EU DIRECTIVES

Directive: 91/689/EEC

Concerning: Hazardous Waste

A list of the hazardous wastes covered by the Directive is to be drawn up on the basis of the categories, constituents and properties set out in the Annexes to the Directive by 12 June 1993. Domestic waste is not covered by the Directive.

All waste (hazardous or not) is subject to Directive 75/442/EEC. Hazardous waste is also subject to Directive 91/689/EEC.

Member States ensure that hazardous waste is recorded and identified; they also ensure that different categories of hazardous waste are not mixed and that hazardous waste is not mixed with non-hazardous waste, save where the necessary measures have been taken to safeguard human health and the environment.

Any establishment or undertaking which carries out disposal operations must obtain a permit. This applies also in the case of operations which may lead to recovery. However, the permit requirement may be waived in the latter case if the method of recovery is such that there is no danger to human health or the environment, or if the Member State has adopted general measures laying down conditions for various methods of recovery, provided the conditions have been communicated to the Commission.

Establishments or undertakings which carry out disposal operations or operations which may lead to recovery and producers of hazardous waste are subject to periodic inspections covering in particular the origin and destination of the waste. Transporters, producers, establishments and undertakings keep a record of their activities and make this information available to the competent authorities designated by each State.

The competent authorities publish plans for the management of hazardous waste and the Commission evaluates these plans.

In case of emergency or grave danger, Member States may derogate temporarily from the Directive in order that hazardous waste should not constitute a danger to the population or the environment. They must inform the Commission of any such derogations.
The annexes to the Directive can be adapted to scientific and technical progress in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 18 of Directive 75/442/EEC.

View Directive: Directive 91/689/EEC

View Amendments: Council Directive 94/31/EC

DIRECTIVE: 75/439/EEC

Concerning: The Disposal of Waste Oils

Directive 75/439/EEC requires that Member States ensure the safe collection, treatment, storage and disposal of waste oils, with the discharge of waste oils to waters and drainage systems being prohibited. The Directive gives highest priority to the regeneration of waste oils (where technical, economic and organisational constraints allow) followed by combustion, and lastly their destruction or controlled storage or tipping. Regenerated oils must not contain more than 50 parts per million of polychlorinated biphenyls and terphenyls (PCB/PCT), which are both highly persistent pollutants.

Subsequent amendments:
87/101/EEC (February 1987) and 91/692/EEC (December 1991)

DIRECTIVE: 91/157/EEC

Concerning: Batteries and Accumulators

This Directive looks at ways of reducing the amounts of potentially toxic heavy metals used in the production of batteries and accumulators, while increasing controlled disposal and recycling through more effective product labelling. The Directive covers batteries and accumulators containing:

• more than 25 mg of mercury per cell, except alkaline manganese batteries (this applies to mercuric oxide batteries used for hearing aids, pacemakers and photographic equipment);
• more than 0.025% of cadmium by weight, such as rechargeable (nickel cadmium) batteries;
• more than 0.4% lead by weight (essentially lead-acid batteries used in motor vehicles), and;
• alkaline manganese batteries containing more than 0.025% mercury by weight (i.e. general purpose batteries such as long-life Duracell, BATA and Eveready Gold Seal).

Subsequent amendments: 93/86/EEC (October 1993) and 98/101/EEC (January 1999)

View Directive: Directive 91/157/EEC

View Amendments:
Commission Directive 93/86/EEC
Commission Directive 98/101/EC           

DIRECTIVE: 94/62/EC

Concerning: Packaging and Packaging Waste

The main aims of this Directive are to reduce the overall impact of packaging on the environment, to harmonise the existing packaging legislation of Member States and to remove trade obstacles which may distort competition. It applies to all packaging, regardless of material, and wherever it is used; whether industrial, commercial or shop level.

The identified means of reducing environmental impact are: reducing packaging at source; eliminating harmful materials in packaging waste; maximising recovery of packaging for reuse, recycling, composting or energy generation; and minimising the quantity going for final disposal.

