REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste Generation, treatment and transboundary shipment of hazardous waste and other waste in the Member States of the European Union, 2010-2012
Date: 2015-12-17
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: activity report, administrative check, environmental cooperation, export of waste, hazardous waste, unauthorised dumping, waste disposal, waste recycling

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 17.12.2015  COM(2015) 660 final   REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste Generation, treatment and transboundary shipment of hazardous waste and other waste in the Member States of the European Union, 2010-2012 {SWD(2015) 291 final}  
 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

3. 

Introduction ............................................................................................................. 2 

Reporting by Member States .................................................................................. 3 

Generation of Hazardous Waste ............................................................................. 4 

4.  Waste Shipments out of Member States ................................................................. 5 

5.  Waste Shipments into Member States .................................................................... 6 

6. 

7. 

8. 

Illegal Shipments, Inspections and Enforcement Measures ................................... 7 

General Conclusions ............................................................................................... 8 

Next Steps ............................................................................................................. 10 

 
 
 
 
 
DEVELOPMENTS CONCERNING THE GENERATION, TREATMENT AND 
SHIPMENT OF HAZARDOUS WASTE AND OTHER WASTE IN THE EU MEMBER 
STATES, 2010-2012 

1.  INTRODUCTION 

Transboundary  movements  of  hazardous  wastes  and  their  disposal  are  governed  by  the 
Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and 
their  Disposal  of  22  March  1989  to  which  the  European  Union  (EU)  is  a  Party.  The 
overarching objective of the Convention is to protect human health and the environment 
against the adverse effects of hazardous wastes. 

The EU has set up a system for the supervision and control of shipments of waste within 
its borders together with the countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), 
the  Organisation  for  Economic  Cooperation  and  Development  (OECD)  and  other  third 
countries that are parties of the Basel Convention. Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on Shipments of Waste1 (hereby 
referred to as the Regulation) transposes the Convention into Union law. The Regulation 
which  is  directly  applicable  in  the  Member  States  was  amended  in  2014  by  Regulation 
(EU) No 660/20142 . 

Each calendar year, Member States submit a report to the Convention Secretariat for the 
previous  calendar  year  which  addresses 
implementation  and 
environmental protection measures3. The report is also sent to the Commission along with 
additional information in the form of a reply to an Implementation Questionnaire4. As per 
article  51.4  of  the  Regulation,  every  three  years,  the  Commission  draws  up  an 
Implementation Report based on the replies submitted by the Member States. In this case, 
the  cut-off  date  for  Member  States  to  send  the  information  pertaining  to  2010-12  to 
Eurostat was 18 June 2014. 

legal  provisions, 

This  is  the  fourth  Implementation  Report  and  covers  the  period  2010-2012.  The  third 
report,  covering  the  2007-2009  period,  was  published  in  August  2012.  Detailed 
information  based  on  the  Member  States'  report  to  the  Basel  Convention  for  2010-2012 
can be found in Sections A and B of the working document accompanying this report. In 
addition, Member States' replies to the Implementation Questionnaire for 2010-2012 can 
be  found  in  Section  E  of  the  working  document.  Quantitative  data  and  figures  on 
generation, treatment and shipment of waste are summarised in the tables and figures of 
Section A of the working document. Key definitions are provided in Appendix A.1.0 to 
the working document. 
This  Implementation  Report  also  compares  the  replies  submitted  by  27  Member  States5 
for  2010-2012  to  those  from  2007-2009.  Some  of  the  figures  for  the  2007-2009  period 

1 OJ L 190, 12.7.2006, p.1 
2 OJ L 189, 27.06.2014, p. 135 
3 Article 51(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 
4 Article 51(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 
5 Excluding Croatia which joined the European Union on 1 July 2013 

3 

 
 
                                                       
quoted  in  this  report  differ  from  those  referenced  in  the  2007-2009  report  because  the 
replies from Member States that were submitted in the meantime were taken into account.  

The Basel Convention uses the terms "import" and "export" for every shipment into or out 
of  a  country  that  is  Party  to  the  Convention.  Under  EU  law  these  terms  apply  only  to 
shipments  out  of  or  into  the  EU  as  a  whole.  In  this  document  however,  both  terms 
appearing  in  inverted  commas  are  to  be  understood  in  the  sense  in  which  they  are  used 
under  the  Basel  Convention,  i.e.  comprising  external  shipments  as  well  as  intra-EU 
shipments between Member States. 

