SilverPlatter Guide

EU Waste Inventories (EUWI)

Go: Back

Introduction - What are the EU Waste Inventories ?

On the 15th of July 1975 the EC (European Commission) passed its first Directive pertaining to waste management.  Council Directive 75/442/EEC (OJ L 194/39 25.7.75) laid out the general rules applying to waste management.  This original Directive contained 15 articles and stated "the essential objective of all provisions relating to waste disposal must be the protection of human health and the environment against the harmful effects caused by the collection, transport, treatment, storage and tipping of waste".

The first article in the 1975 Directive, 1(a) gave the definition of a waste:

"'Waste' means any substance or object which the holder disposes of or is required to dispose of pursuant to the provisions of the national law in force:"
('disposal' means:
 - the collection, sorting, transport and treatment of waste as well as its storage and tipping above or under ground,
 - the transformation operations necessary for its re-use, recovery or recycling).

Council Directive 78/319/EC (OJ L 84 31.3.1978) (toxic and dangerous waste) drew up a list of toxic and hazardous substances, providing a broad framework for the control and disposal of waste containing them and included the "polluter pays" principle under which the holder and/or previous holder/producer of the wastes are responsible for the costs of its storage, treatment and disposal.  This Directive defined a toxic and dangerous waste as:

any waste containing or contaminated by the substances or materials listed in the Annex to this Directive of such a nature, in such quantities or in such concentrations as to constitute a risk to health or the environment;

Since 1975 the Directives 91/156/EEC (OJ L 78/32 26.3.1991), 91/692/EEC (OJ L 377 21.12.1991), 94/31/EC (OJ L 168/28 2.7.1994) and 96/350/EC (OJ L 135/32 6.6.1996) have been added with the introduction of articles 11A and 11B which deal specifically with disposal operations.

As stated above the definition of a waste has become much more specific since the original definition back in 1975.  The 1991 Directive 91/156/EEC (OJ L 78/32 26.3.1991) actually replaced Article 1 (a) with the following:

"'Waste'' shall mean any substance or object in the categories set out in Annex 1 which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard.

The Commission, acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 18, will draw up, not later than 1 April 1993, a list of wastes belonging to the categories listed in Annex 1.  This list will be periodically reviewed and, if necessary, revised by the same procedure;"

It should further be noted that 91/156/EEC redefined the term 'disposal' and introduced definitions of other important terms such as 'producer' and 'recovery'.

In 1991 Directive 91/689/EEC (OJ L 377/20 31.12.1991) sought to build on the experience gained in the implementation of the 1978 Directive and in effect replaced it (it was officially repealed by Directive 94/31/EC.).  The new Directive also specified that a hazardous list should be drawn up and for the first time suggested a time frame for accomplishing this.  However by 1994 a new Directive was introduced, 94/31/EC (OJ L 168/28 2.7.1994), recognising that the time frame for drawing up a binding list of hazardous waste had lapsed and setting a new time-scale for future implementation.

In 1994 two further Decisions were introduced 94/3/EC (OJ L 005 7.1.1994) and 94/904/EC (OJ L 356 31.12.1994) again specifying waste lists, the latter referring to hazardous wastes only.  At this time although waste lists had been drawn up they were incomplete in that hazardous and non-hazardous wastes were kept separate.  The Commission accepted that further progress needed to be made.

In 2000 a Commission Decision was introduced, 2000/532/EC (OJ L 226/3 6.9.2000) (and which replaced Decisions 94/3/EC and 94/904/EC), which for the first time produced a waste list including both hazardous and non-hazardous wastes.

