Legislation

EU directives encourage the recycling of municipal solid waste (MSW) and discourage the use of landfill sites. Fading borders between European countries demand a unification of the policy on waste management.

At this moment, the Netherlands is one of the leading member states regarding waste management policy. In fact, there is great similarity between Dutch and European policy in this field, demonstrating that current Dutch legislation and policy might be indicative for what to expect in other EU countries in the near future.

In the Netherlands (and Germany) it is actually prohibited to landfill MSW that can be incinerated. Moreover, Dutch authorities aim at a useful application of 83% of the annual MSW generated in 2012.

Most national authorities discourage the landfill of MSW by increasing the gate fees for landfilling. In countries where landfilling still is the common treatment for MSW, the urgency exists to adjust their MSW management program. Building municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWI’s) will likely be part of this.

Since there are no actual borders, import and export of MSW is free between EU member states as long as the MSW finds a useful application at the location of destination. Import and export of MSW destined for landfilling or other disposal is not allowed.