  defines  the  areas  to  be  covered  by  waste 
statistics,  including  "(c)  After  the  pilot  studies  according  to  Article  5:  import  and  export  of 
waste  for  which  no  data  is  collected  under  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  259/93  of  1 
February 1993 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste4…".  

Article 5(1) of the Waste  Statistics Regulation stipulates that the “...Commission  shall draw 
up  a  programme  for  pilot  studies  on  the  import  and  export  of  waste  to  be  carried  out  by 
Member States…”. On the basis of the conclusions of the pilot studies, the Commission is to 
inform the European Parliament and the Council of the possibilities of compiling statistics on 
the import and export of waste.  

One  of  the  main  questions  to  be  addressed  by  the  pilot  studies  on  the  import  and  export  of 
waste is the level of detail to appear in the statistics. This links to the second question of how 
to  collect  data  on  the  import  and  export  of  non-hazardous  waste.  Although  this  so-called 
“green” list waste is incorporated in the Waste Shipment Regulation, it does not fall under the 
reporting obligation of that regulation.  

In total, 11 countries participated in the pilot study programme on the import and export of 
waste, 3 of them from the “new” Member States. Most of the institutions carrying out pilot 
studies  were  National  Statistical  Institutes  (NSIs),  but  environmental  institutions  also 
participated  in  the  programme  (Ministries  of  Environment  or  National  Environment 
Agencies). 

2.1.2. 

Statistics on waste from agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing 

In  most  countries  no  methodology  existed  for  statistics  on  waste  arising  from  the  economic 
sectors of agriculture, hunting, forestry (NACE A) and fishing (NACE B). Article 4(3) of the 
Waste  Statistics  Regulation  provides  for  a  programme  of  pilot  studies  on  waste  from  these 
economic activities, the aim being to develop a methodology for regular data collection.  

The difficulties in this area result from the fact that it is not clear which of the many residuals 
fall under the reporting obligations and which do not. Clear decisions and agreements on the 
identification of these wastes will need to be made during the implementation phase. 

Furthermore, the statistical population within these economic activities is large, consisting of 
many small farms, which often lack the specific knowledge and waste accounts are not always 
kept. Data collection schemes have to be well developed and organised to take account of this 
particular economic structure. 

In  late  2003,  beginning  of  2004  and  late  2005,  20  projects  started  to  investigate  waste 
management  practices  and  the  respective  data  collection  possibilities.  The  majority  of  the 
participating  countries  belong  to  the  “old”  Member  States,  8  studies  being  carried  out  by 
“new” Member States. Institutions participating in the pilot studies were National Statistical 
Institutes and environmental institutions (Ministry of Environment or Environment Agency). 

4 

OJ L 30, 3.2.1993, p. 1. Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 was repealed with effect from 12 July 2007. 

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2.2. 

Results 

For the purposes of this report, the pilot studies have been evaluated with a view to the need 
for  additional  measures  for  the  compilation  of  regular  statistics  and  the  implication  for  the 
Commission to develop legal cover for these measures. 

2.2.1. 

Statistics on the import and export of waste 

Relevance 

According  to  the  Waste  Statistics  Regulation  regular  Community  statistics  are  necessary  to 
monitor  the  implementation  of  waste  policy,  in  particular  compliance  with  the  principles  of 
maximisation of recovery and safe disposal. This implies that at Community level it should be 
possible to establish a link between the amounts of waste generated and the amounts of waste 
recovered and disposed of.  

The current structure of the Regulation does not allow waste streams to be tracked from the 
generating  process  to  the  recovery  and  disposal  operation.  Such  information  can  only  be 
obtained if data on imports and exports of waste are also collected. Member States that do not 
have recycling capacity for a certain type of waste will not be able to monitor to what extent 
this waste generated in their country is recycled unless it is known how much of this waste is 
exported for recycling. Member  States  that import large quantities of certain types of waste 
would no longer be able to monitor progress of management of the waste generated in their 
own country, unless they know how much waste is imported.  

The  need  for  statistics  on  imports  and  exports  of  waste  not  covered  by  other  reporting 
obligations  was  underlined  by  the  pilot  studies.  The  studies  therefore  focused  on  how  to 
compile these statistics.  

Results  

The large majority of countries considered foreign trade statistics to be the most suitable data 
source for producing statistics on the export and import of waste. The general advantage of 
using available statistics based on common parameters and a harmonised nomenclature used 
by  all  Member  States  is  compromised,  however,  by  the  fact  that  different  thresholds, 
expressed  in  monetary  value,  are  applied  by  Member  States  to  reduce  the  administrative 
burden  on  businesses.  This  means  that  data  are  not  fully  comparable  and  may  lead  to  the 
amounts of waste traded being underestimated.  