Furthermore, on the 16th January 2001, Decision (2001/118/EC) (OJ L 47/1 16.2.2001) was introduced.  This amended the earlier 2000 Decision (2000/532/EC, OJ L 226/3 6.9.2000) and created a new waste list, the basis of this EU Waste Inventory.  The waste inventories covered by this guide incorporate the minor amendments included in the 2001/119/EC (OJ L 47/32 16.2.2001) Decision and the lintroduction of Council Decision of 23rd July 2001 (OJ L 203/18 28.7.2001).  Furthermore, language specific corrigenda have also been published (Official Journal L 272, 20/08/2004 p. 16 [Italian version only], Official Journal L 112, 27/04/2002 p. 47 [Italian, Spanish and German versions only] and Official Journal L 262, 02/10/2001 p. 38 [Italian and German versions only]).

The four decisions mentioned in the previous two paragraphs form the basis for the EU Waste Inventories which this guide describes.  Since 1975 there has been a concerted drive within the EU Commission to produce a combined hazardous/non hazardous waste list.  The EU Waste Inventories represent over a quarter of a century of combined EU legislation including both hazardous and non-hazardous wastes.  There are 10 inventories in total, one for each language within the EU.  Greek is not currently covered for technical reasons.  The four decisions shall apply in the EU from January 1st 2002.

The inventories will be periodically reviewed on the basis of new knowledge and, in particular, of research results, and if necessary revised in accordance with Article 18 of Directive 75/442/EEC.  However, the inclusion of a material in the list does not mean that the material is a waste in all circumstances.

The interested reader is referred to the complete directory of Community legislation in force in this area (waste management and clean technology) which can be found at http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/lif/reg/en_register_15103030.html.

Go: Guide Index or Back

Commission Decision of 3rd May 2000

COMMISSION DECISION
of 3 May 2000
replacing Decision 94/3/EC establishing a list of wastes pursuant to
Article 1(a) of Council Directive 75/442/EEC on waste and Council
Decision 94/904/EC establishing a list of hazardous waste pursuant to
Article 1(4) of Council Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste
(notified under document number C(2000) 1147)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2000/532/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste (OJ L 194, 25.7.1975, p. 47.), as amended by Directive 91/156/EEC (OJ L 78, 26.3.1991, p. 32.), and in particular Article 1(a) thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 91/689/EEC of 12 December 1991 on hazardous waste (OJ L 377, 31.12.1991, p. 20.), and in particular Article 1 (4), second indent thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Several Member States have notified a number of waste categories which they consider to display one or more of the properties listed in Annex III to Directive 91/689/EEC.

(2) Article 1(4) of Directive 91/689/EEC requires the Commission to examine notifications from Member States with a view to amending the list of hazardous wastes laid down in Council Decision 94/904/EC (OJ L 356, 31.12.1994, p. 14.).

(3) Any waste inserted in the list of hazardous wastes must also be included in the European Waste Catalogue laid down in Commission Decision 94/3/EC (OJ L 5, 7.1.1994, p. 15.).  It is appropriate, in order to increase the transparency of the listing system and to simplify existing provisions, to establish one Community list which integrates the list of wastes laid down in Decision 94/3/EC and that of hazardous wastes laid down in Decision 94/904/EC.

(4) The Commission is assisted in this task by the Committee established by Article 18 of Directive 75/442/EEC.

(5) The measures laid down in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion expressed by the aforementioned Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The list in the Annex to this Decision is adopted.

Article 2

Wastes classified as hazardous are considered to display one or more of the properties listed in Annex III to Directive 91/689/EEC and, as regards H3 to H8, H10 (In Directive 92/32/EEC amending for the seventh time Directive 67/548/EEC the term 'toxic for reproduction' was introduced.  The term 'teratogenic' was replaced by a corresponding term 'toxic for reproduction'. This term is considered to be in line with property H10 in Annex III to Directive 91/689/EEC.) and H11 of the said Annex, one or more of the following characteristics:

 - flash point <= 55 °C,
 - one or more substances classified (**) as very toxic at a total concentration >= 0,1 %,
 - one or more substances classified as toxic at a total concentration >= 3 %,
 - one or more substances classified as harmful at a total concentration >= 25 %,
 - one or more corrosive substances classified as R35 at a total concentration >= 1 %,
 - one or more corrosive substances classified as R34 at a total concentration >= 5 %,
 - one or more irritant substances classified as R41 at a total concentration >= 10 %,
 - one or more irritant substances classified as R36, R37, R38 at a total concentration >= 20 %,
 - one substance known to be carcinogenic of category 1 or 2 at a concentration >= 0,1 %,
 - one substance known to be carcinogenic of category 3 at a concentration >= 1 %
 - one substance toxic for reproduction of category 1 or 2 classified as R60, R61 at a concentration >= 0,5 %,
 - one substance toxic for reproduction of category 3 classified as R62, R63 at a concentration >= 5 %,
 - one mutagenic substance of category 1 or 2 classified as R46 at a concentration >= 0,1 %,
 - one mutagenic substance of category 3 classified as R40 at a concentration >= 1 %.

Article 3

Member States may decide, in exceptional cases, on the basis of documentary evidence provided in an appropriate way by the holder, that a specific waste indicated in the list as being hazardous does not display any of the properties listed in Annex III to Directive 91/689/EEC.  Without prejudice to Article 1(4), second indent, of Directive 91/689/EEC, Member States may decide, in exceptional cases, that a waste indicated in the list as being non-hazardous displays one or more of the properties listed in Annex III to Directive 91/689/EEC.  All such decisions taken by Member States shall be communicated on a yearly basis to the Commission.  The Commission shall collate these decisions and examine whether the Community list of wastes and hazardous wastes should be amended in the light of them.

Article 4

Member States shall take the measures necessary to comply with this Decision not later than 1 January 2002.

Article 5

Decision 94/3/EC and Decision 94/904/EC are repealed with effect from 1 January 2002.

Article 6

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 3 May 2000.

For the Commission
Margot WALLSTRÖM
Member of the Commission

** The classification as well as the R numbers refer to Directive 67/548/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances (OJ L 196, 16.8.1967, p. 1.) and its subsequent amendments. The concentration limits refer to those laid down in Directive 88/379/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous preparations (OJ L 187, 16.7.1988, p. 14.) and its subsequent amendments.

[The Annex is not reproduced here.]

Go: Guide Index or Back

Commission Decision of 16th January 2001

COMMISSION DECISION
of 16 January 2001
amending Decision 2000/532/EC as regards the list of wastes
(notified under document number C(2001) 108)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2001/118/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste (OJ L 78, 26.3.1991, p. 32.), as last amended by Commission Decision 96/350/EC (OJ L 135, 6.6.1996, p. 32.) and in particular Article 1(a) thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 91/689/EEC of 12 December 1991 on hazardous waste (OJ L 377, 31.12.1991, p. 20.), as amended by Directive 94/31/EC (OJ L 168, 2.7.1994, p. 28.) and in particular Article 1(4), second indent, thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Commission Decision 2000/532/EC of 3 May 2000 replacing Decision 94/3/EC establishing a list of wastes pursuant to Article 1(a) of Council Directive 75/442/EEC on waste, and Council Decision 94/904/EC establishing a list of hazardous waste pursuant to Article 1(4) of Council Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste (OJ L 226, 6.9.2000, p. 3.) should be amended in the light of the notifications from Member States pursuant to Article 1(4), second indent, of Directive 91/689/EEC.