2.  REPORTING BY MEMBER STATES 

At the time this report was prepared, most Member States had replied to both the Basel 
and  the  Commission  questionnaires  for  the  years  2010-20126.  Although  all  of  the  2012 
reports should have been submitted to the Commission by 31 December 2013, additional 
time was permitted. The cut-off date for the analysis of the quantitative data contained in 
the Basel reports was 18 June 2014. The Basel reports of Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg 
and Spain for the year 2012 were submitted after this cut-off date and therefore could not 
be taken into account for the preparation of Section A of the working document. 

The data on the total quantities of waste shipped between Member States indicated several 
discrepancies on the amounts reported by the "export" and "import" countries. The least 
accurate reporting year was 2011, where the amount of hazardous waste "imported" was 
17%  higher  than  the  amount  "exported".  For  the  shipment  of  all  waste  subject  to  the 
procedure of prior written  notification and consent, hereby referred to as notified waste, 
this  difference  was  5%.  For  hazardous  waste  in  2012  this  difference  was  10%  (1%  all 
notified  waste)  and  for  2010  it  was  12%  (2%  all  notified  waste).  These  considerable 
discrepancies highlight the need for an EU-wide electronic data interchange to be used by 
all Member State competent authorities. 

Luxembourg  was  one  Member  State  that  appeared  to  be  grossly  underreporting  the 
amount of waste shipped out. In 2011, Luxembourg reported to have "exported" 103,000 
tonnes  of  all  notified  waste  to  Germany,  but  Germany  reported  to  have  "imported" 
498,000 tonnes from Luxembourg in the same year. A similar pattern is evident between 
Luxembourg and Belgium.  

By comparison, in 2009, the figure for the amount of hazardous waste "imported" was just 
0.3% lower than the amount "exported". In 2008, it was 20% lower. For all notified waste 
in 2009 the figure was 9% higher.  

One possible explanation for the inconsistencies observed is that Member States may not 
be reporting waste shipments  in  the same  manner. "Importers" and  "exporters" of waste 
are required to complete notification and movement documents, as set out in Annexes IA 
and IB to the Regulation. The notification document asks for the "total intended quantity" 
of  waste  to  be  shipped  whilst  the  movement  document  asks  for  the  "actual  quantity" 
shipped.  If  Member  States  report  different  figures  for  these  two  values  then  this  could 
contribute to the inconsistencies observed.   

6 The reports pursuant to Article 51(2) from Poland for the years 2010 and 2011 were identical.  

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3.  GENERATION OF HAZARDOUS WASTE 

Hazardous  wastes  are  defined  according  to  a  list  of  waste  streams  and/or  constituents 
(entries  Y1-18  and  Y19-45  under  the  Convention  categories)  and  certain  hazard 
characteristics.  However,  if  waste  is  considered  as  hazardous  by  domestic  legislation,  it 
also falls under that definition for the purposes of the Convention. "Other wastes" in this 
context  means  wastes  collected  from  households  and  residues  arising  from  the 
incineration of household wastes; two categories of wastes requiring special consideration 
and  being  subject  to  similar  controls  as  hazardous  wastes  under  the  Basel  Convention 
(entries  Y46  and  Y47).  The  full  list  of  Y-codes  under  the  Convention  is  provided  in 
Section D of the working document.7  

At the time this report was prepared, the data on the total generation of hazardous waste 
were incomplete for several Member States not having reported any information8. In order 
to fill existing data gaps, estimated figures were used based on data from previous years. 

In  2012,  76  million  tonnes  of  hazardous  waste  were  generated  in  the  EU27.  This  is  in 
comparison to 75 million in 2011 and 76 million in 2010. Between 2007-2009 and 2010-
2012 the total amount of hazardous waste generated decreased by 4%. Reflecting this, the 
average amount generated per year in 2007-2009 was 79 million tonnes compared to 75 
million in 2010-2012. However, looking at the longer trend between 2000 and 2012 the 
amount of hazardous waste generated per year increased by 26%.  

