Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on implementation of the Community waste legislation - Directive 2006/12/EC on waste, Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste, Directive 75/439/EEC on waste oils, Directive 86/278/EEC on sewage sludge, Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste, Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste and Directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment - For the period 2004-2006 {COM(2009)633 final}
Date: 2009-11-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: application of EU law, dangerous substance, disclosure of information, electronic waste, environmental impact, impact study, packaging product, report, sewage sludge, used oil, vehicle, waste management

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 20.11.2009 
SEC(2009) 1586 final 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

accompanying the 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 
ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMMUNITY WASTE LEGISLATION  
Directive 2006/12/EC on waste, 
Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste,  
Directive 75/439/EEC on waste oils,  
Directive 86/278/EEC on sewage sludge,  
Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste,  
Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste and 
Directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment 
FOR THE PERIOD 2004-2006 

{COM(2009)633 final}

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COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

accompanying the 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 
ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMMUNITY WASTE LEGISLATION  
Directive 2006/12/EC on waste, 
Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste,  
Directive 75/439/EEC on waste oils,  
Directive 86/278/EEC on sewage sludge,  
Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste,  
Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste and 
Directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment 
FOR THE PERIOD 2004-2006 

{COM(2009)633 final} 

DETAILS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF DIFFERENT DIRECTIVES 

The report is based on the replies of Member States to implementation questionnaires1. The 
details  and  analysis  of  the  replies  are  contained  in  the  reports  prepared  by  Ecologic  and 
published at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/reporting/index.htm. 

1. 

WASTE FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE

2 

Directive  75/442/EEC  has  been  codified  as  Directive  2006/12/EC,  recently  revised  as 
2008/98/EC3 which has to be transposed by the Member States into their national legislation 
by 12 December 2010. This report covers the implementation of Directive 2006/12/EC.  

The Waste Framework Directive (WFD) is one of the cornerstone pieces of the Community 
legislation  on  waste.  It  lays  down  the  basic  definitions,  principles  and  rules  related  to  the 
management of waste, such as the definition of waste, the polluter pays principle, the waste 
hierarchy, the prohibition to dump waste illegally or an obligation to manage waste without 
endangering the environment and human health. The WFD introduce mechanisms aiming to 
ensure proper waste management such as permit systems for waste management, registration 
of  certain  waste  operations,  obligation  for  Member  States  to  elaborate  waste  management 
plans (WMP). 

All  Member  States  to  date  have  drawn  up  one  or  more  waste  management  plans,  and  all 
indicated the existence of a chapter dedicated to packaging and packaging waste as required 
by  the  WFD  and  the  Packaging  Directive.  These  plans  vary  widely  as  to  their  content, 
structure, degree of detail, and administrative level, depending on the experience of Member 
States  in  waste  management  planning.  There  are  countries  featuring  one  national  waste 
management  plan  only,  countries  with  both  national  and  regional/local  waste  management 

1 
2 
3 

See: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/reporting/index.htm. 
Directive 2006/12/EC on waste, OJ L 114, 27.4.2006, p. 9–21. 
OJ L 312, 22.11.2008, p. 3–30. 

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plans and countries having only regional waste management plans. This diversity makes the 
evaluation and comparison of the plans difficult: while the plans contain all elements required 
by the legislation, it is not evident whether the planning reflects the actual needs of a country 
or  a  region  in  terms  of  waste  management  infrastructure.  The  revised  WFD  will  provide 
clearer  requirements  for  the  plans,  but  further  guidance  is  needed  to  make  this  policy 
implementation instrument more effective. 

A  limited  number  of  Member  States  collaborated  with  other  countries  in  drawing  up  their 
WMP, mostly where such cooperation was justified by geographical proximity. According to 
the WFD, Member States may take measures necessary to prevent movements of waste which 
do not comply with their waste management plans, and fourteen Member States informed the 
Commission of taking such measures. 

All  but  three  of  the  responding  Member  States  informed  the  Commission  of  having  taken 
measures  implementing  the  waste  hierarchy,  one  of  the  key  principles  of  the  Community 
waste legislation. However, the lack of reporting of the three Member States in question does 
not  imply  that  no  measures  addressing  the  waste  hierarchy  have  been  taken;  they  were  not 
communicated within this report. It remains unclear from the responses received whether the 
measures taken by other countries have been effective. 

The  WFD  requires  Member  States  to  set  up  a  network  of  disposal  facilities,  and  most 
respondents reported that they ensured the existence of such a network, sometimes established 
in  cooperation  with  the  neighbouring  regions  or  countries  to  optimise  its  functioning. 
However, several (especially new) Member States are still in the process of establishing their 
networks and closing landfills not complying with the Landfill Directive. 

Many Member States reported high levels of self-sufficiency in waste disposal reaching levels 
of 90-100%, with rapid progress in EU-10. Not all Member States have sufficient capacity to 
deal with their own waste4 and therefore export it, in line with the WFD, to countries having 
appropriate  waste  treatment  technologies.  The  routine  export  of  waste  streams  for  disposal 
was  limited  to  specific  waste  streams  for  which  there  was  no  specialised  infrastructure  in 
place,  in  particular  hazardous  wastes  such  as  PCBs,  waste  incineration  residues,  polluted 
soils.  Shipments  of  hazardous  wastes  almost  doubled  between  2001  and  2005  reaching  the 
total of 5.6 million tonnes for EU-25 in 2005, with the share shipped from out of the EU-10 
being  only  a  marginal  3%.  The  biggest  waste  exporters  included  the  Netherlands,  Belgium, 
Italy, France and Ireland5.  