(2) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 18 of Directive 75/442/EEC,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Decision 2000/532/EC is amended as follows:

1. Article 2 is replaced by the following:

Article 2

Wastes classified as hazardous are considered to display one or more of the properties listed in Annex III to Directive 91/689/EEC and, as regards H3 to H8, H10 (*) and H11 of the said Annex, one or more of the following characteristics:

 - flash point <= 55 °C,
 - one or more substances classified (**) as very toxic at a total concentration >= 0,1 %,
 - one or more substances classified as toxic at a total concentration >= 3 %,
 - one or more substances classified as harmful at a total concentration >= 25 %,
 - one or more corrosive substances classified as R35 at a total concentration >= 1 %,
 - one or more corrosive substances classified as R34 at a total concentration >= 5 %,
 - one or more irritant substances classified as R41 at a total concentration >= 10 %,
 - one or more irritant substances classified as R36, R37, R38 at a total concentration >= 20 %,
 - one substance known to be carcinogenic of category 1 or 2 at a concentration >= 0,1 %,
 - one substance known to be carcinogenic of category 3 at a concentration >= 1 %
 - one substance toxic for reproduction of category 1 or 2 classified as R60, R61 at a concentration >= 0,5 %,
 - one substance toxic for reproduction of category 3 classified as R62, R63 at a concentration >= 5 %,
 - one mutagenic substance of category 1 or 2 classified as R46 at a concentration >= 0,1 %,
 - one mutagenic substance of category 3 classified as R40 at a concentration >= 1 %.

(*) In Directive 92/32/EEC amending for the seventh time Directive 67/548/EEC the term "toxic for reproduction" was introduced.  The term "teratogenic" was replaced by a corresponding term "toxic for reproduction".  This term is considered to be in line with property H10 in Annex III to Directive 91/689/EEC.

(**) The classification as well as the R numbers refer to Directive 67/548/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances (OJ L 196, 16.8.1967, p. 1.) and its subsequent amendments.  The concentration limits refer to those laid down in Directive 88/379/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous preparations (OJ L 187, 16.7.1988, p. 14.) and its subsequent amendments.

2. The Annex is replaced by the text in the Annex to this Decision.

Article 2

This Decision shall apply from 1 January 2002.

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 16 January 2001.

For the Commission
Margot WALLSTRÖM
Member of the Commission

ANNEX (**)

List of wastes pursuant to Article 1(a) of Directive 75/442/EEC on waste and Article 1(4) of Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste.

Introduction

1.  The present list is a harmonised list of wastes.  It will be periodically reviewed on the basis of new knowledge and, in particular, of research results, and if necessary revised in accordance with Article 18 of Directive 75/442/EEC.  However, the inclusion of a material in the list does not mean that the material is a waste in all circumstances.  Materials are considered to be waste only where the definition of waste in Article 1(a) of Directive 75/442/EEC is met.

2.  Wastes included in the list are subject to the provisions of Directive 75/442/EEC except where Article 2(1)(b) of this Directive applies.

3.  The different types of wastes in the list are fully defined by the six-digit code for the waste and the respective two-digit and four-digit chapter headings.  This implies that the following steps should be taken to identify a waste in the list.

3.1.  Identify the source generating the waste in chapters 01 to 12 or 17 to 20 and identify the appropriate six-digit code of the waste (excluding codes ending with 99 of these chapters).  A specific production unit may need to classify its activities in several chapters.  For instance, a car manufacturer may find its wastes listed in chapters 12 (wastes from shaping and surface treatment of metals), 11 (inorganic wastes containing metals from metal treatment and the coating of metals) and 08 (wastes from the use of coatings), depending on the different process steps.

Note: separately collected packaging waste (including mixtures of different packaging materials) shall be classified in 15 01, not in 20 01.

3.2.  If no appropriate waste code can be found in chapters 01 to 12 or 17 to 20, the chapters 13, 14 and 15 must be examined to identify the waste.

3.3.  If none of these waste codes apply, the waste must be identified according to chapter 16.

3.4.  If the waste is not in chapter 16 either, the 99 code (wastes not otherwise specified) must be used in the section of the list corresponding to the activity identified in step one.

4.  Any waste marked with an asterisk (*) is considered as a hazardous waste pursuant to Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste, and subject to the provisions of that Directive unless Article 1(5) of that Directive applies.  [Article 1(5) states that domestic waste be exempted from the provisions of Directive 91/689/EEC].

