This Directive has direct impact on the way the waste is treated and managed at regional and local level. It contains binding provisions related to the waste management hierarchy (Art 4) and binding targets for reaching re-use and recycling rates for different streams of waste (Art 11). Art. 11 requires Member States to take measures aimed at promoting high-quality recycling through separate collection at municipal level. The Directive obliges Member States to ensure separate waste collection to facilitate or improve preparing for re-use, recycling and other recovery operations (Art 10 on recovery, Art 21 on waste oils and Art 22 specifically for biowaste). Separate collection of textiles (Art. 11) and hazardous waste (Art. 20) is obligatory by 1 January 2025.

The Directive also sets the basis for Extended Producer Responsibility schemes that is a mandatory economic tool that is crucial for municipalities to finance collection of certain waste streams (Art 8). Annex IVa of the Directive lists a number of economic instruments and other measures to provide incentives for the application of the waste hierarchy, some of which can be deployed at a regional and/or local (municipal) level too. For example, ‘pay-as-you-throw’ schemes, deposit-refund schemes, sustainable public procurement and others. Furthermore, some of the waste prevention measures outlined in Art. 9 can be implemented on a regional and/or local (municipal) level. For example, encourage the re-use of products and the setting up of systems promoting repair and re-use activities, including, in particular, for electrical and electronic equipment, textiles and furniture, as well as packaging and construction materials and products; or encourage food donation and other redistribution for human consumption, prioritising human use over animal feed and the reprocessing into non-food products. Establishment and preparation of waste management plans (Art 28) can also be done on a regional and/or local level, if having more than one plan per Member State is deemed more appropriate. Furthermore, Member States shall establish waste prevention programmes, for example, as part of their waste management plans (Art 29).

In July 2023, following an analysis including stakeholder consultations, the Commission proposed a targeted amendment of the Waste Framework Directive. The proposal focuses on textiles waste. In particular, the Commission is proposing to introduce mandatory and harmonised Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes all EU Member States. Furthermore, the proposal clarifies the definitions of waste and reusable textiles, to reduce illegal waste shipments to non-EU countries, which are often disguised as intended for reuse. It should be provided that all separately collected used textiles, textile-related and footwear products undergo a sorting operation prior to their shipment. The Commission proposes that all separately collected used textile, textile-related and footwear items are regarded as waste and subject to Union waste legislation, including on the shipments of waste, until they have undergone a sorting operation by a trained sorting for re-use and recycling operator. The sorting should be done in accordance with the harmonised sorting requirements. Shipments of used textiles, textile-related and footwear products should be accompanied by information showing that the items are the output of a sorting or a preparing for re-use operation and that the items are suitable for re-use. These proposals will complement the proposed Regulation on waste shipments, which ensures that textile waste is only exported when there are guarantees that the waste is managed in an environmentally sound manner.

More information about the Waste Framework Directive can be found here: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/waste-framework-directive_en.

The full text of the proposed targeted amendment of the Waste Framework Directive can be found here: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/document/download/ca53d82e-a4d3-40b9-a713-93585058f47f_en?filename=Proposal%20for%20a%20DIRECTIVE%20OF%20THE%20EUROPEAN%20PARLIAMENT%20AND%20OF%20THE%20COUNCIL%20amending%20Directive%20200898EC%20on%20waste%20COM_2023_420.pdf.

Practice examples of legal solutions from around Europe are outlined in this brief prepared by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB): https://eeb.org/library/explained-europes-new-laws-for-separate-waste-collection/

Presented examples cover the following topics:
 

• example of transposing the general separate collection definition from the WFD and Introduction of measures to ensure that separately collected waste enables high-quality recycling (Scotland, UK);
• example of hazardous waste collection (Flanders, Belgium);
• example of waste oils collection (Greece);
• example of textiles collection (France);
• example of biowaste collection (Slovenia), home composting (France, the city of Besançon), ban on landfilling and incineration of separately collected waste (Flanders, Belgium);
• examples of additional measure to boost separate collection (Italy, the region of Flanders, Slovenia, the City of Ljubljana).

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