Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 8 May 2019.
Associazione "Verdi Ambiente e Società - Aps Onlus" (VAS) and “Movimento Legge Rifiuti Zero per l'Economia Circolare” Aps v Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri and Others.
Request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per il Lazio.
Reference for a preliminary ruling — Environment — Directive 2008/98/EC — Disposal or recovery of waste — Establishment of an integrated waste management system guaranteeing national self-sufficiency — Construction of incineration facilities or increase in capacity of existing facilities — Classification of incineration facilities as ‘strategic infrastructure and installations of major national importance’ — Compliance with the ‘waste hierarchy’ principle — Directive 2001/42/EC — Need to carry out an ‘environmental assessment’.
Case C-305/18 (2019)
Language: English

It is apparent from the order for reference that the associations VAS and Movimento Legge Rifiuti Zero per l’Economia Circolare brought an action before the referring court, the Tribunale amministrativo regionale per il Lazio (Regional Administrative Court, Lazio, Italy), seeking annulment of the Decree of 10 August 2016, in the context of which they invoked five pleas in law.
Those pleas in law can, in essence, be divided in two groups. The first of those group combines the pleas alleging infringement of the ‘waste hierarchy’ principle, provided for in Articles 4 and 13 of the ‘Waste’ Directive, in that the Decree of 10 August 2016 classified incineration facilities as ‘strategic infrastructure and installations of major national importance’. According to the applicants in the main proceedings, the incineration of waste should only be used as a last resort, when it is no longer possible to rely on recovery or recycling techniques. The second group of pleas alleges infringement of the SEA Directive, in that the adoption of the Decree of 10 August 2016 was not preceded by an assessment of its impact on the environment.

Legal relationship diagram (Graphviz):
digraph {
    node [shape=box];
    
    "VAS" [shape=doubleoctagon];
    "Movimento Legge Rifiuti Zero per l’Economia Circolare" [shape=doubleoctagon];
    "Tribunale amministrativo regionale per il Lazio (Regional Administrative Court, Lazio, Italy)" [shape=doubleoctagon];
    "Seeking annulment of the Decree of 10 August 2016" [shape=trapezium];
    
    "VAS" -> "Brought an action";
    "Movimento Legge Rifiuti Zero per l’Economia Circolare" -> "Brought an action";
    "Brought an action" -> "Tribunale amministrativo regionale per il Lazio (Regional Administrative Court, Lazio, Italy)";
    "Tribunale amministrativo regionale per il Lazio (Regional Administrative Court, Lazio, Italy)"->"Seeking annulment of the Decree of 10 August 2016" [dir=none];
    "Seeking annulment of the Decree of 10 August 2016"->"Alleging infringement of the ‘waste hierarchy’ principle, provided for in Articles 4 and 13 of the ‘Waste’ Directive, in that the Decree of 10 August 2016 classified incineration facilities as ‘strategic infrastructure and installations of major national importance’"[dir=none];
    "Seeking annulment of the Decree of 10 August 2016"->"Alleges infringement of the SEA Directive, in that the adoption of the Decree of 10 August 2016 was not preceded by an assessment of its impact on the environment."[dir=none];
}