The Directive requires Member States to establish systems for return, collection and recovery of packaging wastes. With these systems in place, each state must meet an overall recovery target of 50 - 65% (by weight) of all packaging waste. An additional 25 - 45% of each material, averaged across the board, should be removed from the waste stream, with an absolute minimum of 15% of any material being recycled. Member States generally have until 2001 to reach these targets, but may only exceed these levels provided they have sufficient capacity and that their measures will not distort the single market or hinder other Member States' ability to comply. The Directive also requires the production of a further directive on marking and identifying packaging.
Other points:

• Prevention is promoted and re-use encouraged, but there are no quantitative targets.
• There are no requirements to include minimum recycled content for packaging.
• Packaging must be clearly marked to indicate the material used, and the Council must decide on marking schemes within two years of implementation of the directive.
• Levels of heavy metal concentrations must be within certain limits, with these becoming increasingly stringent from mid-1998.
• No Member State will be able to block the use of packaging, as long as it meets the requirements of the Directive.
• Governments must ensure that the public are aware of the targets and the systems available to achieve them.

View Directive: Directive 94/62/EC           

DIRECTIVE: 1999/31/EC

Concerning: the Landfill of Waste

Under this Directive, a ban on the landfill of certain hazardous wastes, liquid wastes and tyres is imposed on Member States. Further, the Directive sets targets to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste (i.e. biodegradable waste collected by local authorities) that is sent to landfill; to 75% of baseline (1995) levels by 2006, to 50% by 2009 and to 35% by 2016. This represents an attempt to reduce the EUs total methane emissions (a powerful greenhouse gas), which derive partly from the breakdown of biodegradable elements in waste.
The Directive:

• aims to reduce both the amount and toxicity of landfilled waste;
• defines standards for the design and operation of existing and new landfills;
• encourages pre-treatment of waste before it is landfilled;
• aims to prevent potentially harmful waste mixing by suggesting that certain types of waste can only be disposed of in certain sites.

View Directive: Directive 1999/31/EC

DIRECTIVE: 2000/76/EC

Concerning: The Incineration of Waste

The aim of this Directive is to prevent or reduce, as far as possible, air, water and soil pollution caused by the incineration or co-incineration of waste, as well as the resulting risk to human health.

When the proposal for this Directive was introduced the Community's waste incineration system was covered by Directives 89/369/EEC and 89/429/EEC (new and existing municipal waste-incineration plants) and 94/67/EC (incineration of hazardous waste).

This Directive is intended to fill the gaps existing in that legislation. Apart from the incineration of non-toxic municipal waste its scope extends to the incineration of non-toxic non-municipal waste (such as sewage sludge, tyres and hospital waste) and toxic wastes not covered by Directive 94/67/EC (such as waste oils and solvents). At the same time it is intended to incorporate the technical progress made on monitoring incineration-process emissions into the existing legislation, and to ensure that the international commitments entered into by the Community are met in terms of pollution reduction, and more particularly those laying down limit values for the emissions of dioxins, mercury and dusts arising from waste incineration (protocols signed in 1998 under the aegis of the United Nations' Economic Commission Convention on long-distance cross-border atmospheric pollution). The proposal is based on an integrated approach: limits for discharges into water are added to the updated limits for emissions to atmosphere.

Unlike Directives 89/369/EEC and 89/429/EEC referred to above, this Directive applies not only to facilities intended for waste incineration ("dedicated incineration plants") but also to "co-incineration" plants (facilities whose main purpose is to produce energy or material products and which use waste as a regular or additional fuel, this waste being thermally treated for the purpose of disposal). The Directive does not cover experimental plants for improving the incineration process and which treat less than 50 tonnes of waste per year. Nor does it cover plants treating only:

• vegetable waste from agriculture and forestry, the food processing industry or the production of paper;
• wood waste;
• cork waste;
• radioactive waste;
• animal carcasses;
• waste resulting from the exploitation of oil and gas and incinerated on board offshore installations.

All incineration or co-incineration plants must be authorised. Permits will be issued by the competent authority and will list the categories and quantities of hazardous and non-hazardous waste which may be treated, the plant's incineration or co-incineration capacity and the sampling and measurement procedures which are to be used.

Before accepting hazardous waste, operators of incineration or co-incineration plants must have available the prescribed administrative information on the generating processes, information on the physical and chemical composition of hazardous waste, and information on the hazardous characteristics of the waste.