In this reporting period, the total annual generation of hazardous waste per capita in the 
EU27 was 151 kg for 2012, 149 kg for 2011 and 151 kg for 2010. These figures show a 
decrease  from  an  average  of  158  kg  for  2007-2009  but  an increase  by 22%  since  2000.  
One possible explanation for this pattern is that less waste was generated as a result of the 
financial and economic crisis.  

As  in  2007-2009,  Germany  generated  the  highest  amounts  of  hazardous  waste  in  2010-
2012,  with  17  million  tonnes  in  2012.  This  was  followed  by  Italy  and  France  with  11 
million  tonnes  each.  Malta  generated  the  least  in  2012  with  27,000  tonnes,  followed  by 
Slovenia  and  Latvia  with  78,000  and  85,000  tonnes,  respectively.  The  biggest  increase 
was  shown  by  Cyprus,  which  generated  84,000  tonnes  in  2011  but  480,000  tonnes  in 
2012. Bulgaria showed the largest decrease, generating 647,000 tonnes in 2010 and only 
160,000 tonnes in 2012. Member States do not offer any explanation for these changes. 

In  terms  of  hazardous  waste  generated  per  capita,  Estonia  had  the  highest  figures  for 
2010-2012, as was the case in 2007-2009, with an average of 6,902 kilograms per capita. 
Romania produced the least  amount  in  2010-2012 with  an average  of ten kilograms per 
capita. This was followed by Greece with 22 kilograms per capita. Romania also had the 
lowest figure in 2007-2009 (six kilograms per capita). 

7 The Y-codes under the Basel Convention categorise the waste types to be controlled under the Convention. 
These were used to varying degrees by the Member States. Whilst some countries used them throughout the 
reporting period, others did not report them and some opted to use the codes of the European List of Waste. 
8 Data on the generation of hazardous waste are provided on the basis of the Waste Statistics Regulation. 

5 

 
 
                                                       
4.  WASTE SHIPMENTS OUT OF MEMBER STATES 

According  to  the  official  data  reported  by  Member  States,  in  2012,  the  amount  of  all 
notified  waste  shipped  out  of  the  EU27  was  14  million  tonnes,  of  which  five  million 
tonnes was hazardous (i.e. about 7% of all hazardous waste generated in 2012). For 2011 
and 2010, this figure was 15 and 12 million tonnes, respectively (six million tonnes were 
hazardous in both years). By comparison, for the period 2007-2009, the average amount 
of all notified waste shipped out per year was 11 million tonnes, of which eight million 
was hazardous (i.e. about 10% of all hazardous waste generated in 2012).  

From  2001  to  2011,  shipments  of  all  notified  waste  out  of  Member  States  increased  by 
126%.  In  2012,  however,  this  pattern  changed  as  the  amount  of  waste  "exported" 
decreased slightly by 2% in comparison to 2011. From 2001 to 2007, a large increase in 
the  amount  of  hazardous  waste  shipped  out  of  Member  States  was  observed  (154%). 
However,  from  2007  to  2012  the  quantities  of  hazardous  waste  shipped  out  of  Member 
States decreased by 32%.  

As  in  2007-2009,  the  Netherlands  was  the  largest  "exporter"  of  all  notified  waste,  with 
three  million  tonnes  in  2012.  Germany  was  the  second  biggest  "exporter",  shipping  out 
two  million  tonnes  in  2012.  Over  the  same  period,  Estonia  was  the  smallest  "exporter" 
with 3,000 tonnes in 2012.  

France and Italy were the two largest "exporters" of hazardous waste in 2010-2012 with 
985 and 977 tonnes shipped out in 2012 respectively. The Netherlands was the largest in 
2007-2009, however, in 2010 the amount of hazardous waste shipped out of this country 
decreased  by  73%.  Bulgaria,  Cyprus,  Estonia,  Romania  and  Slovakia  shipped  out  the 
smallest amounts of hazardous waste in 2010-2012.  

