Updates

Directive (EU) 2018/851 Amending Directive 2008/98/EC on Waste

Commencement: 4th July 2018

Amends: Directive 2008/98/EC on waste – The Waste Framework Directive

How to read EU Directives

European Directives are not directly enforceable on businesses in the UK. They create obligations for Member States to implement national legislation. However, they may frequently be of interest to businesses because they set the standards which national legislation seeks to implement. Furthermore, UK regulation often incorporates or makes direct reference to sections within the Directives, so you need to refer to the Directive as well as the national regulations to fully understand the duties.

 

Amendment

Directive (EU) 2018/851 makes amendments to Directive 2008/98/EC on waste (The Waste Framework Directive) which provides the legislative framework for the collection, transport, recovery and disposal of waste.

This Directive makes amendments in order to, among other things:

  • increase targets for preparing for re-use and recycling of waste;
  • remove substances intended for animal feed from the scope of Directive 2008/98/EC;
  • add a number of new definitions;
  • change cease to be waste conditions and requirements;
  • set out exemptions for separation of waste collection;
  • establish bio-waste separation;
  • establish household hazardous waste collection; and
  • update record keeping requirements.

 

Targets

This Directive adds the following three new targets:

  • By 2025, the preparing for re-use and the recycling of municipal waste shall be increase to a minimum of 55% by weight;
  • By 2030, the preparing for re-use and the recycling of municipal waste shall be increased to a minimum of 60% by weight; and
  • By 2035, the preparing for re-use and the recycling of municipal waste shall be increased to a minimum of 65% by weight.

(Preparing refers to sorting, checking, cleaning or repairing recovery operations, by which products or their components that would have become waste are prepared in a way so that they will be recycled or reused without any other pre-processing).

 

Definitions

A number of new definitions are inserted including:

  • Non-hazardous waste;
  • Municipal waste;
  • Construction and demolition waste;
  • Food waste;
  • Material recovery;
  • Backfilling; and
  • Extended producer responsibility scheme.

 

End-of-Waste Status

Article 6 (End-of-waste status) is amended to:

  • Remove Paragraph 1(b) which set out a condition whereby a waste product would cease to be classed as waste if a market or demand existed for such a substance or object and
  • Insert Paragraph (5) which Paragraph 5 requires a natural or legal person who uses, for the first time, a material that has ceased to be waste and that has not been placed on the market; or places a material on the market for the first time after it has ceased to be waste, to ensure that the material meets relevant requirements under the applicable chemical and product related legislation.

 

Recovery

This Directive allows Member States to grant exemptions from paragraph 2 of Article 10 (recovery) provided that at least one of the following conditions are met. Paragraph 2 requires the separation of waste to facilitate re-use, recycling or other recovery operations.

Article 10 (Recovery) is amended to set out exemptions from paragraph 2 of Article 10. Paragraph 2 states that where necessary to comply with and facilitate re-use, recycling or other recovery operation, waste must be subject to separate collection and must not be mixed with other waste or other materials with different properties. This amendment allows member states to grant exemptions from paragraph 2 provide that at least one of the following conditions are met:

  • Collecting certain types of waste together does not affect their potential to undergo preparing for re-use, recycling or other recovery operational and results in output from those operation which is of comparable quality to that achieved through separate collection;
  • Separate collection does not deliver the best environmental outcome when considering the overall environmental impact of the management of the relevant waste streams;
  • Separate collection is not technically feasible taking into consideration good practices in waste collection;
  • Separate collection would entail disproportionate economic costs taking into account the cost of adverse environmental and health impacts of mixed waste collection and treatment, the potential for efficiency improvements in waste collection and treatment, revenues from sales of secondary raw materials as well as the application of the polluter pays principle and extended producer responsibility.

 

Bio-waste Separation

This Directive establishes bio-waste separation. A new requirement is added for bio-waste separation. By 31st December 2023, bio-waste must be separated and recycled at source, or must be collected separately and not mixed with other types of waste.

 

Household Hazardous Waste

This Directive establishes household hazardous waste collection. By 1st January 2025, Member States must set up separate collection for hazardous waste produced by households to ensure that they are treated correctly and do no contaminate other municipal waste streams.

 

Record Keeping

Finally record keeping requirements are updated. Paragraph 1 of Article 35 requires records to be kept by establishments and undertaking carrying out waste treatments, producers of hazardous waste, and establishments and undertakings which collect and transport hazardous waste on a professional basis, or act as dealers and brokers of hazardous waste. This Directive adds that a record must be kept regarding the quantity of products and material resulting from preparing for re-use, recycling or other recovery operations.

 

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