5.  For the purpose of this Decision, 'dangerous substance' means any substance that has been or will be classified as dangerous in Directive 67/548/EEC and its subsequent amendments; 'heavy metal' means any compound of antimony, arsenic, cadmium, chromium(VI), copper, lead, mercury, nickel, selenium, tellurium, thallium and tin, as well as these materials in metallic form, as far as these are classified as dangerous substances.

6.  If a waste is identified as hazardous by a specific or general reference to dangerous substances, the waste is hazardous only if the concentrations of those substances are such (i.e. percentage by weight) that the waste presents one or more of the properties listed in Annex III to Council Directive 91/689/EEC.  As regards H3 to H8, H10 and H11, Article 2 of this Decision shall apply.  For the characteristics H1, H2, H9 and H12 to H14 Article 2 of the present Decision does not provide specifications at present.

7.  In line with Directive 1999/45/EC, which states in its preamble that the case of alloys has been considered to need further assessment because the characteristics of alloys are such that it may not be possible accurately to determine their properties using currently available conventional methods, the provisions of Article 2 would not apply to pure metal alloys (not contaminated by dangerous substances).  This will be so pending further work that the Commission and Member States have taken the commitment to undertake on the specific approach of the classification of alloys.  The waste materials which are specifically enumerated in this list, shall remain classified as at present.

8.  The following rules for numbering of the items in the list have been used: For those wastes that were not changed, the code numbers from Commission Decision 94/3/EC have been used.  The codes for wastes that were changed have been deleted and remain unused in order to avoid confusion after implementation of the new list.  Wastes added have been given a code that has not been used in Commission Decision 94/3/EC and Commission Decision 2000/532/EC.

Chapters of the list

01  Wastes resulting from exploration, mining, quarrying, physical and chemical treatment of minerals

02  Wastes from agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture, forestry, hunting and fishing, food preparation and processing

03  Wastes from wood processing and the production of panels and furniture, pulp, paper and cardboard

04  Wastes from the leather, fur and textile industries

05  Wastes from petroleum refining, natural gas purification and pyrolytic treatment of coal

06  Wastes from inorganic chemical processes

07  Wastes from organic chemical processes

08  Wastes from the manufacture, formulation, supply and use (MFSU) of coatings (paints, varnishes and vitreous enamels), adhesives, sealants and printing inks

09  Wastes from the photographic industry

10  Wastes from thermal processes

11  Wastes from chemical surface treatment and coating of metals and other materials; non-ferrous hydro-metallurgy

12  Wastes from shaping and physical and mechanical surface treatment of metals and plastics

13  Oil wastes and wastes of liquid fuels (except edible oils, 05 and 12)

14  Waste organic solvents, refrigerants and propellants (except 07 and 08)

15  Waste packaging; absorbents, wiping cloths, filter materials and protective clothing not otherwise specified

16  Wastes not otherwise specified in the list

17  Construction and demolition wastes (including excavated soil from contaminated sites)

18  Wastes from human or animal health care and/or related research (except kitchen and restaurant wastes not arising from immediate health care)

19  Wastes from waste management facilities, off-site waste water treatment plants and the preparation of water intended for human consumption and water for industrial use

20  Municipal wastes (household waste and similar commercial, industrial and institutional wastes) including separately collected fractions

** [The remainder of the Annex is the inventory itself (1 per EU language except Greek) which has been made into a fully searchable database which this guide describes.]

Go: Guide Index or Back

Commission Decision of 22nd January 2001

COMMISSION DECISION
of 22 January 2001

amending Decision 2000/532/EC replacing Decision 94/3/EC establishing a list of wastes pursuant
to Article 1(a) of Council Directive 75/442/EEC on waste and Council Decision 94/904/EC
establishing a list of hazardous waste pursuant to Article 1(4) of Council Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste

(notified under document number C(2001) 106)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2001/119/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 91/689/EEC of 12 December 1991 on hazardous waste (OJ L 377, 31.12.1991, p. 20.), as last amended by Directive 94/31/EC (OJ L 168, 2.7.1994, p. 48.), and in particular Article 1(4) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) A Community list of hazardous waste was established by Council Decision 94/904/EC (OJ L 356, 31.12.1994, p. 14.) and this Decision has been replaced by Commission Decision 2000/532/EC (OJ L 226, 6.9.2000, p. 3.).

