Waste framework directive

The Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives, known as the Waste Framework Directive, is the regulatory framework that establishes the basic concepts and definitions related to waste management in Europe.

This Directive is the result of the revision and actualization of the previous Directive 2006/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2006 on waste.

The document defines some key concepts such as bio-wastes, by-products, end of the waste criteria, energy recovery, and waste prevention. And it includes the European List of Waste.

In this respect, for example, it defines a by-product as a substance or object, resulting from a production process, the primary aim of which is not the production of that item. And determinates that by-products can come from a wide range of business sectors and can have very different environmental impacts.

It establishes the concept of the end-of-waste criteria, which specify when certain waste ceases to be waste and obtains a status of a product (or a secondary raw material).

The document lays down some basic waste management principles: it requires that waste be managed without endangering human health and harming the environment, and in particular without risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals, without causing a nuisance through noise or odours, and without adversely affecting the countryside or places of special interest.

The Directive introduces the “polluter pays principle” and the “extended producer responsibility”. It incorporates provisions on hazardous waste and waste oils and includes two new recycling and recovery targets to be achieved by 2020: 50% preparing for re-use and recycling of certain waste materials from households and other origins like households, and 70% preparing for re-use, recycling and another recovery of construction and demolition waste.

The Directive requires that the Member States adopt waste management plans and waste prevention programs, which must be done applying as a priority order in the waste management hierarchy.

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