Resumen sintético sobre residuos

Synthetic summary on waste.

EUROPEAN REGULATIONS

Waste Framework Directive (EU) 2018/851.
Directive (EU) 2018/850. Containers and container residues.
Directive (EU) 2018/849. Batteries and accumulators.
Directive (EU) 2019/904. Plastic in the Environment.
Decision 2014/955 / EU. List of waste.

The Superior Court of Justice of the European Union in its judgment of October 15, 2014, ruled that the treatment of waste before its deposit in the landfill must be the most appropriate to minimize the negative effects on the environment and human health.

STATE REGULATIONS

Article 149.1.23 CE. Distribution of State and CCAAs powers.

Law 22/2011, of July 28, on waste and contaminated soils.
Royal Decree 9/2005. Soil polluting activities.
Royal Decree 1619/2005. Tires Amended by RD 731/2020, of August 4.
Royal Decree 105/2008. Production and management of construction and demolition waste.
Royal Decree 265/2021. Batteries and accumulators and the environmental management of their waste.
Royal Decree 646/2020. Waste disposal by landfill deposit.
Royal Decree 553/2020, of June 2, which regulates waste shipments.
Order MAM 1007/2017. General valuation rules.

REGIONAL REGULATIONS

The CCAA dictate development laws and regulations. Legislative and regulatory powers and the executive function.

COMPETENCES OF LOCAL ENTITIES

They are regulated by Municipal Ordinances.

Local entities must guarantee, as a compulsory service, the collection, transport and treatment of domestic waste generated in homes, businesses and services that originate within their territory.

The public recycling and treatment services must include at least the waste from collection operations.

The exercise of surveillance, inspection and sanctioning power in relation to the waste whose collection and management corresponds to them.

Regeneration of degraded areas. Closure of activities covered by activity licenses.

WASTE HIERARCHY

Prevention
Preparation for reuse
Recycled
Other type of recovery, including energy recovery
Elimination

THE CONCEPT OF WASTE

Court of Justice of the European Union, example: Judgment of July 4, 2019 issued in case C-624/17, ECJ 2019/133.

To see if it is a residue or not:

That is on the European waste list
That is intended for a recovery or disposal operation
That goes to a waste management facility.

THE BYPRODUCT CONCEPT

Resulting from a production process, the primary purpose of which is not the production of that substance or object, when the following conditions are met:

Security that the substance or object is going to be used later.
The security or object can be used directly without having to undergo further transformation other than normal industrial practice.
The substance or object is produced as an integral part of a production process.
Subsequent use meets all requirements regarding products, as well as the protection of human health and the environment, without producing adverse general impacts.

END OF WASTE CONDITION

The substance or object is normally used for specific purposes.

There is a market, demand for that substance or object.

The substance / object satisfies the technical requirements for the specific purposes and complies with the legislation / standards applicable to the products.

Use of the substance / object will not generate adverse global impacts for the environment or health.

Examples:

EU Regulation No. 333/2011 scrap, steel and aluminium.
EU Regulation No. 1179/2012 crystal
Regulation EU 715/2013 copper scrap
Waste oil
Paper and cardboard

The waste law is applicable to all waste except:

Emissions to the atmosphere.

Excavated uncontaminated soils and other natural materials excavated during construction activities, when used for construction purposes in their natural state at the site or construction site where they were extracted.

Radioactive waste.

Declassified explosives.

Faecal matter, straw and other natural, agricultural or forestry material, not dangerous, used in agricultural and livestock operations.

The Waste Law does not apply in aspects already regulated by other regulations.

Sewage.

Waste resulting from prospecting, extraction, treatment or storage of mineral resources and quarrying.

Animal by-products covered by Regulation 1069/2009. Except if they are destined for incineration, landfills or are used in a biogas or composting plant.

CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO ORIGIN:

Domestic waste:

Generated in homes as a consequence of domestic activities. Similar to the previous ones generated in services and industries. Waste generated in homes from WEEE, clothing, batteries, accumulators, furniture and appliances, as well as waste and debris from minor construction and home repair works, cleaning of public roads, green areas, recreational areas and beaches, animals Dead domestic and abandoned vehicles.

Commercial waste.

Industrial waste.

Construction waste.

Sanitary waste.

Agricultural residuals.

CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO NATURE

Dangerous residues. Annex III of Law 22/2011.

It carries a series of legal obligations regarding labelling, packaging, mixing and transport.

The classification of waste as hazardous or not is based on Annex III of Directive 2008/98. Decision 2014/955 EU.

Judgment 487/2017 of the CJEU. Doubtfully. Classify as dangerous in application of the precautionary principle.

Non-hazardous waste.

