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 identifying Member States at risk of not meeting the 2025 preparing for re-use and recycling target for municipal waste, the 2025 recycling target for packaging waste and the 2035 municipal waste landfilling reduction target
Date: 2023-06-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, Latvia, application of EU law, carbon neutrality, circular economy, municipal waste, packaging product, prevention of pollution, storage of waste, waste recycling

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 8.6.2023  SWD(2023) 187 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   identifying Member States at risk of not meeting the 2025 preparing for re-use and recycling target for municipal waste, the 2025 recycling target for packaging waste and the 2035 municipal waste landfilling reduction target      {COM(2023) 304 final} - {SWD(2023) 175 final} - {SWD(2023) 176 final} - {SWD(2023) 180 final} - {SWD(2023) 181 final} - {SWD(2023) 182 final} - {SWD(2023) 183 final} - {SWD(2023) 184 final} - {SWD(2023) 185 final} - {SWD(2023) 186 final} - {SWD(2023) 188 final} - {SWD(2023) 189 final} - {SWD(2023) 195 final} - {SWD(2023) 196 final} - {SWD(2023) 197 final} - {SWD(2023) 198 final} - {SWD(2023) 199 final} - {SWD(2023) 200 final}  
 
 
1.  Introduction 

The early warning report aims to assist Member States at risk of failing to meet: (i) the 2025 target of 55% for 
the preparing for re-use and the recycling of their municipal waste (this target is set out in Article 11(2)(c) of 
Directive 2008/98/EC); and (ii) the 2025 target of 65% for the recycling of their packaging waste (this target 
is set out in Article 6(1)(f) of Directive 1994/62/EC). It also provides an update on how Member States are 
performing against the 2035 target to send no more than 10% of their municipal waste to landfill (this target 
is set out in Article 5(5) Directive 1999/31/EC).  

This report builds on previous support provided by the Commission to help Member States comply with EU 
law on municipal waste management, including, where relevant, the early warning report from 20181. 

The assessment underpinning the early warning report identified 18 Member States at risk of missing the 2025 
preparing for re-use and recycling target for municipal waste, 10 of which are also at risk of missing the 2025 
recycling target for all packaging waste. 

This assessment is based on a collaborative and transparent process involving the Member States concerned, 
the European Environment Agency , and an in-depth analysis of the most recent policy developments in the 
Member States. This process also involved extensive consultation with the Member State authorities in charge 
of waste management. The possible actions identified during this process are based on existing best practices 
and aim to help Member States meet the 2025 targets, and as such they focus on policy measures which can 
be  taken  in  the  short  term.  These  actions  should  be  seen  as  complementary  to  those  recommended  in  the 
roadmaps  which  were  drawn  up  as  part  of  preceding  compliance-promotion  activities  and  to  those 
recommended in the Environmental Implementation Review2. 

2.  Key findings 

Based  on  the  analysis  of  collected  data  and  existing  policies  in  the  area  of  waste  management,  Latvia  is 
considered to be at risk of missing: (i) the 2025 target of 55% for the preparing for re-use and the recycling of 
its municipal waste; and (ii) the specific 2025 target to recycle 50% of its plastic packaging waste. The distance 
between Latvia’s current landfilling rate and its 2035 target of landfilling no more than 10% of its municipal 
waste is also of concern. 

The recycling rate for  municipal  waste in Latvia has significantly increased  in recent years, jumping from 
25.2% in 2016 to 39.6% in 2020. This jump mainly resulted from including waste exported for recycling in 
the statistics for recycled waste. Although there was a significant decrease in the landfilling rate in recent years 
(falling from 64.3% in 2016 to 52.8% in 2020), Latvia continues to rely heavily on landfilling. 

The total recycling rate for packaging waste rate in 2019 was 62.4%, which is very close to the 2025 target of 
65%. The application of the new calculation rules3 in the future for packaging waste recycling might also result 
in lower recycling rates (in 2020 the recycling rate for all packaging waste decreased to 61.4%). The recycling 
rates  for  specific  waste  materials  has  exceeded  their  respective  targets  for  2025,  except  plastic  packaging, 
which is 14.1 percentage points below the 2025 targets (the 2025 recycling target is 50% for plastic). 

Low recycling rates are mainly due to: 

1 An early warning report was issued for Latvia in 2018 (SWD(2018) 420 final). A total of 15 recommendations were 
provided. According to the Latvian authorities, 13 of the report’s recommendations are considered as being implemented 
and 2 as partially implemented. 
2 European Commission (2022). Environmental Implementation Review 2022. COM/2022/438 final. (https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=comnat%3ACOM_2022_0438_FIN).  
3 Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1004. 

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strong reliance on landfilling and limited capture rates for separately collected recyclables (20% 
for biowaste, 13% for plastics and 6% for metals)  

insufficient  coverage  of  high-convenience  collection  services  across  the  country,  with  such 
services unavailable to many Latvians 

-  Potential to provide more incentives for citizens to make a bigger effort in separating their waste 

at source. 

