Transfrontier Waste Shipment

Development of legislation

In the mid-1970s, when the first bottlenecks in the disposal of „hazardous waste“ occurred, so-called „toxic waste scandals“ occurred because there was insufficient disposal infrastructure available for hazardous waste. This led to considerable cost increases in the disposal of such waste and also resulted in illegal disposal at home and abroad.

As a result, there were long-standing worldwide efforts to steer transboundary waste shipments in an orderly fashion or to completely prevent them. The negotiations led to a complex regulatory system consisting of international, European and national regulations. These regulations were and are frequently revised and adapted. In the overall view, these regulations appear to be a thicket of regulations that is difficult to understand. Also their interaction with the European regulations that are important for the definition of waste and the classification of waste must also be observed.

In all EU member states transfrontier shipments of waste are regulated by the EC Regulation No 1013/2006 on shipments of waste (WSR), which is based on the  Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal of 22 March 1989 and the Decision of the OECD Council C(2001)107/Final on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Wastes destined for Recovery Operations. With the WSR the procedural rules of both regulations have been fully implemented as directly applicable European legislation.

The German Waste Shipment Act (WSA) adds necessary provisions to the WSR, such as supplementary regulations on re-importation obligations, the financial guarantee, the allocation of authority responsibilities, the exchange of data and provisions on fines. Further assistance on transboundary waste shipments is provided by an implementation guide (in German only) published by the Federal/State Working Group on Waste (LAGA).

Based on the WSR a planned transfrontier shipment of waste has to be accompanied by certain information or requires prior written notification and consent according to the planned disposal method, the country of destination and the classification of the waste. The waste definition of the Waste Framework Directive applies. The following table gives an overview of the regulatory areas of the WSR.

Prior Written Notification and Consent

The procedure of Prior Written Notification and Consent shall apply to shipments of the following wastes:

  • all waste destined for disposal; and
  • all waste destined for recovery:
    • waste listed in Annex IV/V A
    • wastes not listed,
    • mixtures of wastes not classified as individual items on the lists (Annex III, III B, IV, IV A).

General Information Requirements

The General Information Requirements apply to shipments of the following wastes destined for recovery:

  • for shipments of waste destined for recovery on the Green List of waste pursuant to Annex III, III A, III B (>20 kg) and
  • for laboratory analysis (<25 kg)

On the corresponding pages, the information requirements and the procedure for prior written notification are briefly described. The procedures are described in more detail in a downloadable article.

Table:    Regulatory Areas of the EC Waste Shipment Regulation (for more detailed information and exceptions please refer to the text of the WSR.)