In addition, the respective nomenclatures for foreign trade statistics (Combined Nomenclature 
–  CN)  and  waste  (European  Waste  Classification  for  Statistics  –  EWC-Stat)  are  not 
comparable  for  all  waste  streams.  As  a  commodity-orientated  classification,  the  Combined 
Nomenclature does not provide a uniform definition of waste materials. “Waste” and “scrap” 
are  specified  by  a  certain  number  of  codes.  Some  of  these  codes  clearly  distinguish  waste 
from products, others combine waste and scrap with other products. For example, some CN 
codes  include  waste  and  products  in  the  same  code.  Furthermore,  an  evaluation  of  the 
available data on foreign trade statistics revealed that, out of 104 waste-relevant codes, 86 are 
affected by confidentiality rules.  

Statistics on the import and export of waste have to be collected only for waste which is not 
covered  by  Regulation  (EC)  No  1013/2006  on  shipments  of  waste.  This  leads  to  another 
methodological  complication  for  the  use  of  foreign  trade  statistics,  as  some  codes  contain 

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wastes that are partially or fully covered by the reporting requirement of the Waste Shipment 
Regulation. 

The  following  table  provides  an  overview  of  the  suitability  of  foreign  trade  statistics  for 
statistics on the import and export of waste: 

Table 1: 
(FTS) and Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR) 

Overview of coverage of waste statistics categories by Foreign Trade Statistics 

EWCSTAT 

Description 

Spent solvents  

Acid, alkaline or saline waste 

Used oils 

Spent chemical catalysts 

Chemical preparation wastes 

Chemical deposits and residues 

Industrial effluent sludges 

Health care and biological wastes 

Metallic waste 

Code 

1.1 

1.2 

1.3 

1.4 

2 

3.1 

3.2 

05 

06 

7.1 

Glass waste 

7.2 

7.3 

7.4 

7.5 

7.6 

7.7 

8 

Paper and cardboard waste 

Rubber waste 

Plastic waste 

Wood waste 

Textile waste 

Waste containing PCB 

Discarded equipment 

8.1 

Discarded vehicles 

Haz / 
non-haz 
H 

NH/H 

H 

NH/H 

NH/H 

NH/H 

NH/H 

NH/H 

NH/H 

NH/H 

NH 

NH 

NH 

NH/H 

NH 

H 

NH/H 

NH/H 

8.41 

Batteries and accumulators wastes 

NH/H 

09 

9.11 

9.3 

10.1 

10.2 

10.3 

11 

Animal and vegetable wastes (excluding 
9.11 and 9.3) 

Animal waste of food preparation and 
products 

Animal faeces, urine and manure 

Household and similar waste 

Mixed and undifferentiated materials 

Sorting residues 

Common sludges 

11.3 

Dredging spoils 

12 excl.  Mineral wastes  

NH 

NH 

NH 

NH 

NH/H 

NH/H 

NH 

NH 

NH/H 

5 

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Number 
of CN 
codes 

Comments 

2 

1 

1 

- 

5 

4 

1 

1 

Covered by the WSR  

Partially covered by FTS (non-H).  
Covered by WSR (H) 

Covered by WSR 

Covered by WSR (H) 

Partially covered by FTS (non-H)  
Covered by WSR (H).  

Covered by WSR (non-H and H) 

Covered by WSR (non-H and H) 

Covered by WSR (non-H and H) 

51 

Good coverage FTS (non-H).  
Covered by WSR (H).  

3 

6 

5 

9 

3 

Good coverage FTS (non-H).  
Covered by WSR (H).  

Good coverage FTS. 

Most CN codes contain waste and products 

Good coverage FTS. 

Partially covered by FTS (non-H)  
Partially covered by WSR (H) 

24 

Good coverage FTS. 

1 

2 

1 

5 

Covered by WSR 

Partially covered by FTS (non-H).  
Covered by WSR (H). 

Partially covered by FTS (non-H).  
Covered by WSR (H) 

Partially covered by FTS (non-H).  
Covered by WSR (H) 

46 

Most CN codes contain waste and products 

28 

Most CN codes contain waste and products 

1 

1 

- 

- 

1 

- 

4 

Covered by WSR 

Covered by WSR 

Covered by WSR (non-H and H) 

Covered by WSR (non-H and H) 

Covered by WSR  

Covered by WSR 

Partially covered by FTS (non-H).  

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12.4, 12.6 

12.4 

Combustion wastes 

NH/H 

10 

12.6 

Contaminated soils and polluted dredging 
spoils 

H 

13 

Solidified, stabilized or vitrified wastes 

NH/H 

- 

- 

Covered by WSR (H) 

Good coverage FTS (non-H) 
Covered by WSR (H). 

