The Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR, 1013/2006) establishes procedures and control regimes for the shipment of waste, depending on the origin, destination and route of the shipment, the type of waste shipped and the type of treatment to be applied to the waste at its destination. It is of particular importance for our hazardous waste business to ensure the safe shipments of hazardous waste, traceability and adequate treatment at the final destination.
In accordance with the provisions of article 60 to review the regulation by 2020, the European Commission has launched the assessment of implementation and enforcement of the text, as well as its effectiveness, efficiency and coherence towards its objectives. Following the study and the workshops launched in 2017, the Commission published a consultation to gather views on the evaluation of the WSR.
Hazardous Waste Europe, whose members completed around 1 000 notifications in 2017, would favor a light recast only, considering that the WSR is already a very good tool and that merely targeted adaptations on the existing provisions would really improve the existing waste shipment regulation.
In our answer, we therefore advocate not giving in to the temptation of oversimplifying the current provisions that could be detrimental to the environment and health, but to make some homogenization in the procedures and to propose some clarifications and improvements aiming at accelerating the efficiency of notifications procedure with the ultimate objective to find the right balance between red tape and the rigor of the document that it is dear to us to preserve. One of the main point we underlined is the acknowledgment of the distinction between the requirements needed for transfers of hazardous waste and those for transfers of non-hazardous waste. If the provisions were to be simplified for those non-hazardous waste, it should remain as strict as it is currently for hazardous waste to ensure traceability and safe treatment.
You can find below our answer to the consultation and read our position paper:
HWE position paper Public Consultation on the Evaluation of the WSR