Inert residue. Non-hazardous waste that does not undergo significant physical, chemical or biological transformation. They are neither soluble nor combustible, nor do they react physically or chemically, nor are they biodegradable.

INTERVENING SUBJECTS

Producer of waste.

Waste holder.

Dealer.

Agent.

Waste management.

Waste manager.

Obligations of the Producer / holder of waste:

Environmental license.
Record.
Appoint a waste manager.
Use authorized carriers.
Classify the waste it produces.
In the event of hazardous waste, inform the transporter of the risks.
Send the waste to an authorized manager.
Use the official waste management documentation.
Maintain a record of waste.
Carry out an annual waste declaration.
Do not mix or dilute hazardous waste with other categories of hazardous waste or with other waste, substances or materials.

Obligations of the producer / holder of hazardous waste:

Properly package and label hazardous waste.
Keep the waste stored in adequate hygiene and safety conditions.
Type of storage: non-hazardous waste: 2 years for recovery, 1 year for disposal. Hazardous waste: 6 months.
Carry out a hazardous waste minimization study.
Immediately inform the competent public administration in the event of the disappearance, loss or accident of hazardous waste.

Obligations of the waste manager:

Environmental authorization or license.
Guarantee that the waste that enters its facilities is treated or recovered.
Authorizations.
Registration of inputs and outputs of waste and products.
Inform the competent administration of any incident.
Provide all the data that the administration requires.
All those derived from its status as a waste producer.

Producers of products that with their use become waste and in application of the principle of «Whoever pollutes pays», are involved in the prevention and organization of waste management. The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy in which the producer is obliged to be responsible for the treatment or disposal of their products after consumption.

CONTAMINATED FLOORS. Law 22/2011

Contaminated soil is one whose characteristics have been negatively altered by the presence of hazardous chemical components from human activity, in a concentration such that it poses an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment, in accordance with criteria and standards.

Altered soil, reference levels are exceeded, but the risk is acceptable.

Degraded site, soil affected by uncontrolled dumping of waste, which does not exceed reference levels and the risk is acceptable.

Royal Decree 646/2020, of July 7, which regulates the elimination of waste by depositing it in a landfill.

It transposes Directive (EU) 2018/850 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Regulates the management of waste by depositing it in a landfill.

Obligation of prior treatment.

Municipal waste dumping reduction.

Prohibition of dumping certain waste.

Submission to periodic inspections.

It provides standards for the management of household waste. COVID-19 waste.

Three classifications of landfills: for hazardous, non-hazardous and inert waste

It determines three levels of the waste admission procedure at the landfill: basic characterization, compliance testing and on-site verification.

Activity subject to environmental authorization.

Royal Decree 105/2008. Construction and demolition waste.

Defines the concepts of construction and demolition waste producer.

The owner of said waste, which corresponds to the person who executes the work and has physical control of those generated in it.

It includes a construction and demolition waste management study in the project for the execution of the work.

The holder is obliged to present a waste management plan.

The manager is obliged to issue the waste management certificate.

Royal Decree 265/2021 of April 13 on vehicles at the end of their useful life.

Royal Decree 110/2015, of February 20, on waste electrical and electronic equipment.

Guarantee the traceability of the RAEES.

Royal Decree 106/2008, of February 1, on batteries and accumulators incorporates the principles of «polluter pays» and the responsibility of the producer of the product.

Royal Decree 1310/1990, of October 29, which regulates the use of sewage sludge in the agricultural sector, incinerated in waste incineration facilities or co-incinerated in cement plants and deposited in landfills provided that the conditions are met.

Royal Decree 679/2006, of June 2, which regulates the management of used Industrial oils.

Avoid mixing with water or other non-oily residues.

Royal Decree 1619/2005, of December 30, on the management of end-of-life tires, modified by Royal Decree 731/2020.

Prevent its generation, production and management, and its reduction, reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery.

Law 11/1997, of April 24, on packaging and packaging waste; Objective to minimize the generation of packaging and promote its reuse, recycling or recovery, avoiding its treatment through disposal.

Royal Decree 1416/2001, of December 14, on packaging of phytosanitary products.

Responsibility, surveillance, inspection and sanctioning regime:

The waste will always have a person responsible for the fulfilment of the production and management obligations, a quality that falls on the producer or another holder, or on the waste manager, who when there are several will respond jointly and severally.

Regarding contaminated soils; causer, owner and possessor, by such subsidiary order.

Surveillance and control functions.

Waste managers, producers, transporters, agents, traders are subject to periodic inspections and are obliged to supply all the required information.

Obligation to restore the degraded site to restore it to its initial state prior to the altered situation.

Application of means of compulsory execution in the event of non-compliance.

Transfer of the file to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, when it constitutes an environmental crime, with an agreement to suspend the administrative procedure at the point where it is located.