Covered by WSR 

Covered by WSR (non-H and H) 

For  certain  waste  types,  including  the  usual  recyclables  such  as  metals,  glass,  paper  and 
plastics, foreign trade statistics provide good coverage. For other waste streams, in particular 
rubber  waste,  wood  waste,  discarded  equipment  and  vehicles,  batteries  and  accumulators 
waste  and  mineral  waste,  coverage  can  be  improved  by  introducing  new  codes  with  a  clear 
distinction between products and waste.  

As regards wastes covered by the Waste Shipment Regulation, most countries stated in their 
final  reports  that  the  statistics  reported  under  the  Basel  Convention  and  to  the  European 
Commission  for  wastes  requiring  notification  meet  the  criteria  requested  by  the  Waste 
Statistics Regulation. Further work is needed to define the conversion of data into the format 
required by the Waste Statistics Regulation.  

Conclusion 

Working  on  the  basis  of  the  results  of  the  pilot  studies,  the  following  recommendation  for 
reporting on the import and export of waste has been developed:  

Table 2: 
Annex I to the Regulation on waste statistics 

Integration of imports and exports into the reporting format in accordance with 

Waste type 

NACE 

Total waste 
generated 

Of which: waste 
exported 

Imports of waste 

1 

2 

_..._ 

19 

20 

Intra-EU Extra-EU 

Intra-EU  Extra-EU

1 

_..._ 

15 Metals  

17 Glass 

19 Paper  

21 Plastics 

_....._ 

47 

48 

To 
tal 

Haz 

Non-haz 

Four columns will be added to the waste generation matrix on the amounts of waste imported 
and exported. For data on imports and exports of waste, no breakdown into NACE activities 
and waste treatment operations will be required: the data will only be broken down by waste 
categories and by intra- and extra-EU trade. Information on imports and exports of hazardous 
waste will be based on reporting under the Waste Shipment Regulation. 

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In order to reduce the reporting burden of Member States and despite certain restrictions and 
limitations,  foreign  trade  statistics  have  been  suggested  as  the  most  suitable  data  source  to 
start  compiling  statistics  on  imports  and  exports  of  waste.  Nonetheless,  the  use  of  foreign 
trade statistics has to be improved by action taken both at Community and at Member States 
level:  

•  at  Community  level:  a  limited  number  of  new  codes  need  to  be  introduced  into  the 
Combined Nomenclature to make a clearer distinction between waste and products and to 
expand the applicability of foreign trade statistics to waste statistics; 

•  at Member States level: the impact of confidentiality and national reporting thresholds for 

foreign trade statistics on imports and exports of waste has to be estimated.  

In  a  bid  to  simplify  and  harmonise  the  use  of  foreign  trade  statistics,  the  Commission 
proposes to provide Member States with country-specific extraction of the relevant data from 
the  foreign  trade  database  COMEXT,  which  is  maintained  by  Eurostat.  Member  States  will 
have  to  approve  or  to  revise  the  data.  However,  under  Article  3(1)  of  the  Waste  Statistics 
Regulation Member States have the freedom to use their own methodologies to compile waste 
statistics; a particular method of data collection cannot be prescribed.  

2.2.2. 

Statistics on waste from agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing 

As  statistics  on  waste  from  agriculture,  hunting,  forestry  and  fishing  are  not  compiled  on  a 
regular basis in most Member States, special emphasis has been directed towards pilot studies 
on this subject.  

The essential issue for regular statistics on waste from these economic activities has been the 
question of what materials or substances fall under the  waste statistics reporting obligations 
and  which  are  excluded  from  reporting  as  they  are  recycled  at  the  site  of  production.  The 
largest waste stream in this context is bio-organic waste, in particular manure. Also prominent 
are  residues  from  logging,  hunting  and  fishing,  which  usually  remain  in  the  forest  and  are 
thrown back into the sea. The general recommendation from the pilot studies was to exclude 
bio-organic waste which remains at the place of production as part of the biological cycles.  

A proper distinction between waste and non-waste is an issue of ongoing debates. Although 
the  decision  with  regard  to  waste/non-waste  is  not  entirely  clear,  recent  European  Court  of 
Justice judgments have improved clarity with regard to manure. In Joined cases C-416/025 and 
C-121/036  the  European  Court  of  Justice  found  that  livestock  effluent  may  fall  outside 
classification as waste if it is used as soil fertiliser as part of a lawful practice of spreading on 
clearly  identified  parcels  and  if  storage  of  the  effluent  is  limited  to  the  needs  of  those 
spreading  operations.  Furthermore,  this  analysis  should  not  be  limited  to  livestock  effluent 
used as fertiliser on land forming part of the same agricultural holding as that which generated 
the effluent.  