Some Member States (especially EU-10) reported a strikingly high percentage of landfilling, 
especially for domestic and similar wastes, which means that steps taken to comply with the 
waste  hierarchy  were  insufficient.  While  the  2006  WFD  did  not  make  the  adherence  to  the 
waste hierarchy obligatory, the revised WFD sets a clear 5-step waste hierarchy coupled with 
recycling targets for municipal and construction and demolition waste. Thus, in the short to 
medium  run,  the  Member  States  featuring  an  exceedingly  high  level  of  waste  disposal  in 
landfills will have to find ways to improve their recycling rate, especially for domestic waste. 

In the older Member States, a balance between recycling and incineration was noted, with a 
residual fraction of waste going to final disposal in landfills. 

4 

5 

Commission Report on the implementation of the Waste Shipment Regulation, COM(2009) 282 final, 
p. 6. 
Ibidem. 

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Figure  1.  Treatment  of  waste,  2006  (in  percent  of  total  waste  treated)  Source:  Energy, 
transport and environment indicators 2008 edition, p. 1476. 

Finland,  Sweden,  Slovenia,  Portugal,  Austria,  and  Belgium  are  the  biggest  users  of  energy 
recovered  from  waste.  Denmark  and  the  Netherlands  reported  a  considerable  percentage  of 
waste incineration without energy recovery while the remaining Member States report a small 
share of waste incineration without energy recovery (below 10%). 

Even though this reporting period covers years 2004 to 2006, some data available for Bulgaria 
and Romania which joined the EU in 2007 are also presented here for reference. Landfilling is 
still the predominant mode of waste disposal in most EU Member States, especially EU-12. 
Cyprus, Poland and Bulgaria report landfill rates of over 90%, but many others report landfill 
rates over 50%. Member States reporting landfilling below 10% include the Flemish Region 
of Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany. 

6 

See: 
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/product_details/publication?p_product_code=KS-
DK-08-001.  

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Only  a  minority  of  Member  States  has  opted  for  exemptions  from  the  waste  management 
permits and adopted rules for such exemptions. 

Most  Member  States  reported  that  all  establishments  disposing  or  recovering  waste  had 
record-keeping  obligations,  with  some  countries  limiting  the  record-keeping  obligation  to 
producers of certain wastes. Further contacts with the Member States are needed to confirm 
whether this provision was properly implemented in practice. 

2. 

HAZARDOUS WASTE DIRECTIVE

7 

Hazardous waste poses greater risk to the environment and human health than non-hazardous 
waste  and  thus  requires  a  stricter  control  regime.  Such  a  regime  is  laid  down  in  Directive 
91/689/EEC.  The  Directive  provides  additional  record  keeping,  monitoring  and  control 
obligations  for  hazardous  waste  from  the  waste  producer  to  the  final  disposal  or  recovery, 
introduces rules for the mixing of different categories of hazardous wastes with each other or 
with non-hazardous wastes, introduces permitting requirements for installations dealing with 
hazardous  wastes.  The  properties  which  render  waste  hazardous  laid  down  in  the  Directive 
91/689/EEC and are further specified by the Decision 2000/532/EC on the List of Waste. 

All Member States confirmed having informed the Commission about measures transposing 
the Directive into their national legislation. Most Member States refrained from adding other 
wastes than those listed in the legislation to the list of hazardous waste, possibly because each 
such addition would mean adding a new code to the List of Waste and amending the List in a 
long procedure. Most likely, the code for "wastes not otherwise specified" was used instead. 
Overall,  there  seems  to  be  a  need  for  more  waste  codes  (especially  for  WEEE,  batteries, 
ELV8). Possible changes to the system are under discussion with Member States. 

Hazardous  waste  generated  by  households  (e.g.  batteries,  some  toxic  chemicals,  medicines, 
etc.)  is  exempted  from  the  provisions  of  the  Directive  since  in  practice  it  is  impossible  to 
control the management of this waste stream down to each household. Not all Member States 
distinguish hazardous and non-hazardous domestic waste in their legislation and instead cover 
all wastes under the stricter hazardous waste regime. Most Member States encourage separate 
collection  of  hazardous  waste  from  the  rest  of  household  waste  and  organise  awareness 
raising  campaigns  to  educate  their  citizens.  Ten  Member  States  make  municipalities 
responsible for separate collection and management of domestic hazardous waste. Under the 
revised WFD, the rules concerning hazardous waste produced by households become clearer: 
mixed waste produced by households is exempted from the provisions related to the control of 
hazardous waste, including traceability, the ban on the mixing of hazardous waste, labelling 
and  record  keeping  requirements.  Where  hazardous  waste  fractions  of  household  waste  are 
collected separately,  labelling and record keeping provisions do not  apply  until the waste is 
accepted for collection, disposal or recovery by a licensed establishment or undertaking. 

