According to the EU’s waste hierarchy, landfilling is the least preferable option and should be limited to the necessary minimum. Landfills are divided into landfills for hazardous waste, landfills for non-hazardous waste, and landfills for inert waste (Art. 4). Article 5 oulines several provisions that directly affect municipalities, for example:

• EU countries must implement national strategies to progressively reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfills.
• Landfill facilities may not accept used tyres or waste which is liquid, flammable, explosive or corrosive, or from hospitals and medical and veterinary practices.
• As of 2030 all waste suitable for recycling or other recovery, in particular in municipal waste, shall not be accepted in a landfill with the exception of waste for which landfilling delivers the best environmental outcome.
• The share of municipal waste landfilled is limited to 10% by 2035.

The Directive introduces rules on calculating the attainment of municipal waste targets and requires EU countries to put in place an effective quality control and traceability system for municipal waste landfilled (Art. 5a).

In general, only waste that has been treated may be landfilled (Art. 6). National authorities must ensure that the price operators charge for disposing of waste covers all the costs involved from opening to final closure of the site (Art. 10).

The Directive allows EU countries to use economic instruments and other measures to encourage applying the waste hierarchy (Art. 15a).

By 31 December 2024, the Commission shall review the 2035 10% target with a view to:

• maintaining or, if appropriate, reducing it;
• considering quantitative target per capita on landfilling;
• introducing restrictions to the landfilling of non-hazardous waste other than municipal waste.

More information about the Landfill Directive can be found here: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/landfill-waste_en.

The Annexes to the report can be found here: https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/636f928d-2669-41d3-83db-093e90ca93a2/library/44a3079a-9fc0-4ec4-856d-8bec992899f0/details?download=true.

The report on the implementation of the Landfill Directive in the 15 Member States of the European Union (2005) provides insights into how the Directive has been transposed into national laws and presents the following information:
 

• description of how the amounts and types of waste going to landfill have changed since the application of the Landfill Directive on the basis of existing information;
• assessment of the presence of illegal/uncontrolled landfills on the basis of existing information;
• indication on how many new landfills have been built or are planned since the application of the Landfill Directive;
• assessment examples of existing landfills in Member States that already fully comply with the Landfill Directive, identifying possible problems and giving information on the impact of these landfills on the environment, assessing the benefits due to the Landfill Directive in comparison to previous landfilling practises;
• description of how the procedures for the acceptance of waste in landfills are implemented and identify possible problems with the implementation;
• description of the measures taken to divert used tyres from landfills based on existing information.

The report can be found here: https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/636f928d-2669-41d3-83db-093e90ca93a2/library/df4e181c-60d6-453a-8a91-56487466dc96/details?download=true

• Date of document: 30/05/2018; Date of signature
• Date of effect: 04/07/2018; Entry into force Date pub. +20 See Art 3
• Date of transposition: 05/07/2020; Adoption See Art 2.1
• Date of end of validity: No end date