Accordingly,  livestock  effluents  (animal  faeces,  urine  and  manure,  including  spoiled  straw, 
effluent)  are  not  considered  to  be  waste  on  condition  that  they  are  used  as  fertiliser  in 
compliance  with  the  legislation,  and  that  there  is  no  further  recovery  process  before  re-use. 
The use of manure as a fertiliser “as part of a lawful practice” means in this context applying 

5 
6 

OJ C 271, 29 .10.2005, p. 1, Judgment of 8.9.2005, Commission/ Spain (Rec.2005,p.I-7487) 
OJ C 271, 29 .10.2005, p. 2. Judgment of 8.9.2005, Commission/ Spain (Rec.2005,p.I-7569) 

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the “code of good agricultural practice” and meeting the requirements set out by the Council 
Directive  91/676/EEC  of  12  December  1991  concerning  the  protection  of  waters  against 
pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources.7  

As a result, bio-organic waste generated by agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing activities 
which  stays  at  the  place  of  production  or  is  used  within  the  sector  is  excluded  from  the 
reporting obligation. In cases where this kind of waste is treated in a waste treatment facility it 
has to be reported pursuant to the Waste Statistics Regulation. 

Other topics of concern for statistics on waste from NACE sections A and B result from the 
economic structure of these sections. In most Member States there are a high number of small 
farms with fewer than 10 employees. Countries have to develop methodologies to estimate the 
waste generated by these small farms and the pilot studies were very helpful in this respect.  

Conclusion  
Given  the  many  common  difficulties  in  providing  reliable  data  for  the  agriculture,  forestry, 
hunting  and  fishing  industries,  the  pilot  studies  have  provided  a  very  useful  yardstick  for 
exploring  the  situation  and  the  possibilities  regarding  the  production  of  high  quality  waste 
statistics. Of particular importance were the clarification of the scope for waste statistics and 
the exchange of experiences gained through these studies on developing methods to include 
small enterprises in the statistics and to produce the waste factors for certain waste streams.  
The pilot studies on waste arising from the economic sectors of agriculture, hunting, forestry 
(NACE A) and fishing (NACE B) recommended no additional implementing measures. The 
current  Community  statistical  legislation  on  waste  statistics  is  sufficiently  detailed  to  cover 
waste generated within the economic activities of NACE A and B.  

3. 

FINANCIAL ASPECTS  

A  total  budget  of  €986  535.65  was  allocated  to   this  pilot  study  programme,  of  which 
€356 110.00 was spent on pilot studies on the export and import of waste and €630 425.65 on 
pilot studies on waste statistics relating to agriculture, hunting, forestry and fisheries. 

4. 

CONCLUSIONS 

Statistics on the import and export of waste  

The results of the pilot studies on statistics on the import and export of waste confirmed the 
need for these statistics for the purposes of monitoring Community waste policy, in particular, 
compliance  with  the  principles  of  maximisation  of  recovery  and  safe  disposal.  The  results 
further  demonstrate  that,  although  foreign  trade  statistics  have  been  identified  as  the  best 
source, they cannot be used without further adaptation of the statistical nomenclature and final 
verification of the data by the Member States. However, Article 3(1) of the Waste Statistics 
Regulation  precludes  any  specific  method  of  data  compilation  from  being  prescribed  and 
Member  States  remain  free  to  decide  what  methods  they  wish  to  apply  to  collect  waste 
statistics.  

7 

OJ  L  375,  31.12.1991,  p.  1.  Directive  amended  by  Regulation  (EC)  No  1882/2003  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p 1).  

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The current provisions of the Waste Statistics Regulation do not describe the requirements for 
statistics on the import and export of waste in sufficient detail. The Commission will therefore 
propose specifications for these statistics by way of a formal proposal to amend Annex I of 
the above Regulation. This will: 

•  provide a breakdown of statistics on the import and export of waste into intra- and extra-
EU,  and  into  imports  and  exports.  A  breakdown  into  economic  activities  will  not  be 
required;  the  breakdown  by  waste  categories  will  contain  sufficient  information.  These 
provisions will result in four additional columns to the table on waste generation in Annex 
I to the Waste Statistics Regulation;  

•  simplify  and  harmonise  the  use  of  foreign  trade  statistics,  for  the  purposes  of  which  the 
Commission will provide Member States with an extraction of the relevant data from the 
foreign trade statistics database COMEXT; 

•  require Member States to confirm or to revise the data. Member States may also compile 
statistics on the import and export of waste by other means, in accordance with Article 3(1) 
of the Waste Statistics Regulation.  

Statistics on waste generation by NACE sectors A and B 

With  regard  to  statistics  on  waste  from  agriculture,  hunting,  forestry  and  fisheries,  the  pilot 
studies  concluded  that  no  additional  implementing  measures  are  necessary.  The  current 
Community  statistical  legislation  on  waste  is  sufficiently  detailed  to  cover  waste  generated 
within the economic activities of NACE A and B.  

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