All Member States confirmed having established systems to record hazardous waste streams 
and  identify  each  site  on  which  it  is  disposed,  but  only  a  few  described  how  the  record 
keeping  is  monitored.  Many  responses  do  not  focus  on  the  tipping  aspect  only  but  on  the 
reporting requirements in general. A prohibition to mix different hazardous wastes, as well as 
to mix hazardous and non-hazardous waste, was implemented by all Member States but only 

7 
8 

Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste, OJ L 377, 31.12.1991, p. 20-27. 
See Oekopol study, p. III-44, at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/pdf/low_review_oekopol.pdf.  

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eight  reported  detailed  mixing  criteria.  The  reports  are  imprecise  as  regards  the  exemptions 
from the mixing ban. 

All  undertakings  which  recover  hazardous  waste  need  to  have  a  permit,  unless  exempted 
under specific national rules and registered. The possibility of exemptions was taken up only 
exceptionally and these cases were notified to the Commission in line with the Directive. 

Producers  and  establishments  carrying  out  disposal  and  recovery  operations  of  hazardous 
waste  shall  be  subject  to  periodic  inspections.  All  Member  States  have  laid  down  national 
rules in this respect, but in most cases inspections are carried out on a case-by-case basis or on 
the basis of complaints, without a general minimum frequency established by law (only eight 
Member  States  require  a  certain  inspection  frequency)  which  can  raise  doubts  whether  the 
controls comply with the Directive's requirement of "appropriate periodic inspections". Such 
practice is also not in line with the non-binding recommendations of IMPEL9. The obligation 
to keep registers and records for producers and transporters of hazardous waste was fulfilled 
by  all  Member  States,  with  some  lack  of  clarity  as  to  whether  the  record  keeping  actually 
refers to producers in the case of some responses. All but one Member State confirmed having 
set rules for proper packaging and labelling of hazardous waste in the course of its collection, 
transport and temporary storage. 

3. 

WASTE OILS DIRECTIVE

10 

Waste  oils  are  classified  as  hazardous  waste  since  they  display  some  hazardous  properties. 
Such oils can heavily contaminate the environment when not properly managed. The Waste 
Oils Directive creates a harmonised system for the collection, storage, recovery and disposal 
of  waste  oils,  such  as  lubricant  oils  for  vehicles,  turbines,  gearboxes  and  engines,  hydraulic 
oils,  etc.  The  Directive  also  aims  to  protect  the  environment  against  the  harmful  effects  of 
illegal dumping and treatment of waste oils. 

All Member States have transposed the Directive into their national legislation. In all but five 
Member States measure were laid down to ensure that the regeneration of waste oils does not 
constitute  a  threat  for  the  environment  and  human  health  and  that  the  resulting  regenerated 
oils do not constitute toxic and dangerous waste and do not contain PCBs/PCTs. 

All but nine Member States adopted stricter measures than those prescribed in the Directive 
on limit values for toxic substances in waste oil used as fuel or combustion requirements. 

Only eight Member States reported high (over 70%) waste oil regeneration rates meaning that 
the majority of Member States did not fully adhere to the waste oils treatment hierarchy set 
out  in  the  Directive  which  gives  priority  to  their  regeneration,  followed  by  combustion  and 
safe  destruction  (including  controlled  storage  or  tipping).  In  seven  Member  States  the 
regeneration  rate  ranges  from  0  to  30%  of  waste  oils  collected.  There  is  also  a  group  of 
countries heavily relying on combustion of this waste stream. The Czech Republic reports a 
tipping rate of nearly 40% while the rest of the Member States remains below 10%. In those 
Member  States  where  no  regeneration  or  combustion  was  possible,  measures  needed  to  be 

9 

10 

IMPEL  guidance  and  recommendations  on  the  minimum  criteria  for  environmental  inspections  (see: 
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/impel/impel_guidance_doc.htm).  
Directive 75/439/EEC on the disposal of waste oils, OJ L 194 , 25.07.1975, p. 23-25. 

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taken  to  protect  the  environment,  consisting  mainly  of  additional  requirements  for  safe 
disposal or storage of waste oils.  

The  Commission  has  launched  infringement  cases  against  Member  States  violating  the 
hierarchy set out in the Directive, with the ruling of the Court against Germany. Other cases 
have  been  deferred  when  the  proposal  for  the  new  WFD  removed  an  absolute  priority  for 
regeneration.  After  the  adoption  of  the  WFD,  these  infringement  procedures  have  been 
withdrawn.  The  implementation  practice  illustrated  in  Figure  2  below  reflects  the  economic 
constraints  related  to  waste  oils  regeneration  which,  coupled  with  the  lack  of  clear 
environmental gains from the regeneration compared to combustion, have lead to the revision 
of this provision in the WFD. 

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

Austria
Belgium Flemish
Belgium Brussels
Belgium Wallonian Region

Cyprus
Denmark
Estonia
Bulgaria
Czech Republic

Finland

Hungary
France
Germany
Ireland
Greece

Luxembourg
Malta
Italy
Poland
Romania
Latvia
Portugal
Lithuania
Netherlands

Spain
Sweden
Slovakia
Slovenia
United Kingdom

Quantity regenerated  Quantity combusted  Quantity tipped (including permanent storage)

Figure 2. Treatment of waste oils in 2005. Source: Report on the Implementation of Directive 
75/439/EEC on Waste Oils, Ecologic, May 2009, p. 38. 

