Shipments of waste

KEY POINTS

Scope

The regulation applies to:

• shipments between EU Member States;
• exports and imports to and from non-EU countries;
• waste transiting through the EU.

The regulation does not apply to shipments of various categories of waste, such as animal by-products or radioactive waste, that are covered by separate EU legislation.

Intra-EU shipments

Waste disposal shipments in the EU:

• are banned, as a general rule;
• are allowed if the shipment is:
  • declared electronically in advance under the prior written notification and consent procedure (PIC), containing specific conditions, timelines and deadlines – Annex I provides the standard form,
  • accompanied by the necessary documentation with written confirmation from the countries of dispatch, destination and transit before export,
  • approved, with or without conditions, by the competent authorities.

Waste recovery shipments in the EU:

• listed in Annex IV, considered hazardous or unable to be recovered in an environmentally sound manner, must use the same PIC as the waste disposal shipments above;
• comply with the less stringent general information requirements if identified as green listed waste in Annexes III, IIIA and IIIB or are under 250kg and destined for laboratory analysis.

General information requirements stipulate:

• recovery waste may only go to a legally authorised facility;
• all parties involved in the shipment must complete the information form in Annex VIII;
• the recovery facility must provide a certificate once the work has been completed.

Further rules state:

• waste notified in a recovery or disposal shipment may not be mixed with other waste or substances;
• all documents must be kept for at least five years;
• the European Commission publishes information on shipments subject to the notification and general information requirements on its website, with monthly updates;
• there are additional procedures if a shipment cannot be completed as intended or is illegal;
• Member States establish and apply their own supervision and control measures, in line with the regulation, for waste transported exclusively within their own borders.

Exports from the EU to non-EU countries

Exports of disposable waste from the EU are:

• banned as a general rule;
• permitted to European Free Trade Association countries if they:
  • are party to the Basel Convention,
  • do not prohibit such imports,
  • comply with the internal EU shipment rules, with some modifications.

Exports from the EU to non-OECD countries of:

• hazardous and certain other types of waste (listed in Annex V), including plastic, for recovery are banned except in exceptional circumstances;
• non-hazardous waste is banned except:
  • for metal and metal-bearing waste that is subject to the general information requirements or PIC procedures,
  • where a country can demonstrate the waste will be managed in an environmentally sound way and requests inclusion on the list of approved destinations the Commission will adopt by 21 November 2026 and update regularly.

Other requirements state:

• the Commission monitors exports of EU waste, in particular of plastics, to OECD countries for their environmental and health impact and to ensure they are not shipped onwards to third destinations;
• exporters must demonstrate the waste will be managed in an environmentally sound manner;
• exports of waste to the Antarctic and to overseas countries and territories are banned.

Imports into the EU from non-EU countries

The regulation:

• bans imports of waste for disposal or recovery except from:
  • parties to the Basel Convention,
  • other countries with which the EU or its Member States have concluded bilateral or multilateral arrangements,
  • other areas during exceptional situations, such as a crisis, peacekeeping operations or war;
• requires competent authorities in the EU to ensure the imported waste does not endanger human health and is managed in an environmentally sound manner.

Environmentally sound management and enforcement

The regulation requires:

• waste producers, notifiers, shippers and others involved in waste recovery or disposal not to endanger human health and to apply good environmental practices throughout the entire process;
• Member States to:
  • inspect premises, companies, brokers, dealers, shipments and the treated material,
  • devise and apply national inspection plans,
  • impose appropriate penalties for violations of the regulation,
  • ensure coordination between their own enforcement agencies,
  • cooperate with other parties to the Basel Convention;
• the creation of a waste shipment enforcement group to support cooperation between Member States to prevent and detect illegal shipments;
• the Commission to:
  • support and complement national enforcement activities,
  • launch its own inspection if it suspects a shipment is illegal,
  • submit a review report to the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union by 31 December 2035.

The Commission may also interview natural or legal persons for information, and may adopt delegated acts to amend the regulation’s annexes.