In order to guarantee complete waste combustion, the Directive requires all plants to keep the incineration or co-incineration gases at a temperature of at least 850��C for at least two seconds. If hazardous wastes with a content of more than 1 % of halogenated organic substances, expressed as chlorine, are incinerated, the temperature has to be raised to 1100��C for at least two seconds.

The heat generated by the incineration process has to be put to good use as far as possible.
The limit values for incineration plant emissions to atmosphere are set out in Annex V to the Directive. They concern heavy metals, dioxins and furans, carbon monoxide (CO), dust, total organic carbon (TOC), hydrogen chloride (HCl), hydrogen fluoride (HF), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen monoxide (No) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

The limit values for co-incineration plant emissions to atmosphere are set out in Annex II. In addition, special provisions are laid down relating to cement kilns, other industrial sectors and combustion plants which co-incinerate waste.

All discharges of effluents caused by exhaust-gas clean up must be authorised. This will guarantee that the emission limit values set out in Annex IV to the Directive are not exceeded. Rain or firefighting water will be collected and analysed before being discharged.

The quantity and harmfulness of incineration residues must be reduced to a minimum and residues must, as far as possible, be recycled. When dry residues are transported, precautions must be taken to prevent their dispersal in the environment. Tests must be carried out to establish the physical and chemical characteristics, and polluting potential, of residues.
The Directive provides for the mandatory provision of measurement systems enabling the parameters and relevant emission limits to be monitored. Emissions to atmosphere and into water must be measured periodically in accordance with Annex III and Article 11 of the Directive.

Applications for new permits must be made accessible to the public, so that the latter may comment before the competent authority reaches a decision.

For plants with a nominal capacity of two tonnes or more per hour, the operator must provide the competent authority with an annual report on the functioning and monitoring of the plant, to be made available to the public. A list of plants with a nominal capacity of less than two tonnes per hour must be drawn up by the competent authority and made available to the public.
By 31 December 2008, the Commission must report to Parliament and the Council on the application of the Directive, progress achieved in emission control techniques and experience with waste management. Other reports on the implementation of the Directive will also be produced.

The Directive will apply to existing plants as from 28 December 2005 and to new plants as from 28 December 2002.

View Directive: Directive 2000/76/EC

Directive: 2000/53/EC

Concerning: End of Life Vehicles (ELVs)

The main objective of this Directive is to prevent the production of waste from vehicles, as well as promoting the recycling and reuse of ELVs and their components.
The targets set out for recycling of ELVs are:

• By 1st January 2006, reuse and recovery of all ELVs will be increased to a minimum of 85% and reuse and recycling will be increased to a minimum of 80% by average weight per vehicle
• By 1st January 2015, reuse and recovery of all ELVs will be increased to a minimum of 95% and reuse and recycling 85% by an average weight per vehicle.

The Directive also includes provisions relating to: the restriction of the use of hazardous materials in vehicles, the implementation of collection systems for ELVs, the requirement that all ELVs be transferred to authorised treatment facilities and the issuing of a certificate of destruction by authorised treatment facilities, a measure necessary for the de-registering of an ELV.

View Directive: Directive 2000/53/EC

Directives: 2002/96/EC (WEEE) and 2002/95/EC (RoHS)

Concerning: Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and
Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS)

In 2001, between 35,000 and 82,000 of WEEE was produced in Ireland. This accounts for 1.65 _ 3.35% of municipal waste. WEEE is one of the fastest growing waste streams in Europe and includes, for example:

• Fridges
• TV's
• Freezers
• Computers
• Cookers
• Electrical tools
• Toasters
• Monitoring and control equipment

The largest proportion of this waste stream (by weight) is made up of two main equipment types, large household appliances and IT equipment such as PC's, photocopiers and printers.
The European Commission has identified WEEE as a priority waste stream. In order to increase the proportion of electrical goods that can be recycled, two Directives have been prepared:

1. Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
• This Directive arises to prevent and minimise the amount of WEEE produced and to maximise the amount that is reused, recycled and recovered. In fact companies that are affected will have to meet recycling targets of up to 80% of the product weight of individual appliances. The main points of the Directive are:
• Establishment of a separate collection network for WEEE - a nation-wide network is Bring Centres where households can deliver WEEE free of charge.
• Financing of costs of collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE is to be provided for by the producers - this can be done collectively (similar to Repak scheme) or individually.
• All facilities involved in the treatment WEEE must be subject to permits issued by state regulatory bodies.
• The Directive must be transposed by August 2004 and member states have until August 2005 to introduce take back systems of all electrical and electronic equipment.
2. Directive on the Restriction of the use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment.