In  2009,  the  waste  group  Y1-Y18,  represented  the  largest  quantity,  constituting  37%  of 
the  total  quantity  of  all  notified  waste  shipped  out  of  EU27.  The  share  of  the  category 
Y19-Y45  was  13%  and  the  share  of  the  category  Y46-Y47  was  12%.  Although  the 
contribution  of  waste  groups  Y19-Y45  (13-15%)  and  Y46-47  (9-14%)  was  roughly  the 
same  in  2010-2012,  the  contribution  of  waste  group  Y1-18  to  the  total  quantity  of  all 
notified waste shipped out of EU27 kept decreasing from 37% in 2009 to 16% in 2012. 
The reason for this is due to the increase in the amount of waste classified using EU or 
national codes instead of Y-codes. 34% of waste shipments out of the EU were classified 
according to EU or national codes in 2009 compared to 55% in 2012. 

In  2012,  just  1%  of  waste  was  shipped  without  classification  and  0%  of  waste  was 
shipped  without  classification  in  2011.  This  is a  substantial  decrease  when  compared  to 
previous years when 3% and 4% of waste was shipped without classification in 2009 and 
2010,  respectively.  This  decrease  is  more  salient  when  compared  to  even  earlier  years 
(2005-2008) where this share ranged between 7% and 14%. The only Member States to 
ship waste without classification in 2012 were France, Greece and Luxembourg. 
In 2012, 94% of the EU's hazardous waste was treated in the country of origin9. Most of 
the hazardous waste shipped out of Member States was destined for a recovery operation. 
In  2012  and  2011  this  figure  was  70%  and  in  2010  it  was  73%.  By  comparison,  2007-

9 Due to lack of data for 2012, estimations were performed based on older data.  

6 

 
 
                                                       
2009 had seen a greater proportion of "exported" hazardous waste destined for recovery, 
with 72%, 73% and 78% destined for recovery in 2009, 2008 and 2007 respectively10. 

In  2012, 24%  of hazardous waste shipped  out of EU27  for recovery came  from France. 
Other  major  exporters  of  hazardous  waste  for  recovery  were  Belgium  (16%)  and  the 
Netherlands (14%). By comparison, in 2009, 39% of the hazardous waste shipped out of 
EU27 for recovery came from the Netherlands.   

In 2011, a reported peak in the amount of notified waste exported to non-OECD countries 
was due to a large quantity of iron-oxides that Finland exported to China that year. This 
waste  was  later  classified  as  non-waste  and  was  no  longer  notified  by  the  Finnish 
authorities.    

5.  WASTE SHIPMENTS INTO MEMBER STATES 

In 2012, the amount of all notified waste shipped into the EU27 was 17 million tonnes, of 
which  seven  million  tonnes  was  hazardous.  For 2011,  this  figure  was  16  million  tonnes 
(of which  nine million tonnes  was hazardous) and for 2010 it was 14 million (of which 
eight million tonnes was hazardous). The average amount of all notified waste shipped in 
per year has increased from 13 million tonnes in 2007-2009 to 16 million tonnes in 2010-
2012 (eight million tonnes was hazardous in both periods).  

Between  2001  and  2012,  the  quantity  of  all  notified  waste  shipped  into  Member  States 
increased  by  129%.  Over  the  same  period  the  amount  of  hazardous  waste  shipped  into 
Member  States  increased  by  127%,  although  2012  experienced  a  decrease  of  23%  from 
the previous year. 
The amount of  all  notified waste shipped into the EU1211 increased dramatically in  this 
reporting  period,  from  172,000  tonnes  in  2010  to  679,000  tonnes  in  2011  and  692,000 
tonnes in 2012. This was largely due to an increase in the reporting of waste "imported" 
and  treated  in  recovery  operations  in  Latvia  and  Slovakia.  For  Latvia,  the  "imported" 
waste  was  mainly  Refuse  Derived  Fuel  (RDF)  for  recovery.  For  Slovakia,  the  main 
"import"  was  147,000  tonnes  of  "other  wastes",  95%  of  which  was  shipped  in  from 
Austria for recovery.    

As  in  2007-2009,  Germany  was  the  biggest  "importer"  of  all  notified  waste  for  this 
reporting  period,  shipping  in  six  million  tonnes  in  2012.  France  was  the  second  largest 
over the same period, "importing" two million tonnes in 2012. These two countries were 
also  the  biggest  "importers"  of  hazardous  waste  for  both  reporting  periods,  shipping  in 
three million and one million tonnes respectively in 2012. By comparison, Malta did not 
ship  in  any  waste  over  the  three-year  period,  as  was  the  case  in  2007-2009.  Portugal 
shipped in the second lowest amount of waste with just 1,000 tonnes "imported" in 2012, 
all of which was hazardous. 