(2) Several Member States have notified end-of-life vehicles, not drained of liquids or other dangerous components as waste which they consider to display one of more of the properties listed in Annex III to Directive 91/689/EEC and have requested to list them as hazardous waste with the list set up under Article 1(4) of Directive 91/689/EEC.

(3) Article 1(4) of Directive 91/689/EEC requires the Commission to examine these notifications from Member States with a view to amending the list of hazardous wastes.

(4) The Commission is assisted in this task by the Committee established by Article 18 of Directive 75/442/EEC on waste (OJ L 194, 25.7.1975, p. 39.).

(5) The measures laid down in this Decision were not in accordance with the opinion expressed by the aforementioned Committee and could therefore not be included in Commission Decision 2000/532/EC.

(6) The Council did not take a decision on a proposal from the Commission within the time provided for in Article 18 of Directive 75/442/EEC.

(7) Consequently, it falls to the Commission to adopt the proposed measures,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The Annex to Decision 2000/532/EC of 3 May 2000 replacing Commission Decision 94/3/EC establishing a list of wastes pursuant to Article 1(a) of Council Directive 75/442/EEC on waste and Council Decision 94/904/EC establishing a list of hazardous waste pursuant to Article 1(4) of Council Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste is amended as follows:

Entry "16 01 04 discarded vehicles" is replaced by:

"16 01 04* end-of-life vehicles".

Article 2

This Decision shall apply from 1 January 2002.

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 22 January 2001.

For the Commission
Margot WALLSTRÖM
Member of the Commission

Go: Guide Index or Back

Council Decision of 23rd July 2001

COUNCIL DECISION
of 23 July 2001
amending Commission Decision 2000/532/EC as regards the list of wastes
(2001/573/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 91/689/EEC of 12 December 1991 on hazardous waste (OJ L 377, 31.12.1991, p. 20. Directive as amended by Directive 94/31/EC (OJ L 168, 2.7.1994, p. 28), and in particular Article 1(4) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1) A Community list of waste was established by Commission Decision 2000/532/EC of 3 May 2000 replacing Decision 94/3/EC establishing a list of wastes pursuant to Article 1(a) of Council Directive 75/442/EEC on waste and Council Decision 94/904/EC establishing a list of hazardous waste pursuant to Article 1(4) of Council Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste (OJ L 226, 6.9.2000, p. 3. Decision as amended by Decision 2001/119/EC (OJ L 47, 16.2.2001, p. 32).

(2) Article 1(4) of Directive 91/689/EEC requires Member States to notify the Commission of waste not included on the list of hazardous waste which they consider to display one or more of the properties listed in Annex III to that Directive. Several Member States have notified waste containing chlorosilanes, waste containing silicones and construction materials containing asbestos and requested that the list of hazardous waste be adapted accordingly.

(3) For the sake of clarity, it should be expressly provided that exclusively grease and oil mixture from oil/water separation containing only edible oil and fats can be considered non-hazardous.

(4) Decision 2000/532/EC should be amended accordingly.

(5) The measures provided for in this Decision are not in accordance with the opinion delivered by the Committee established by Article 18 of Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste(3). They must therefore, by virtue of the fourth paragraph of Article 18 of Directive 75/442/EEC, be adopted by the Council,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The Annex to Decision 2000/532/EC shall be amended in accordance with the Annex to this Decision.

Article 2

This Decision shall apply from 1 January 2002.

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 23 July 2001.

