COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The early warning report for Latvia Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the implementation of EU waste legislation, including the early warning report for Member States at risk of missing the 2020 preparation for re-use/recycling target on municipal waste
Date: 2018-09-24
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, Latvia, application of EU law, circular economy, environmental law, environmental protection, pollution control, prevention of pollution, waste, waste management

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 24.9.2018 SWD(2018) 420 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The early warning report for Latvia Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the implementation of EU waste legislation, including the early warning report for Member States at risk of missing the 2020 preparation for re-use/recycling target on municipal waste {COM(2018) 656 final} - {SWD(2018) 413 final} - {SWD(2018) 414 final} - {SWD(2018) 415 final} - {SWD(2018) 416 final} - {SWD(2018) 417 final} - {SWD(2018) 418 final} - {SWD(2018) 419 final} - {SWD(2018) 421 final} - {SWD(2018) 422 final} - {SWD(2018) 423 final} - {SWD(2018) 424 final} - {SWD(2018) 425 final} - {SWD(2018) 426 final}  
 
 
1.  Introduction 

This early warning report is part of the Commission's overall implementation report and aims 
to assist Member States at risk of failing to meet the 2020 target of 50 % preparation for re-
use/recycling of municipal waste set out in Article 11(2)(a) of Directive 2008/98/EC. It builds 
on  previous  support  provided  by  the  Commission  to  help Member  States  comply1  with  EU 
law in the area of municipal waste management. This resulted in country-specific roadmaps2 
being drawn up for the relevant Member States.  

The  assessment  underpinning  the  early  warning  report  is  based  on  a  collaborative  and 
transparent process involving the Member States concerned and an in-depth analysis of their 
most  recent  policy  developments.  This  also  involved  extensive  consultation  with  the 
authorities in charge of waste management.  

The possible actions identified during this process are based on the existing best practices and 
aim  to  help  Member  States  in  meeting  the  2020  municipal  waste  preparation  for  re-
use/recycling; they therefore focus on policy measures that can be taken forward in the short 
term. These actions should be seen as complementary to those recommended in the roadmaps 
that  were  drawn  up  as  part  of  the  preceding  compliance  promotion  activities  and  to  the 
recommendations made in the Environmental Implementation Review3. 

2.  Key findings  

In 2016, Latvia’s municipal waste recycling rate (including composting) reported to Eurostat 
was  25 %,  while  its  landfilling  rate  was  64 %.  Based  on  an  analysis  of  existing  and  firmly 
planned policies in the area of waste management, Latvia is considered at risk of missing the 
2020 target of 50 % preparation for re-use/recycling of municipal waste. 

The assessment4 that underpins the early warning report concludes that:  

 

the separate collection of recyclables, including bio-waste, is not yet being carried out 
effectively;  

  economic incentives for households to separate waste are lacking;  
 

the extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes in Latvia do not fully cover the 
costs of separate collection; and 

  more investment is needed in projects higher up the waste hierarchy (e.g. recycling) 

that go beyond treatment of residual waste. 

The table below lists possible actions to support Latvia’s efforts to improve its performance 
in waste management. 

1 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/framework/support_implementation_1st_phase.htm 
2 Roadmap for Latvia: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/framework/pdf/LV_Roadmap_FINAL.pdf 
3 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eir/country-reports/index2_en.htm 
4 Eunomia Research & Consulting et al. (2018) ‘Study to identify Member States at risk of non-compliance with 
the 2020 target of the Waste Framework Directive and to follow-up phase 1 and 2 of the compliance 
promotion exercise. The early warning report: Latvia.’. 

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OVERVIEW OF POSSIBLE ACTIONS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE 

Economic incentives 

1)  Assessment of the levels of the landfill tax rate and gate fee to conclude whether these 
are  sufficiently  high  to  act  as  financial  incentives  for  separate  waste  collection  and  to 
shift waste away from disposal. 