As  was  the  case  for  waste  shipped  out  of  the  EU27,  the  group  Y1-Y18  represented  the 
largest quantity, with 20% of the total quantity of all notified waste shipped into the EU27 

10 Some hazardous waste was submitted to "mixed" treatment (i.e. combination of disposal and recovery)  
11 The countries that have joined the EU since 2004 except Croatia 

7 

 
 
                                                       
in 2012. The share of category Y19-Y45 was 11% and the share of the category Y46-Y47 
was 7% in the same year. In 2010, by comparison, these figures were 26%, 14% and 8% 
respectively.  The  reason  for  these  decreases  is  the  same  as  for  "exports"  in  that  the 
amount  of  waste  classified  using  EU  or  national  codes  instead  of  Basel  Convention  Y-
codes is increasing. 44% of waste shipments into the EU were classified according to EU 
or national codes in 2010 compared to 61% in 2012. It should be noted that data for 2009 
was not available for analysis.   

The amount of waste shipped into  the EU27 without classification was 1%  in  2012 and 
0% in 2011. By comparison, this figure was 9% in 2010 and 13% in 2009. In 2012, the 
only countries that did not classify some of the waste were Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech 
Republic,  France,  Latvia  and  Slovakia.  The  largest  amount  of  waste  shipped  without 
classification came into France with 55,000 tonnes. 

Most  of  the  hazardous  waste  shipped  into  EU  Member  States  was  treated  in  a  recovery 
operation. In recent years, however, the share of recovery has decreased. While in 2003, 
89% of hazardous waste shipped into the EU27 underwent a recovery operation, in 2012, 
the share of recovery was 69%, meaning that a greater proportion of hazardous waste was 
being sent to disposal facilities.  

In 2012, Germany "imported" 41% of the total amount of hazardous waste shipped into 
the  EU27  for  recovery. Other  Member  States  with  high  percentages  of  hazardous waste 
shipped  in  for  recovery  were  France  (13%)  and  the  Netherlands  (12%).  These  three 
countries were also the biggest "importers" of hazardous waste for recovery in 2009. 

Like  the  previous  reporting  period, almost  all  of  the  hazardous  and  other  notified waste 
shipped  into  Member  States  in  2010-2012  came  from  other  Member  States  or  EFTA 
countries (97% for hazardous waste and 98% for all notifiable waste). The share of waste 
originating from non- OECD countries in 2010-2012 was minimal (3% or less) for both 
hazardous waste and all notified waste streams.  

6.  ILLEGAL SHIPMENTS, INSPECTIONS AND ENFORCEMENT MEASURES 

In  the  reporting  period  2010-2012,  there  were  over  2,500  cases  of  reported  illegal 
shipments  across  the  EU27,  with  the  number  of  cases  increasing  year  on  year 
(approximately  700,  800  and  1000  cases  in  2010,  2011  and  2012,  respectively)12.  By 
comparison there were approximately 400 cases in 2009. It was not possible to report on 
data related to tonnages of illegal waste shipped due to inconsistencies in units reported 
by  Member  States.  For  example,  several  countries  measured  illegally  shipped  waste  by 
"containers" or "loads" rather than tonnes.  

Illegal shipments of waste were reported by most Member States; only Malta and Spain 
reported  zero  incidents  over  the  reporting  period  and  Romania  only  one  case.  Belgium 
reported  the  largest  number  of  cases  in  2010-2012  and  together  with  Germany  and  the 
Netherlands they accounted for nearly 60% of the cases in this period. Appendix A.2.0 to 
the working document summarises this information.  

12 It is likely that some of the cases were reported in duplicate; once by the country of destination and 
once by the country of dispatch. 

8 

 
 
                                                       
The  reported  cases  of  illegal shipments  of  waste  could  indicate  a significant increase  in 
the number of illegal shipments since the previous reporting period. Alternatively, it could 
reflect  better  reporting  by  Member  States  or  more  effective  control  measures,  e.g. 
increasing the number of spot checks. In a 2012 report by IMPEL13, the average number 
of violations as a proportion of the physical inspections was 25%. This would suggest that 
the effectiveness of Member States' enforcement requires improvement and that, despite 
the  increased  number  of  incidents  reported,  a  large  proportion  of  illegal  shipments  of 
waste  still  go  undetected14.  The  above  may  suggest  that  the  actual  number  of  illegal 
shipments  in  2010-2012  was  considerably  higher  than  what  was  officially  reported, 
although it is difficult to assess the extent to which this is the case. 

