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 WEEE Directive is by and large satisfactory, with only a few Member States missing single targets. The report recalls that the WEEE Directive aims at promoting and optimising the collection, re-use, recycling and recovery of waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).
In 2008, the Commission launched a recast of the WEEE Directive in order to adapt the collection targets to the reality of the different Member States, to strengthen provisions against illegal shipments, and to reduce administrative burdens. The new WEEE Directive was adopted on 4 July 2012.
All Member States have transposed the relevant provisions of the WEEE Directive into their national laws.
Based on the national implementation reports for the period 2007 to 2009 and the data submitted on target achievement, it appears that the level of compliance with the Directive was in general satisfactory. In the reporting years 2007 and 2008, the EU-15 countries had to comply with the targets laid down in the Directive. In 2008, also Slovenia had to fulfil this requirement. The other Member States will have to show compliance from the reporting year 2009 onwards. Of those countries that needed to comply in 2008, only Italy and Slovenia were significantly below the current collection target of 4kg. A positive trend for collection and recovery is clearly visible from the yearly data reported up to now.
All reporting Members States indicated the establishment of collection systems for WEEE.
Municipal collection was the dominant option chosen - private individual systems exist only in a few cases in addition to the collective ones. National systems differ in their complexity and efficiency, proximity and availability to inhabitants. In addition, the level of development differs from country to country and between rural and urban areas.
An increasing amount of WEEE was collected, re-used/recycled and recovered over this reporting period in all Member States for which data was available. The vast majority of Member States was able to reach the collection targets provided by the Directive, and to reach the category-specific re-use/recycling and recovery targets. Where Member States failed to comply with the targets of the Directive, usually they did not comply with selected targets only (and not with the whole set of targets). In 2007 and 2008, the waste-stream specific reuse/recycling targets were not met by up to three reporting Member States.