Methods  for  proper  management  of  waste  oils  were  publically  disseminated  in  twenty 
Member States, either by public authorities or by waste producers. Nineteen Member States 
reported  having  in  place  permitting  procedures  that  guarantee  environmental  and  health 
protection, some coupled with control and monitoring systems. 

4. 

SEWAGE SLUDGE DIRECTIVE

11 

The Sewage Sludge Directive seeks to encourage a safe use of sewage sludge in agriculture 
and to regulate its use in such a way as to prevent harmful effects on soil, vegetation, animals 
and humans. To this end, it prohibits the use of untreated sludge on agricultural land unless it 
is  injected  or  incorporated  into  the  soil.  To  provide  protection  against  potential  health  risks 

11 

Directive 86/278/EEC on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage 
sludge is used in agriculture, OJ L 181, 4.7.1986, p. 6–12. 

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from residual pathogens, the Directive restricts the application of sludge to soil in which fruit 
and  vegetable  crops  are  growing  or  grown  or  to  animal  forage.  The  Directive  also  requires 
that sludge should be used in such a way that account is taken of the nutrient requirements of 
plants and that the quality of the soil and of the surface and groundwater is not impaired. It 
specifies  rules  for  the  sampling  and  analysis  of  sludges  and  soils,  sets  out  record  keeping 
requirements and limit values for concentrations of heavy metals in sewage sludge and soil. 

All  Member  States  reported  having  adopted  measures  transposing  the  Directive  into  their 
national  legislation,  and  most  of  them  adopted  stricter  requirements  for  the  use  of  sewage 
sludge in agriculture than those prescribed in the European legislation. All but two Member 
States  adopted  measures  ensuring  that  sewage  sludge  is  not  used  on  soils  where 
concentrations of one or more heavy metals exceed the prescribed limit values. 

Residual sludges from septic tanks and sludges other than those from sewage plants treating 
domestic  or  urban  waste  waters  may  also  be  used  in  agriculture  under  nationally  regulated 
conditions.  Most  Member  States  opted  for  equal  requirements  for  all  sludges  or  banned  the 
use of sludge from septic tanks. 

The limit values for heavy metals in soil on which sludge can be applied, in the sludge to be 
applied,  and  thresholds  for  heavy  metals  which  can  be  introduced  into  the  soil  vary 
significantly  between  Member  States.  All  these  limit  values  are  set  on  the  basis  of  the 
minimum conditions specified in the Directive but some Member States adopted much more 
stringent  values  than  others.  The  differences  are  surprisingly  large  given  that  they  occur  in 
similar geographical areas (e.g. between the Baltic States or between the Nordic countries). A 
majority of Member States preferred to lay down maximum quantities of sludge which may 
be applied to soil per year instead of setting limit values for metals introduced into the soil. 

All Member States described the methods for sludge treatment before it is used in agriculture. 
Only  a  few  decided  to  allow  the  use  of  untreated  sludge  if  it  is  injected  or  worked  into  the 
soil. Most countries introduced bans or restrictions on the application of sludge on grassland 
or forage crops before grazing or harvesting. The conditions of these restrictions vary, as do 
the methods for sampling and analysis of sludge and soil and the frequency of the analyses. 

5. 

PACKAGING AND PACKAGING WASTE DIRECTIVE

12 

The Packaging Directive aims to harmonise national measures in order to prevent or reduce 
the  impact  of  packaging  and  packaging  waste  on  the  environment  and  to  ensure  the 
functioning  of  the  Internal  Market.  It  contains  provisions  on  the  prevention  of  packaging 
waste, on the re-use of packaging and on the recovery and recycling of packaging waste. 

All  Member  States  have  transposed  the  Directive  into  their  national  legislation  and  notified 
the Commission thereof. 

The total amount of packaging waste in the EU increased during the period covered by this 
report,  but  a  part  of  this  increase  was  due  to  the  accession  of  the  new  Member  States.  The 
share  of  packaging  made  of  glass,  paper  and  board,  metals  and  wood  decreased,  while  the 
share of plastics slightly increased. 

12 

Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste, OJ L 365, 31.12.1994, p. 10–23. 

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One of the major provisions of the Packaging Directive includes the recycling and recovery 
targets  for  packaging  waste.  All  Member  States  have  published  information  about  these 
targets,  ranging  from  the  publication  of  a  legal  act  transposing  the  Directive  to  elaborate 
information  campaigns.  Many  Member  States  made  use  of  economic  instruments  and 
producer  responsibility  schemes  in  order  to  attain  the  targets  of  the  Directive.  Such 
instruments  included,  for  instance,  taxes  levied  on  packaging,  charges  for  final  disposal  of 
packaging  or  for  membership  in  a  collection/recovery  scheme,  financial  sanctions  to 
economic operators involved in packaging management if re-use and recovery targets are not 
met,  deposit/return  schemes  for  packaging,  and  obligations  for  economic  operators  to  bear 
collection and recovery costs. 