The aim of this Directive is to bring about a reduction in the use of hazardous substances in WEEE. It will require manufacturers of electronic goods to eliminate the use of the following hazardous substances in new electrical and electronic equipment:

• Lead: hexavalent
• Mercury: polybrominated bupheryls (PCBS)
• Calcium: polybrominated bipherylethers (PBDE)

This must be in place by July 2006.
The overall objective of these two Directives is:

• Reduction in amount of WEEE being disposed on Landfill.
• Increase in the amount of WEEE being recycled
• Reduction in the harmfulness of WEEE
• Conservation of resources.

View Directives:
WEEE Directive: Directive 2002/96/EC
RoHS Directive: Directive 2002/95/EC

Directive: 96/61/EC

Concerning: Integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC)

Integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) concerns highly polluting industrial and agricultural activities, as defined in Annex I (energy industries, production and processing of metals, mineral industry, chemical industry, waste management, livestock farming, etc.).
The Directive defines the basic obligations to be met by all the industrial installations concerned, whether new or existing. These basic obligations cover a list of measures for tackling discharges into water, air and soil and for tackling waste, wastage of water and energy, and environmental accidents. They serve as the basis for drawing up operating licences or permits for the installations concerned.

Accordingly, the Directive:

• lays down a procedure for applying for, issuing and updating operating permits;
• lays down minimum requirements to be included in any such permit (compliance with the basic obligations, emission limit values for pollutants, monitoring of discharges, minimisation of long-distance or transboundary pollution).

A transitional period (30 October 1999 - 30 October 2007) is laid down during which existing installations can be brought into conformity with the requirements of the Directive.
The Member States are responsible for inspecting industrial installations and ensuring they comply with the Directive. An exchange of information on best available techniques (serving as a basis for emission limit values) is organised between the Commission, the Member States and the industries concerned. Reports on the implementation of the Directive are drawn up every three years.

View Directive: Directive 96/61/EC

Directive: 96/59/EC

Concerning: Disposal of PCBs and PCTs

Member States must take the necessary measures to ensure that:

• used PCBs are disposed of;
• PCBs and equipment containing PCBs are decontaminated or disposed of.

Inventories must be compiled of equipment with PCB volumes of more than 5 dm3, which Member States must send to the Commission by September 1999 at the latest. The equipment and PCBs contained in the inventories must be decontaminated or disposed of by 2010 at the latest.

The inventories must supply the following data:

• the names and addresses of the holders;
• the location and description of the equipment;
• the quantity of PCBs contained in the equipment;
• the date and type of treatment planned;
• the date of the declaration.

Any equipment which is subject to inventory must be labelled.
Member States must prohibit:

• the separation of PCBs from other substances for the purpose of reusing the PCBs;
• the topping-up of transformers with PCBs.

Within three years following the adoption of this Directive, Member States must draw up:

• plans for the decontamination and/or disposal of inventoried equipment and the PCBs contained therein;
• plans for the collection and subsequent disposal of equipment not subject to inventory.

This Directive repeals Directive 76/403/EEC.

View Directive: Directive 96/59/EC

Directive: 89/369/EEC

Concerning: The Prevention of Air Pollution from New Municipal Waste Incineration Plants

Council Directive 89/369/EEC on the prevention of air pollution from new municipal waste incineration plants.

The Directive lay down conditions for the granting by the Member States of authorisation to operate new municipal waste incineration plants (domestic, commercial and business refuse, and other waste which, because of its nature or composition, is similar to domestic refuse).
The conditions are as follows:

• compliance with the emission limit values for the pollutants mentioned in the Directive;
• compliance with criteria on the design, equipment and operation of the incineration plants;
• periodic checks on the concentration of certain substances in the combustion gases and of operating parameters.

Where the limit values are exceeded in an incineration plant, the Member State concerned must prohibit that plant's operation until such time as:

• the necessary adjustments have been made;
• a decision is taken to close the plant.

Member States may in some cases allow derogations from the provisions of the Directive.

