EU waste management law

KEY POINTS

Directive 2008/98/EC

• The directive:
  • establishes a waste hierarchy consisting of:
    • prevention,
    • preparing for reuse,
    • recycling,
    • other recovery (e.g. energy recovery), and
    • disposal;
  • confirms the polluter-pays principle, whereby the original waste producer must pay for the costs of waste management;
  • introduces the concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR);
  • makes a distinction between waste and by-products¹;
  • introduces recycling and recovery targets to be achieved by 2020 for household waste (50 %) and construction and demolition waste (70 %).
• Waste management must be carried out without any risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals, without causing a nuisance through noise or smells and without harming the countryside or places of special interest.
• Producers or holders of waste must treat it themselves or have it handled by an officially recognised operator. Both require a permit and are inspected periodically.
• Competent national authorities must establish waste-management plans and waste-prevention programmes.
• Special conditions apply to hazardous waste, waste oils and bio-waste.
• The directive does not cover certain types of waste such as radioactive elements, decommissioned explosives, faecal matter, waste waters and animal carcasses.

Amending Directive (EU) 2018/851

• As part of a package of measures on the circular economy, Directive (EU) 2018/851 amends Directive 2008/98/EC.
• It sets minimum operating requirements for extended producer responsibility schemes². These can also include organisational responsibility and a responsibility to contribute to waste prevention and to the reusability and recyclability of products.
• It strengthens rules on waste prevention. On waste generation, EU Member States must take measures to:
  • support sustainable production and consumption models;
  • encourage the design, manufacturing and use of products that are resource efficient, durable, reparable, reusable and capable of being upgraded;
  • target products containing critical raw materials to prevent those materials from becoming waste;
  • encourage the availability of spare parts, instruction manuals, technical information or other means enabling the repair and reuse of products without compromising their quality and safety;
  • reduce food-waste generation as a contribution to the United Nations’ sustainable development goal of reducing by 50 % the per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reducing food losses along production and supply chains by 2030;
  • promote the reduction of the content of hazardous substances in materials and products;
  • stop the generation of marine litter.
• It sets new municipal-waste-recycling targets: by 2025, at least 55 % of municipal waste by weight will have to be recycled. This target will rise to 60 % by 2030 and to 65 % by 2035.
• The directive also highlights examples of incentives to apply the waste hierarchy, such as landfill and incineration charges and pay-as-you-throw schemes.
• Member States had to:
  • establish, by 1 January 2025, separate collection of textiles and hazardous waste generated by households;
  • ensure that, by 31 December 2023, bio-waste is collected separately or recycled at source (e.g. by composting).

Amending Directive (EU) 2025/1892

Directive (EU) 2025/1892 further amends Directive 2008/98/EC to strengthen waste management rules, particularly on food waste and textiles. It:

• introduces legally binding food waste reduction targets for 2030:
  • a 10 % reduction of food waste from processing and manufacturing, and
  • a 30 % reduction per capita of food waste from retail, restaurants, food services and households, both compared with the 2021–2023 average;
• requires the European Commission to review these targets by 31 December 2027, with the possibility of setting additional targets for 2035;
• introduces EPR for textiles and footwear, making producers responsible for covering the costs of collection, sorting, preparing for reuse, recycling, information campaigns, data reporting and support for research and development;
• requires Member States to establish EPR for textiles and footwear by 17 April 2028 (with microenterprises covered from 17 April 2029);
• indicates that separately collected textiles and footwear are considered to be waste upon collection;
• specifies that used textiles and footwear directly professionally assessed as fit for reuse at the collection point by the reuse operator or social economy entities are not considered waste;
• obliges Member States to ensure that producer responsibility organisations report annually to the competent authorities, and requires the Commission to amend Implementing Decisions (EU) 2019/1004 and (EU) 2021/19 to set common reporting schedules and harmonised data formats for those reports.