Steady progress towards meeting the targets has been maintained, with a good overall result13. 
The rates of packaging waste recovery and recycling remained relatively stable between 2004 
and 2006, with a slight overall decrease, but it should be recalled that a big enlargement took 
place during the reporting period expanding the EU from 15 to 25 Member States in 2004 by 
countries  with  largely  underdeveloped  waste  collection  and  recycling  systems.  On  average, 
overall recovery and incineration at waste incineration plants decreased from 66% in 2004 to 
60% in 2006, while the average recycling rate decreased from 54% in 2004 to 49% in 2006, 
including a drop in glass recycling from 58% to 53%, a decrease in the recycling of paper and 
board  from  76%  to  70%,  metals  from  57%  to  56%,  and  an  increase  in  plastics  and  wood 
recycling (from 25% to 26% and from 25% to 31% respectively). 

The Packaging Directive requires Member States to adopt measures to prevent the formation 
of packaging waste, and most Member States reported having laid down such provisions. The 
measures employed included the use of prevention plans and guidance (required by legislation 
or  drawn  up  by  waste  prevention  organisations  or  businesses),  voluntary  or  formal 
commitments  of  the  industry,  information  and  awareness-raising  campaigns,  taxation 
measures, encouraging the use of reusable packaging or deposit systems, and the use of eco-
labels. 

Twenty three countries reported introducing producer responsibility systems where producers 
must take back packaging waste, organise their own take back systems or participate in return 
systems for the return, collection, re-use, recovery or recycling of packaging waste. Twenty 
Member States reported measures to encourage the re-use of packaging. These are based on 
taxation  promoting  reusable  packaging,  deposits,  obligation  to  use  reusable  packaging, 
exempting  reusable  packaging  from  other  obligations,  promotion  of  re-use  in  the  waste 
management  plans,  and  information  and  awareness  raising  campaigns.  The  most  commonly 
targeted  packaging  types  included  carrier  bags  and  beverage  packaging.  Also,  all  Member 
States reported measures to create systems for the return, collection, re-use and/or recovery of 
packaging  waste,  mostly  based  on  producer  responsibility  but  also  including  collective 
systems  to  which  all  economic  operators  could  subscribe.  Sixteen  Member  States  took 
measures  to  encourage  the  use  of  recyclates  for  the  manufacturing  of  packaging  and  other 
products,  including  public  procurement  programmes,  promotion  of  the  use  of  recycled 
materials  within  waste  management  plans,  research  projects,  information  and  awareness-
raising  activities  (e.g.  exhibitions,  "recycling  weeks"  and  online  catalogues  of  recycled 
products), and tax incentives. 

13 

More details about the progress achieved by the Member States can be found in the Commission's Flash 
Report  published  at:  http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/reporting/index.htm,  on  the  Packaging 
website  at:  http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/packaging/data.htm,  and  on  the  Eurostat  website  at: 
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/waste/data/wastestreams/packaging.  

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Only packaging that complies with the essential requirements laid down in the Directive can 
be  placed  on  the  Community  market.  Member  States  implemented  these  provisions  by 
adopting  national  standards  or  following  the  European  standards,  but  generally  limited 
information  was  provided  as  regards  the  practical  enforcement  of  this  requirement.  At  the 
same time, initial conclusions from an ongoing Commission study on the implementation and 
enforcement of the essential requirements suggest that stakeholders call for more systematic 
implementation and enforcement of the essential requirements across the Member States. 

6. 

LANDFILL DIRECTIVE

14 

The Landfill Directive is intended to prevent or reduce the adverse effects of waste landfilling 
on the environment, in particular on surface water, groundwater, soil, air and human health by 
introducing  stringent  technical  requirements  for  waste  and  landfills.  It  defines  the  different 
categories of waste (municipal waste, hazardous waste, non-hazardous waste and inert waste) 
and applies to all landfills, defined as waste disposal sites for the deposit of waste onto or into 
land.  The  Directive  introduces  criteria  for  the  acceptance  of  waste  in  landfills,  requires 
permits for operating landfill sites, and elaborates opening and closure conditions. 

According  to  the  Landfill  Directive,  waste  can  only  be  accepted  in  landfills  if  it  meets  the 
acceptance criteria specified in the Directive and elaborated in the Waste Acceptance Criteria 
Decision 2003/33/EC15. Twenty one respondents have defined waste acceptance criteria and 
procedures, or use those defined in the Community legislation. Twenty three Member States 
have  set  up  detailed  monitoring  regimes  for  leachates,  surface  waters,  gas  emissions  and 
atmospheric  pressure.  Twenty  three  respondents  confirmed  having  included  in  their 
legislation  the  obligation  to  include  all  the  costs  of  landfill  construction,  operation,  closure 
and  after-care  in  the  price  to  be  charged  by  the  operator  for  accepting  waste  in  the  site. 
Thirteen Member States reported that they require a financial guarantee from the operator or 
provide assistance to landfill operators in order to guarantee their financial stability. 

All Member States except Cyprus confirmed having established detailed rules for the closure 
of  landfills,  including  after-closure  monitoring  requirements  and  technical  specifications. 
Cyprus  is  still  developing  such  rules.  Twenty  two  Member  States  reported  having  adopted 
measures  related  to  the  opening  of  landfills  such  as  planning  procedures,  environmental 
impact  assessments,  prohibitions  to  open  landfills  in  certain  areas,  inclusion  in  waste 
management  plans.  The  Netherlands  and  Luxembourg  indicated  that  no  new  landfills  were 
planned in the near future. 