Member  State  reporting  on  the  number  of  spot  checks  was  generally  poor  and  varied 
greatly.  In  some  cases  the  overall  number  of  checks  was  reported  whilst  in  others  this 
figure  was  broken  down,  for  example  by  the  number  of  administrative  checks,  by  the 
number  of  physical  checks  or  by  the  authority  that  carried  out  the  checks.  These 
inconsistencies were due to Member States defining spot checks differently. For example 
Belgium  treated  "spot-check"  as  a  single  physical  check,  whereas  others  (e.g. 
Luxembourg) saw it as a wider operation, possibly including several physical checks. In 
addition,  some  countries  were  able  to  accurately  quantify  the  number  of  checks,  whilst 
others simply stated that checks occurred without any reference to how often. According 
to IMPEL, administrative and physical inspections should be counted separately and then 
added together to give the total number of inspections. 

Poland is an example of a Member State which was able to submit good quality data on 
the  number  of  spot  checks  carried  out.  In  2011,  Poland  reported  3,200  spot  checks,  of 
which 122 and 2,900 were checks of facilities and freight, respectively. Poland shipped in 
77,000 tonnes of hazardous waste and shipped out 14,000 tonnes in 2011. This means that 
there  were  35  spot  checks  per  1,000  tonnes  of  waste  shipped.  More  robust  data  is, 
however, required to establish a best practice figure in terms of number of spot checks per 
1,000 tonnes of waste shipped for the EU as a whole (if at all possible). 

Similarly to 2007-2009, the most common reasons for illegality were that the shipment of 
waste was effected without notification to the relevant competent authorities or contrary 
to a prohibition on shipments under the Regulation. Typical response measures included 
the return of the waste to the country of origin and the setting of a fine. 

7.  GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 

Reporting and data quality 

The  reporting  period  2010-2012  saw  an  increase  in  the  number  of  replies  submitted  by 
Member States as compared to the previous reporting period 2007-2009.  

13 The EU Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law 
14 IMPEL (2012) TFS Enforcement Actions III Project Report (March–October 2012), 2012, 
http://impel.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/IMPEL-Enforcement-Actions-III-Year-1-FINAL-Report-
amended-MN-080713.pdf 

9 

 
 
                                                       
Considerable discrepancies in the amount of transboundary waste shipped were observed 
as reported by the "import" and "export" countries. The least accurate reporting year was 
2011, where the amount of hazardous waste "imported" was 17% higher than the amount 
"exported".  For  all  notified  waste  this  difference  was  5%.  The  use  of  an  EU-wide 
electronic data interchange used by all Member State competent authorities is expected to 
assist in the reduction of discrepancies in future reports. 

In  this  reporting  period  there  was  a  continued  decrease  in  the  amount  of  waste  shipped 
without  classification.  In  2012,  just  1%  of  waste  was  shipped  without classification.  By 
comparison,  3%  of  waste  was  shipped  without  classification  in  2009.  This  decrease  is 
more  salient  when  compared  to  even  earlier  years  (2005-2008)  where  this  share  ranged 
between 7% and 14%. 

A report issued by IMPEL in 2012 suggests that the actual number of illegal shipments in 
2010-2012  was  considerably  higher  than  what  was  officially  reported  by  the  Member 
States. 

Generation of Hazardous Waste  

The  generation  of  hazardous  waste  was  stable  during  the  reporting  period.  In  2012,  76 
million tonnes of hazardous waste were generated in the EU27, in 2011 75 million and in 
2010  76  million  tonnes.  Between  2007-2009  and  2010-2012  the  total  amount  of 
hazardous waste generated decreased by 4%. The average amount generated per year in 
2007-2009  was  79  million  tonnes  compared  to  75  million  in  2010-2012.  However, 
looking  at  the  longer  trend,  between  2000  and  2012  the  amount  of  hazardous  waste 
generated per year rose by 26%.  

