Scope:

Fitness check of Five Waste Stream Directives accompanying the document Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council reviewing the targets in Directives 2008/98/EC on waste, 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste, and 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste, amending Directives 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles, 2006/66/EC on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators, and 2012/19/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment.

Evaluation findings:

The Fitness Check concluded that all five Waste Stream Directives have proven to be effective instruments of European waste policy. All the directives assessed have been effective at various degrees in achieving the environmental and resource efficiency objectives for which they were designed.

Which objective(s) did the Commission pursue?

The revised legislation on waste set clear targets for reduction of waste and established an ambitious and credible long-term path for waste management and recycling. Key elements of the Commission’s proposal included:

- A common EU target for recycling 65% of municipal waste by 2035;
- A common EU target for recycling 75% of packaging waste by 2030;
- A binding landfill target to reduce landfill to maximum of 10% of municipal waste by 2035;
- Harmonised calculation methods for recycling and landfilling throughout the EU;
- A ban on landfilling and incineration of separately collected waste;
- Promotion of economic instruments to ensure compliance with the EU waste hierarchy;
- Minimum requirements for the design and operation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes including economic incentives for producers to put greener products on the market;
- Concrete measures to promote waste prevention and re-use;
- Stronger rules on separate collection of waste;
- Simplification of reporting requirements.

Estimated savings and benefits¹

- Savings: the net social benefits are estimated at €25-30 billion for the period 2015-2030;
- Job creation - 170.000 direct jobs could be created by 2035, most of them impossible to delocalize outside the EU;
- GHG emission reduction - more than 600 million tonnes of greenhouse gases could be avoided between 2015 and 2035;
- Positive effects on the competitiveness of the EU waste management and recycling sectors as well as on the EU manufacturing sector (better extended producer responsibility schemes, reduced risks associated with raw material access);
- Reinjection into the EU economy of secondary raw materials which in turn will reduce the dependency of the EU on raw materials imports;
- Administrative burden reduction by simplifying reporting requirements on Member States saving an estimated 280 man-days per year and exemptions for establishments collecting or transporting small amounts of non-hazardous waste.

¹As identified in the impact assessment accompanying the Commission proposal

Estimated savings and benefits

Benefits are likely to be slightly lower than estimated on the basis of the Commission proposal given that key compliance deadlines in the adopted directives have been extended from 2030 to 2035 (for recycling and landfilling of municipal waste) and recycling targets have been lowered (for packaging waste).