Landfill  gas,  primarily  methane,  is  a  powerful  greenhouse  gas  25  times  more  potent  than 
carbon dioxide and a major contributor to climate change. Its emissions account for over 2% 
of  the  EU  greenhouse  gas  emissions.  It  is  produced  from  biodegradable  municipal  waste 
including  garden,  kitchen  and  food  waste  decomposing  in  landfills.  Hence,  the  capture  and 
management of landfill gas as well as diversion of biodegradable waste from landfills are one 
of  the  key  requirements  of  the  Landfill  Directive.  Regrettably,  the  information  provided  by 
most  Member  States  as  regards  landfill  gas  management  was  mostly  describing  the  legal 
provisions  in  place,  not  the  actual  practice.  Four  Member  States  reported  not  to  produce 

14 
15 

Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste, OJ L 182, 16.7.1999, p. 1–19. 
Council Decision of 19 December 2002 establishing criteria and procedures for the acceptance of waste 
at  landfills  pursuant  to  Article  16  of  and  Annex  II  to  Directive  1999/31/EC  (2003/33/EC),  OJ  L  11, 
16.1.2003, p. 27–49. 

EN 

10 

   EN 

                                                 
energy  from  the  landfill  gas,  the  others  do  it  but  only  where  this  activity  is  economically 
feasible.  Otherwise,  the  gas  is  flared.  It  is  not  clear  whether  all  gas  is  captured  and 
appropriately  treated  and  further  investigation  into  the  effectiveness  of  its  capture  would  be 
needed. 

The Landfill Directive sets out biodegradable waste diversion targets for 200616, 200917 and 
201618 in order to mitigate the negative environmental impacts related to methane emissions. 
All but five Member States have developed and reported national strategies for the diversion 
of  biodegradable  waste  going  to  landfill  and  notified  them  to  the  Commission.  Limited 
information  was  provided  as  to the  experiences  with  the  implementation  of  these  strategies. 
Six  Member  States  provided  incomplete  data  on  the  generation  of  biodegradable  waste  in 
1995 and sixteen did not report full data sets on the reduction of this waste stream going to 
landfills between 2004 and 2006. As a result, from a very fragmentary picture complemented 
by  the  Commission's  own  data  including  twelve  Member  States  for  which  data  can  be 
compared,  one  can  conclude  that  in  2006  nine  countries19  met  their  diversion  targets  for 
biodegradable  municipal  waste  (out  of  these  twelve,  eight  countries  have  already  met  their 
2009 target and seven the 2016 target). 

Only  five  Member  States  (Austria,  the  Flemish  region  of  Belgium,  the  Netherlands,  Ireland 
and  Italy)  reported  that  all  their  landfills  complied  with  the  Directive.  Some  of  this 
information, however, contradicts the findings of the Commission study20 which indicated the 
existence of 1,763 illegal landfills in Italy and over 9 in Ireland in 2005. A large number of 
non-compliant landfills for both hazardous and non-hazardous waste were reported by twelve 
other Member States21. The reported figures concern only engineered landfills not complying 
with  the  Landfill  Directive  -  frequent  citizen  complaints  suggest  that  beside  these  a  high 
number of uncontrolled dumpsites presumably exists. 

These data suggest that a vast majority of Member States will not meet the deadline of 16 July 
2009  by  which  all  Member  States  that  have  not  been  granted  derogations  must  ensure  that 
sub-standard  landfills  that  existed  before  the  introduction  of  the  Landfill  Directive  now 
comply  with  its  requirements,  even  though  Member  States  have  had  eight  years  from  the 
transposition date (16 July 2001) to ensure compliance with these requirements or close non-
compliant landfills. In July 2009 the Commission has written to all Member States to remind 
them of their obligation and gather data on compliance. 

Bulgaria, Poland and Romania have been given extended deadlines with annually decreasing 
targets  for the  amount  of  waste  disposed  of  in  some  non-compliant sites. The  deadlines  are: 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

By  17  July  2006,  reduction  of  biodegradable  municipal  waste  going  to  landfills  to  75%  of  the  total 
amount (by weight) of biodegradable municipal waste produced in 1995. 
By  17  July  2009,  reduction  of  biodegradable  municipal  waste  going  to  landfills  to  50%  of  the  total 
amount (by weight) of biodegradable municipal waste produced in 1995. 
By  17  July  2016,  reduction  of  biodegradable  municipal  waste  going  to  landfills  to  35%  of  the  total 
amount (by weight) of biodegradable municipal waste produced in 1995. 
Austria,  Belgium  (Flanders),  Estonia,  Finland,  France,  Germany,  the  Netherlands,  Slovakia,  and 
Sweden. 
Report  on  the  Implementation  of  the  Landfill  Directive  in  the  15  Member  States  of  the  EU,  Golder 
Associates 2005, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/pdf/report_a2.pdf.  
2008 estimates for the EU-12 indicate the following numbers of non-compliant landfills: Romania: 181, 
Poland:  317,  Latvia:  150,  Hungary:  71,  Malta:  0,  Lithuania:  383,  Slovakia:  52,  Czech  Republic:  28, 
Estonia: 12, Cyprus: 115, Slovenia:61, Bulgaria: 252. 