View Directive: Directive 89/369/EEC

Directive: 89/429/EEC

Concerning: The Reduction of Pollution from Existing Waste-Incineration Plants

Council Directive 89/429/EEC on the reduction of pollution from existing municipal waste-incineration plants.

The Directive lays down requirements for the operation of municipal waste-incineration plants for which the first authorisation to operate was granted before 1 December 1990.

Plants with a nominal capacity of at least 6 tonnes per hour must, as from 1 December 1996, comply with the same requirements as new incineration plants with the same capacity.
Other incineration plants must, no later than 1 December 1995, comply with the emission limit values for certain pollutants and the combustion requirements given in the Directive. Under certain conditions, the Member States are authorised to adopt limit values for other pollutants, in particular dioxins and furans.

Furthermore, all existing installation must:

• comply with the requirements for the design, fitting-out and operation of incineration plants;
• be periodically monitored to measure the concentration of certain substances in the combustion gases.

Where the limit values are exceeded in an incineration plant, the Member State concerned must ensure that the plant concerned stops operating until:

• the necessary changes have been made;
• or a decision to close the plant down has been taken.

View Directive: Directive 89/429/EEC

Regulation: (EC) No 2150/2002

Concerning: Waste Statistics

The availability of regular, comparable, current and representative data on the production, recycling, re-use and disposal of waste is essential if the implementation of the Community waste management policy is to be monitored effectively.

In establishing a framework for the production of Community statistics on waste management, this Regulation guarantees the comparability and availability of statistics furnished by the Member States.

The Regulation requires the Member States and the Commission, in their respective fields of competence, to produce statistics on:

• waste production (in accordance with Annex I to the Regulation);
• recovery and disposal of waste (in accordance with Annex II to the Regulation);
• import and export of waste (in accordance with Annex III to the Regulation).

Statistics are to be produced using the statistical nomenclature set out in Annex III.
The data on which the statistics are based are to be collected by means of surveys (obligatory for businesses with more than 10 employees), statistical estimation procedures or referral to administrative or other sources. Businesses with fewer than 10 employees are excluded from surveys, unless they contribute significantly to the generation of waste.

Member States are required to transmit the statistical results (including confidential data) to Eurostat within 18 months of the end of the reference periods specified in Annexes I and II.
Derogations may be granted for the data of the first reference year at the request of a Member State.

View Regulation: Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002

Council Regulation: (EEC) No 259/93

Concerning: Supervision and Control of Shipment of Waste Within, Into and Out of the European Community

Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community

The current measures apply to shipments of waste, both within and into or out of the European Community, to waste transported between Member States but routed through one or more third countries, and to waste transported between third countries but routed through one or more Member States.

They concern the application by the Member States of a system of prior authorisation for the shipment of waste.

The system draws a distinction between:

• waste for disposal (landfill or incineration);
• waste for recovery (recycling).

A common, compulsory notification system has been introduced and a standard consignment note for shipments of waste. The notifier (the original producer, the holder or the person designated by the laws of the State of dispatch in the case of waste imported into or in transit within or through the Community) must apply for authorisation to the competent authorities of destination and send a copy of the application to the authorities of despatch, transit or destination.

The notifier must make a contract with the consignee for the disposal of the waste. The contract must oblige:

• the notifier to take the waste back if the shipment has not been completed or if it has been effected in violation of this Regulation;
• the consignee to provide a certificate to the notifier that the waste has been disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.

The shipment may not be made until the competent authority of destination has granted authorisation to the notifier.

Where waste is exported from a Member State to a third State, the notifier must apply for authorisation to the competent authority of dispatch.

Waste may not be shipped to a third State until the competent authorities of destination or dispatch have acknowledged receipt of the application for authorisation of the shipment.
Waste which does not comply with the provisions of the current measures regarding its shipment must be returnable to the notifier or, if this is not possible, otherwise disposed of or recovered in an environmentally sound manner.

Member States must take the necessary steps to inspect, sample and monitor waste shipments.

View Regulation: Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93

View Amendments
Commission Decision 94/721/EC
Commission Decision 96/660/EC
Council Regulation (EC) No 120/97
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2408/98
Council Regulation (EC) No 1420/1999
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1547/1999
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2557/2001