The Commission presents a report on the implementation of the EU legislation on waste over the period 2007 - 2009. It covers Directives 2006/12/EC on waste, 91/689/EC on hazardous waste, 75/439/EEC on waste oils, 86/278/EEC on sewage sludge, 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste, 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste, 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), and 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles.
The Communication recalls that evidence shows that full implementation of EU waste legislation would save EUR 72 billion a year, increase the annual turnover of the EU waste management and recycling sector by EUR 42 billion and create over 400 000 jobs by 2020. However, the report states that illegal waste operations or missing infrastructure in Member States are causing missed opportunities for economic growth, which the EU cannot afford, and leading to environmental threats. It is therefore paramount to take decisive steps to bridge the implementation gap in waste management and move towards a resource efficient society.
According to the information provided by Member States and the available statistical figures, the level of implementation of the Packaging Directive is by and large satisfactory, with only a few Member States missing single targets.
In general, all reporting Member States have properly transposed the requirements of the Directive into their national laws. Based on the information provided by the Member States and the Eurostat statistics, it can be assumed that the overall implementation level continues to be satisfactory. Only two Member States have indicated that their national legislation has been modified during the reporting period.
Between 2007 and 2009, the amount and composition of packaging waste generated remained quite stable, with a slight increase by weight in 2007 and 2008. In 2009, there was a significant decrease in the amount of packaging waste generated below the 2005 levels, although it is not possible to precisely indicate the reasons triggering this development.
Greece, Ireland and Portugal have been granted transitional periods regarding the targets for treatment of packaging waste until 2011 because of the large number of small islands, the presence of rural and mountain areas and the low level of packaging consumption respectively. In addition, Directive 2005/20/EC and the Treaties of Accession grant a later deadline to meet the targets for the countries which have acceded the European Union in 2004 (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia) and 2007 (Romania and Bulgaria).
The total recovery and recycling rates increased significantly compared to the previous reporting period, mainly due to the introduction of packaging waste collection and treatment systems in the new Member States. Between 2007 and 2009, the total recovery and recycling rates underwent a slight but steady increase at EU-27 level.
The vast majority of Member States attained the targets for overall recovery and recycling as well as the material-specific recycling targets, with some exceptions. In 2009, four Member States did not meet one or more of the defined targets. Some Member States did not achieve a target in one year but were able to reach it in the previous or subsequent year, which seems to suggest that no systematic structural deficits in waste management infrastructure exist in those Member States. However, other Member States consistently failed to achieve the overall recovery/recycling targets or material-specific targets over the reporting period, and this problem needs to be addressed individually.
The majority of Member States took measures to prevent the formation of packaging waste; nevertheless, encouraging the prevention of packaging waste and developing packaging re-use systems remains a continuous task for Member States. All reporting Member States indicated the establishment of separate collection schemes for packaging waste. The systems differ as to their degree of efficiency and availability for the population and the cost for the citizen. Some of the Member States that acceded in 2004 have only recently started to put relevant infrastructure in place via pilot projects in urban areas.
Member States implemented a number of different initiatives for awareness-raising of consumers and businesses on environmentally sound management of packaging waste, including separate collection. Where such systems were put in place, the performance of separate collection (and subsequent quality of recycling) was significantly better.
Implementation and practical enforcement of the requirements set by the Directive vary considerably between the Member States, which is confirmed by the evaluation of statistical data. The Packaging Directive is also subject to the planned ex-post evaluation to be launched in 2013.