Waste Shipments 

This  reporting  period  saw  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  transboundary  shipments  of 
notified waste in the EU27. In 2012, the amount of all notified waste shipped out was 14 
million tonnes, compared to 12 million tonnes in 2009 and 6 million tonnes in 2001. In 
2012,  the  amount  of  all  notified  waste  shipped  into  the  EU27  was  17  million  tonnes, 
compared to  14 million tonnes in  2009 and 7 million tonnes in  2001. This  may suggest 
that the EU27 is a net importer of notified waste.15  

Despite the increase in overall transboundary shipments of notified waste, this reporting 
period  saw  a  decrease  in  transboundary  shipments  of  hazardous  waste.  In  2012,  five 
million  tonnes  of  hazardous  waste  were  shipped  out  and  seven  million  tonnes  were 
shipped  in  the  EU27,  suggesting  that  the  EU27  might  be  a  net  importer  of  hazardous 
waste by two million tonnes. Furthermore, in 2012, 90% of the transboundary shipments 
of  hazardous  waste  were  made  between  Member  States  rather  than  third  countries  (this 
figure  was  86%  in  2011  and  2010).  This  indicates  a  high  level  of  self-sufficiency  with 
regard to the treatment of hazardous waste in the EU27.  

15 The difficulty in drawing a clear conclusion lies on the fact that an over-reporting of imports was 
observed.   

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The  amount  of  hazardous  waste  treated  in  the  country  of  origin  has  increased  since  the 
previous reporting period. In 2012, 94% of the EU27's hazardous waste was treated in the 
country of origin. Countries with an "export" rate of over 40% were Ireland, Luxembourg, 
Malta  and  Slovenia.  By  comparison,  in  2009,  90%  of  the  EU27's  hazardous  waste  was 
treated in the country of origin. 

Most  of  the  transboundary  shipments  of  hazardous  waste  in  2012  were  treated  in  a 
recovery operation (69% of waste shipped in and 70% of waste shipped out of Member 
States).  Both  figures  have  decreased  since  2009,  meaning  that  a  greater  proportion  of 
hazardous waste was being treated in disposal facilities.   

Illegal Shipments of Waste  

There were over 2,500 reported cases of illegal shipments across the EU27 between 2010 
and  2012,  of  which  approximately  1,000  were  reported  in  2012.  By  comparison,  there 
were  around  400  cases  in  2009.  However,  the  poor  quality  of  data  on  illegal  shipments 
and  the  varying  number  of  spot  checks  undertaken  prevents  an  in-depth  analysis  of  the 
EU27 and individual Member States' performance in reducing the number of these cases.  

8.  NEXT STEPS  

The  12th  meeting  of  the  Conference  of  the  Parties  to  the  Basel  Convention  adopted  a 
revised format for national reporting by Parties to report for the year 2016 and onwards.16 
The  new  format  is  expected  to  improve  the  quality  of  the  reporting  and  in  particular  as 
regards the classification of wastes, whereby the reporting of the specific hazardous waste 
codes of Annex VIII to the Convention (i.e. List A) is no longer optional. 

As  of  1  January  2016,  the  recent  amendments  introduced  through  Regulation (EU)  No 
660/2014  will  apply.  In  these  amendments,  the  word  "spot  check"  was  replaced  with  a 
new  definition  on  the  more  general  word  "inspection"  which  is  expected  to  improve 
consistency  in  the  replies  of  the  Member  States.  According  to  the  new  amendment, 
Member States  are required to  establish  inspection plans by 1 January 2017 including  a 
minimum  set  of  elements  and  based  on  a  risk  assessment  that  would  aim,  inter  alia,  to 
identify the minimum number of inspections required. Moreover, the amendment aims to 
provide  enhanced  powers  to  the  authorities  involved  in  inspections,  enabling  them  to 
decide on the basis of evidence whether a carried substance or object is waste and whether 
a shipment can be considered an illegal shipment of waste.  

As  announced  in  its  Circular  Economy  Action  Plan  adopted  on  2  December  2015,  the 
Commission  will  take  further  measures  to  help  ensure  that  the  Regulation  is  properly 
implemented  and  that  high-value  waste  streams  such  as  end-of-life  vehicles,  will  be 
targeted specifically to prevent raw materials leakage.   

16 This does not affect the next tri-annual Commission report covering the period 2013-2015. 

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