However, Latvia is likely to make significant progress on municipal waste and packaging waste recycling in 
the future given the significant recent increase in: (i) the recycling rate for municipal waste; (ii) clearly defined 
responsibilities;  (iii)  enforcement  actions;  and  (iv)  support  mechanisms.  On  the  objective  of  reducing  the 
percentage of waste sent to landfill, the distance to the 2035 target deserves further attention. 

3.  Key recommendations 

Among  the  measures  considered  necessary  to  support  Latvia’s  efforts  to  improve  its  waste-management 
performance, three main recommendations are listed below. 

1.  Support preparing for re-use of municipal waste and re-use systems for packaging.  
2.  Improve performance in the separate collection of waste, as a large share of the population lacks access 
to  high-convenience  collection  services  (especially  for  biowaste).  The  combination  of  different 
collection modes with different collection areas (according to types of housing) and different types of 
waste stream should be taken into consideration when seeking to improve performance in this area. 
3.  Prioritise  projects  higher  up  in  the  waste  hierarchy.  It  should  channel  the  available  funding  into 

extending the treatment capacity for biowaste and supporting home composting. 

4.  Latvia should implement a pay-as-you-throw system to further incentivise the public to separate waste 

at source.  

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

4.  Good practices 

The following measures implemented by Latvia are considered good practices contributing to the improvement 
of its recycling performance. 

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-  Raising public awareness of sound waste management – Latvia set up a very user-friendly website4 
giving the general public free access to information on both the location of sorting facilities in the 
whole country and related sound practices for waste separation. 
Improving  the  system  for  the  separate  collection  of  waste  –  Latvia  made  use  of  the  EU’s  LIFE 
programme  to  finance  its  ‘Waste  to  resources  IP5’  project  to  boost  regional  sustainability  and 
circularity. The project aims to implement the country’s national waste-management plan for 2021-
2028. This is a very wide-ranging project aimed at improving system for the separate collection of 
waste  by  piloting  complex  management  approaches  for  priority  waste  streams  (including  the  safe 
disposal of specific types of hazardous waste). The project also includes many activities to raise public 
awareness.  

4 ASIS (skiroviegli.lv).  
5 LIFE (lifeprogramma.lv). 

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OVERVIEW OF POSSIBLE ACTIONS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE 

Governance 

1)  To  monitor,  enforce  and  achieve  higher  capture  rates,  mandatory  objectives  or  indicators  for 
separate  waste  collection  should  be  laid  down  at  the  level  of  the  bodies  in  charge  of  collecting 
municipal  waste  (e.g.  municipalities).  This  could  be  complemented  with  a  system  of  financial 
rewards and penalties for entities involved, depending on whether they achieve the targets or not.  

Prevention 

2)  Take measures to increase re-use and to prevent the generation of non-recyclable municipal waste 

3)  Foster coordination between central government and local government to achieve the EU’s waste-
prevention objectives. It should also properly monitor the implementation of the waste-prevention 
measures.  

Separate collection 

4)  Improve performance in the separate collection of waste, including biowaste, as a large share of the 
population lacks access to high-convenience collection services. In order to ensure a high capture 
rate of recyclable wastes, Latvia should promote a combination of different collection modes with 
different collection areas and different waste streams (with due consideration of housing types and 
related challenges, such as large multi-apartment buildings with limited room for waste storage). 

Waste treatment  

5)  Support  preparing  for  re-use  of  municipal  waste  and develop  waste-treatment infrastructure  that 
focuses on the higher steps of the waste hierarchy. Firm plans and concrete actions are needed, such 
as supporting home composting and stepping up treatment capacity for biowaste in order to fully 
cover the generated biowaste. A transition towards expanding the capacity of the treatment plants 
has already started/is planned. 

Communication and awareness raising 

6)  Maintain and strengthen awareness-raising activities specifically tailored to different target groups 
(e.g.  households,  commercial  waste  generators,  schoolteachers  and  students)  to  increase 
participation in separate collection. A set of national communication materials should be developed 
that:  (i)  are  addressed  to  citizens,  farmers,  and  pupils  for  use  at  local  level;  (ii)  have  clear  and 
consistent messages; and (iii) have a particular focus on biowaste, home composting and the sound 
management of waste (e.g. sorting). 

Extended producer responsibility and economic instruments 

7)  Set up a pay-as-you-throw system for businesses and households to both attain higher capture rates 
for  recyclable  fractions and  reduce residual  waste.  Local  authorities could be supported  through 
guidance on how to design the incentive mechanisms and how to introduce – or learn from – pilot 
projects. 

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8)  Latvia  should  use  economic  instruments  (e.g.  raising landfill taxes to  a  sufficient  magnitude) to 
incentivise waste management focused on the higher steps of the waste hierarchy. This will help to 
make  re-use,  preparation  for  re-use,  and  recycling  economically  attractive  and  will  reduce 
dependency  on  landfilling.  The  economic  incentive  should be  designed and  sufficiently  large  to 
create a ‘steering effect’. Landfill taxes that increase over time in correlation to specific targets are 
considered the most effective. 

9)  Stepping up efforts to establish re-use systems for packaging will bring environmental benefits and 

help Member States in complying with the EU packaging recycling targets. 

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