Relations of waste production to EU directives

Scope
EU legislation on waste incineration and landfilling. Constraints on waste incineration and landfilling by EU legislation. Municipal waste. Landfill Directive (99/31/EC). Incineration Directive (2000/76/EC).

Description

Related to MSWI: Directive objective 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." Limit values for incineration plant emissions to atmosphere in Annex 1. Limit values for co-incineration plant emissions to atmosphere in Annex 2. "The quantity and harmfulness of incineration residues must be reduced to a minimum and residues must, as far as possible, be recycled." (1)

Air emission limit values for the incineration and co-incineration of waste. (1)

Related to Landfill: "The Directive is intended to prevent or reduce the adverse effects of the landfill of waste on the environment, in particular on surface water, groundwater, soil, air and human health." It introduces stringent technical requirements for waste and landfills. "The Directive sets up a system of operating permits for landfill sites. (2)

• List of technical requirements. (2)
• Targets to reduce landfilling of biodegradable municipal waste (garden waste, kitchen waste, park waste, paper, cardboard) to 75% of 1995 levels by 2006, 50% by 2009 and 35% by 2016.(3)

References

• (1) Waste incineration. Directive 2000/76//EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 December 2000 on the incineration of waste. [1]
• (2) Landfill of waste. Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste. [2]
• (3) Briefing Friends of the Earth. Main EU Directives on waste. April 2001.

Result

All waste disposal installations or areas are submitted to EU legislation and should comply with the imposed standards, limit values. When establishing a new installation or landfill, the application requirements should be carefully considered.