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Bulgaria (for 14 landfill sites) 31 December 2014; Poland (for 305 landfill sites) 31 December 
2011; Romania (for 101 landfill sites) 16 July 2017. 

In addition to the national reporting for the reference time period, a recent Commission study 
on  the  implementation  of  the  Landfill  Directive22  identified  a  number  of  persisting  serious 
problems  related  to  the  implementation  of  this  legislation,  in  particular  in  the  EU-10  but  a 
similar situation can be observed in Bulgaria and Romania (not yet members of the EU in this 
reporting  period)  or  some  EU-15  Member  States  landfilling  over  50%  of  their  waste23.  The 
situation concerning waste management within these countries has certain common features. 
In all EU-10 countries, environmental concerns (especially waste management) still constitute 
a  relatively  low  priority  which  results  in  a  lack  of  administrative  capacity  devoted  to  these 
issues.  High  share  of  landfilling  in  waste  management  (80-90%  and  beyond)  and  a  lack  of 
attention  to  the  waste  hierarchy  can  be  observed.  Actions  to  reduce  the  amount  of  waste 
landfilled are taken slowly by investing in separate collection systems and treatment facilities. 
Landfilling  in  many  cases  is  still  by  far  the  cheapest  and  easiest  way  to  manage  waste. 
Consequently, landfill fees are not covering the costs for operating, maintaining and closing 
of a modern landfill. 

Landfill capacity aspects (limitations in landfill use, saving of scarce landscape resources) do 
not seem to be acknowledged as important limiting factor in the majority of the EU-10 so far. 
On the other hand, there is often a strong public scepticism and opposition to the installation 
of  thermal  waste  treatment  installations.  Mixed  municipal  solid  waste  (MSW)  with  a  high 
content of biodegradable and combustible fractions is landfilled in most cases. The fraction of 
biodegradable  waste  in  landfilled  mixed  MSW  is  ranging  between  30-50%  and  may  reach 
75%.  Strategies  for  the  reduction  of  organic  waste  going  to  landfills,  implementation  of 
systems  for  source  separation,  and  construction  of  facilities  for  composting  or  energy 
recovery from combustibles have only started. 

Typically,  a  huge  number  of  small  and  technically  poorly  equipped  landfills  (municipal 
dumps) were in use in the EU-10 prior to accession. The process of closing down landfills has 
started during the last years and some countries have made remarkable progress with that, but 
it is still questionable whether the deadline for 2009 for closing the old landfills will be met. 

7. 

WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT (WEEE) DIRECTIVE

24 

The  WEEE  Directive  aims  to  improve  the  management  of  waste  electrical  and  electronic 
equipment. To this end, the Directive encourages  the prevention of WEEE, and in addition, 
the reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery of such wastes so as to reduce its disposal. It 
also  seeks  to  improve  the  environmental  performance  of  all  operators  involved  in  the  life 
cycle of electrical and electronic equipment, e.g. producers, distributors and consumers and in 
particular those operators directly involved in the treatment of waste electrical and electronic 
equipment. The legislation introduces requirements for a creation of collection schemes where 
consumers  can  return  their  used  e-waste  free  of  charge  in  order  to  increase  the  recycling 
and/or reuse of such products, sets collection and recovery targets for WEEE and relies on the 
principle of producer responsibility. 

22 

23 
24 

Final  Report  from  the  Organisation  of  awareness  raising  events  concerning  the  implementation  of 
Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste, BiPRO, 30 May 2007. 
Landfilling remains a predominant option in Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Spain, and Greece. 
Directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment, OJ L 37, 13.2.2003, p. 24. 

EN 

12 

   EN 

                                                 
All  reporting  Member  States  have  transposed  the  WEEE  Directive  into  their  national 
legislation. However, the Commission had to open twenty cases against Member States based 
on incorrect transposition, with fifteen of those cases still open as of July 2009. 

Even though the majority of the Member States reported adopting measures to encourage the 
design and production of EEE which would facilitate its dismantling, reuse and recovery, the 
reported measures were mostly limited to copying the provisions of the Directive into national 
legislation  or  declarations  of  intent,  without  clear  enforcement  mechanisms.  Some  Member 
States pointed out that the Eco-Design Directive25 would be more suitable to encourage eco-
design  than  the  WEEE  Directive.  In  most  cases,  no  reasons  were  given  as  to  why  such 
measures  have  not  been  adopted,  and  very  limited  experience  with  eco-design  policies  was 
reported. 

All Member States reported that systems for the return of WEEE free of charge were set up, 
but  not  all  provided  their  description.  The  systems  differ  between  the  Member  States.  In 
almost  all  countries  collective  systems  for  the  management  of  household  appliances  were 
implemented,  but  not  all  Member  States  compel  producers  /  distributors  to  take  back  old 
appliances from households when a new product is supplied to customers. Instead, some rely 
on  municipal  collection  schemes  and  make  individual  take-back  voluntary.  While  the 
Directive provides that Member States may depart from one-to-one take back, Member States 
making  use  of  that  provision  should  inform  the  Commission  but  have  not  done  so  via  this 
report  in  three  cases.  Individual  take  back  solutions  are  very  common  for  non-household 
WEEE.  National  replies  do  not  demonstrate  whether  the  collection  systems  work  well  in 
practice.  The  most  common  problems  reported  are  related  to  charging  distance  sellers  for 
WEEE collection,  establishing responsibility  for historical waste,  missing  WEEE,  and  some 
interpretation or implementation issues. 

