Handling of waste, including treatment facilities, landfills etc., is subject to the licensing regulations contained in the new Environmental Code that was approved in June 1998 and has come into force on January 1 1999.
This new code encompasses all major environmental legislation and will modernise environmental law and interact with and underpin other instruments of environmental policy.
| The Environmental Code – Overall provisions and general rules of consideration |
| The objectives and scope of the Environmental Code |
General rules of consideration |
| The Environmental Code is aimed at promoting sustainable development whereby present and future generations will be guaranteed a healthy and good environment. Sustainable development is based on the insight that nature is worthy of protection and that the right of humans to alter and utilise nature is linked to responsibility to manage nature well. |
- Precautionary measures
- Best available technology
- Knowledge
- Localisation principle
- The resource management and eco-cycle principles
- The product choice principle
- Reasonableness rule
- Liability to remedy damage
- The stop rule
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| The Environmental Code – Special provisions relating to waste management |
The definition of waste
Waste means every object, material or substance included in a waste category and which the holder disposes of, intends to dispose of or is obliged to dispose of. An annex to an ordinance of the Environmental Code lists the categories of waste. The annex reflects the corresponding annex to the EU Waste Directive.Municipal responsibility
Every municipality should be responsible for ensuring that domestic waste is transported to processing installations and that it is recycled or disposed of. However, the obligation does not apply to waste that is subject to producer responsibility. Furthermore, consideration should be given to possibilities for owners and occupiers of property to take care of domestic waste in an acceptable manner themselves, for example by composting.
Extended producer responsibility
Regulations about extended producer responsibility may be issued under the Environmental Code. Extended producer responsibility means that the producer must ensure that the waste is collected, transported away, recycled, reused or disposed of in such a manner as may be necessary from the viewpoint of health and environmentally acceptable waste handling. Such regulations may be issued with respect to waste from the goods and packages that producers manufacture, import or sell and the waste from the operations they conduct. In this context, the expression ‘producer’, also refers to any party who imports or sells goods or packages. To date, the Government has made rules on producer responsibility in four areas, namely: recycled paper, tyres, packages and automobiles.
Waste management
Every municipality shall have waste management rules that contain regulations on the handling of waste, which shall apply to the municipality, along with a waste management plan. Waste management regulations shall state the conditions under which owners and occupiers of property must themselves take care of their waste. Waste management plans shall contain information about waste within the municipality and the measures taken by the municipality to reduce the quantity of waste and associated risks.
Handling of waste
When waste is to be transported through the agency of the municipality or a producer, the waste may not normally be composted or buried or in another way recycled or disposed of by the owner or the occupier of the property. Special regulations may be issued about sorting at the source. Regulations may also be issued about prohibitions against landfilling of combustible or organic waste. |