2)  Support to municipalities in their implementation of pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) schemes 
to  encourage  households  to  segregate  waste.  This  will  involve  sharing  best  practice 
examples  from  both  Latvia  (taken  from  the  ongoing  PAYT  trial)  and  abroad,  and 
carrying  out  pilots  of  PAYT  schemes  specifically  for  apartments/multi-occupancy 
buildings. 

Mandatory recycling targets for municipalities 

3)  Adoption  of  national  law  cascading  the  50 %  recycling  rate  target  to  municipalities 
accompanied  by  a  monitoring  of  implementation  and  concrete  consequences  or 
penalties for missing these targets. 

Separate collection 

4)  Setting  out  in  national  law  minimum  municipal  waste  collection  standards,  including 
the  minimum  number  of  collection  points  and  minimum  criteria  on  density  of  civic 
amenity sites. 

5)  Development  of  national  minimum  service  standards  for  waste  collection  (including 
bio-waste)  to  specify,  for  example,  the  type  and  volume  of  containers,  frequency  of 
collection and type of vehicle used, taking into account the type of housing stock, how 
rural the area is, typical climate, etc. 

6)  Implementation  of  a  mechanism  that  would  require  municipalities  to  rectify  their 
schemes  if  the  minimum  standards  are  not  met,  and  apply  penalties/consequences  for 
failing to meet the standards. 

7)  Introduction  of  compulsory  bio-waste  collection,  and  adoption  of  legislation  on 
compost 
digestate.  
Promotion  of  best  practice  in  bio-waste  collections,  particularly  for  apartments/multi-
occupancy buildings.  

standards 

compost 

uptake 

ensure 

and 

of 

to 

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Extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes 

8)  Setting  up  by  law  a  clearing  house  to  coordinate  the  producer  responsibility 
organisations  (PROs)  in  Latvia,  while  stipulating  how  municipalities  are  remunerated 
by  PROs  for  the  management  of  the  relevant  waste  material(s).  This  should  include 
suitable checks to ensure that municipalities are not carrying out these collections in an 
inefficient manner. 

a.  The  clearing  house  would:  (i)  coordinate  the  PROs;  (ii)  collect,  audit  and 
validate  data  for  the  materials  collected,  both  by  the  PROs  and  municipalities; 
and (iii) set up arrangements for channelling funding to municipalities in a fair 
manner  (i.e.  covering  the  cost  necessary  to  provide  a  cost-efficient  waste 
collection service).  

9)  Mandating  the  audits  of  data  collected  by  the  clearing  house  while  ensuring  that  all 
parts of the market are covered (i.e. including the internet sales, etc.) to identify gaps or 
shortcomings in the data, and to ensure that these are addressed and that improvements 
are made. 

10) Managing  the  collection  infrastructure  so  that  it  complements  rather  than  duplicates 

municipal collection arrangements. 

Spending of EU funds 

11) Prioritisation  of  projects  higher  up  in  the  waste  hierarchy,  such  as  PAYT  trials  and 
separate  collection,  including  of  bio-waste.  Channelling  the  available  funding  into 
suitable bio-waste treatment infrastructure. 

Improving data 

12) Publication  of  annual  waste  statistics  for  all  municipalities,  clearly  stating  recycling 
performance by municipality, and address any issues or gaps with respect to data on the 
collection of commercial waste.   

13) Extension  of  data  collection  to  cover  collection,  treatment  and  disposal,  including 
robust  data  collection  from  waste  operators,  with  a  clear  understanding  of  the  end 
destinations of materials (i.e. recycling or disposal route). 

Communication and awareness raising 

14) Development of a set of national communications materials addressed to the public for 
use at local level, with clear and consistent messages, and with particular focus on bio-
waste.  These  materials  should  be  used  as  part  of  awareness-raising  campaigns,  in 
leaflets and at civic amenity sites. 

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Technical support to municipalities 

15) Development  of  a  system  at  national  level  that  provides  technical  support  for 

municipalities, specifically in the following areas: 

a.  choosing collection services;  
b.  service procurement; 
c.  service management; 
d.  communication campaigns; 

coupled with active sharing of good ideas and practices that can improve efficiency in terms 
of cost reduction and improvement in performance. 

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