Member States have set up systems for the treatment of WEEE, or have adapted their existing 
systems.  However,  few  countries  have  reported  to  have  gone  beyond  the  basic  treatment 
requirements described in Annex II to the Directive. Additional requirements tend to focus on 
treating specific types of equipment (e.g. appliances containing ozone depleting substances). 
No specific requirements or control mechanisms were reported for the exports of WEEE to be 
counted for the fulfilment of the targets or for the sites for the storage and treatment of this 
equipment going beyond the main requirements of the Directive. 

All  respondents  confirmed  having  adopted  measures  to  ensure  the  environmentally  sound 
reuse,  recovery  and  recycling  of  WEEE,  but  none  went  beyond  the  targets  specified  in  the 
Directive. 

Compliance  with  the  reuse,  recycling  and  recovery  targets  is  usually  ensured  by  imposing 
reporting  requirements  or  recording  mechanisms.  No  sanctions  for  not  meeting  the  targets 
were  reported.  Overall,  the  answers  provided  were  not  sufficient  to  properly  analyse  the 
effectiveness  of  the  measures  taken  to  promote  WEEE  recovery.  Several  Member  States 
reported  that  the  rates  of  WEEE  collection  and  recovery  increased  as  a  result  of  the 
implementation of the Directive. The Commission does not yet posses the necessary data to 
confirm this tendency26. 

25 

26 

Directive  2005/32/EC  establishing  a  framework for the  setting  of  ecodesign  requirements  for  energy-
using products. 
The first national reports on the amounts of WEEE collected and treated cover 2006 as the latest year, 
and were sent to the Commission in mid-2008. 

EN 

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The  legally  binding  obligation  to  meet  the  2006  collection,  recycling  and  recovery  targets 
applied  to  EU-15.  Thirteen  Member  States  reported  collection,  recycling  and  recovery  data, 
eight met the collection target of 4 kg per capita, five reported meeting all the 10 applicable 
recycling  targets  and  four  reported  to  have  met  all  the  9  applicable  recovery  targets.  Many 
Member States reported to have met some, but not all the targets. In some cases, the lack of 
reporting and/or meeting the targets was linked to late transposition. With transposition now 
in place, a much more complete reporting result is expected for the next two reporting periods 
covering years 2007 and 2008. 

A large proportion of Member States encourage the development of new recovery, recycling 
and treatment techniques by prescribing the use of best available techniques when permitting 
installations or implementing national R&D programmes. 

According to the Directive, by 13 August 2005 Member States were required to ensure that 
producers  provide  at  least  for  the  financing  of  the  collection,  treatment,  recovery  and 
environmentally  sound  disposal  of  WEEE  from  private  households  deposited  at  collection 
facilities.  Unfortunately,  little  information  was  given  regarding  the  practical  enforcement  of 
this provision, with most respondents merely reporting inclusion of this requirement in their 
national  legislation.  As  regards  the  fees  for  the  collection  and  treatment  of  WEEE  from 
private households, some Member States show these costs to buyers at the time of purchase of 
new products. Most Member States do not have any special arrangements for distance sellers, 
but  some  oblige  them  to  comply  with  the  requirements  of  the  market  on  which  they  place 
their products. Many respondents signalled that enforcement of the legislation upon distance 
sellers posed implementation problems. 

All  Member  States  took  action  to  ensure  that  the  users  of  EEE  receive  the  necessary 
information  on  how  to  handle  the  resulting  waste.  Two  main  approaches  were  observed: 
information campaigns targeted at the large public, and information provided directly to the 
buyers  during  purchase  of  the  equipment.  Some  Member  States  combine  these  two 
approaches. All Member States except Cyprus reported that they required their producers to 
provide reuse and treatment information to reuse, treatment and recycling facilities within one 
year  from  the  placement  of  equipment  on  the  market,  typically  via  manuals  or  electronic 
means of communication. No specific problems with the provision of information to treatment 
facilities were reported. 

Acronyms: 

EEE  Electrical and electronic equipment 

EFTA  European Free Trade Association 

ELV  End-of-life vehicles 

EU 

European Union 

EU-10 10 new Member States that joined the Community in 2004 

EU-12 12 new Member States that joined the Community in 2004 and 2007 

EU-15 15 Member States which were members of the EU before the 2004 enlargement 

EU-25 25 Member States which were members of the EU during the reporting period 2004 - 
2006 

IMPEL European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental 
Law 

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MSW  Municipal Solid Waste 

OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development 

PCB  Polychlorinated biphenyls 

PCT  Polychlorinated terphenyls 

R&D  Research & Development 

RoHS  Restrictions on the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment 

WEEE Waste electrical and electronic equipment 

WFD  Waste Framework Directive 

WMP  Waste Management Plan 

WSR  Waste Shipment Regulation 

EN 

15 

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