The European Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR) classifies waste into two categories, so-called “Green” and “Amber” waste. Shipments of so-called “Green waste” of Annexes III and IIIB as well as “Green” waste mixtures of Annex IIIA for recovery of more than 20 kg are subject to the general information requirements. By way of derogation, third countries may expressly require notification with regard to the import of this waste or prohibit the import in principle.
With the information obligations, there are obligations for the shipment of “green waste”. Shipments of this waste must be accompanied by a mandatory form (shipment information). This form is contained in Annex VII of the VVA. You can download a fillable PDF version here: DE version / EN version /
Further obligations for the shipment of green waste are that
- a recovery contract must be concluded between the exporter and the consignee prior to the shipment,
- this recovery must be forwarded to the competent authority upon official order,
- a copy of the shipment information must be kept for three years, and
- information must be transmitted to the competent authority upon official request.
Shipments of waste for laboratory analysis of less than 25 kg of waste type to be analyzed must also be accompanied only by the shipping information. This applies to all types of waste.
For waste shipments subject to the general information requirements, the form must be prepared by the exporter prior to each individual shipment of waste, carried by the carrier during each shipment, signed by the operator of the disposal facility upon arrival of the waste, and retained.
To the extent that a participating authority does not classify a waste as “green waste” and considers it subject to notification during the transboundary shipment, the waste must also be treated as subject to notification by the other competent authorities.
Special regulations for third countries
Special regulations exist for the export of “green waste” for recovery to a third country (country to which the OECD Decision does not apply). These countries have been asked by the EU Commission whether, and if so under which procedure, they allow imports of “green waste”. The EU Commission has translated the comments of the third countries into a binding regulation. The provisions of this regulation are compiled in an overview of the German Focal Point to the Basel Convention at the German Federal Environment Agency. You can download the so-called “Contry List” here.
This list does not yet include the amendments made to the basic Regulation (EC) No 1418/2007 in October 2021 by Regulation (EU) 2021/1840. These amendments have since been incorporated into the consolidated version of Regulation (EC) No 1418/2007 and posted on the Commission’s website.