For the Council
The President
A. NEYTS-UYTTEBROECK

ANNEX

The Annex to Decision 2000/532/EC is amended as follows:

1. entry number 06 08 02 entitled 'waste containing chlorosilanes' is replaced by the following:

'06 08 02* waste containing dangerous silicones'

2. entry number 07 02 16 entitled 'waste containing silicones' is replaced by the following:

'07 02 16* waste containing dangerous silicones
07 02 17 waste containing silicones other than those mentioned in 07 02 16'

3. entry number 17 06 05 entitled 'construction materials containing asbestos' is replaced by the following:

'17 06 05* construction materials containing asbestos (1)
(1)  As far as the landfilling of waste is concerned, Member States may decide to postpone the entry into force of this entry until the establishment of appropriate measures for the treatment and disposal of waste from construction material containing asbestos. These measures are to be established according to the procedure referred to in Article 17 of Council Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste (OJ L 182, 16.7.1999, p. 1)and shall be adopted by 16 July 2002 at the latest.'

4. entry number 19 08 09* entitled 'grease and oil mixture from oil/water separation containing edible oil and fats' is replaced by the following:

'19 08 09 grease and oil mixture from oil/water separation containing only edible oil and fats'

Go: Guide Index or Back

Overview of the EU Waste Inventories

The data is presented as a collection of 10 databases in all Community languages except Greek (which is currently omitted for technical reasons).  Each database contains 839 records.

Each waste inventory can be thought of as being divided into 20 separate chapters.

These chapters (denoted by 2 digits) further sub-divide into sub-chapters (which are described by 4 digits; the first two digits denoting the chapter).  At the lowest level, individual wastes are denoted by 6 digits; the first 2 digits denote the chapter, the first 4 digits the sub-chapter and the total 6 digits the individual waste.

It is possible to search the inventories via the numeric codes or (part) descriptions.

Each database also contains a Dangerous waste? field which can be used to identify a waste considered to be hazardous pursuant to Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste, and subject to the provisions of that Directive unless Article 1(5) of that Directive applies.  [Article 1(5) states that domestic waste be exempted from the provisions of Directive 91/689/EEC].

A Language field is provided to indicate the language of the database.  This is useful when multi-language databases are loaded for searching as it can be used to restrict retrieval to those records of a particular language, for example.

For examples of how best to search the inventories, this please consult the individual field descriptions (see the Fields in the EU Waste Inventories section) and the search examples.

Go: Guide Index or Back

Hazardous Wastes

The EU Directive 91/689/EEC (OJ L 377/20 31.12.91) established the properties to determine what would constitute a hazardous waste.  To appear on the list the waste must have 1 or more of the properties listed in Annex III of that Directive.

If a waste is identified as hazardous by a specific or general reference to dangerous substances, the waste is hazardous only if the concentrations of those substances are such (i.e. percentage by weight) that the waste presents one or more of the properties listed in Annex II.  As regards H3 to H8, H10 and H11, Article 2 of Decision 2001/118/EC shall apply.  For the characteristics H1, H2, H9 and H12 to H14 Article 2 of  Decision 2001/118/EC does not provide specifications at present.

Directive 91/689/EEC, Article 2 states:

"1.  Member States shall take necessary measures to require that on every site where tipping (discharge) of hazardous waste takes place the waste is recorded and identified.

2.  Member States shall take the necessary measures to require that establishment and undertaking which dispose of, recover collect or transport hazardous waste do not mix different categories of hazardous waste or mix hazardous waste with non-hazardous waste.

3.  By way of derogation from paragraph 2, the mixing of hazardous waste with other hazardous waste, substances or materials may be permitted only where the conditions laid down in Article  4 of Directive 75/442/EEC are complied with and in particular for the purpose of improving safety during disposal or recovery.  Such an operation shall be subject to the permit requirement imposed in Articles 9, 10 and 11 of Directive 75/442/EEC.

4.  Where waste is already mixed with other waste, substances or materials, separation must be effected, where technically and economically feasible, and where necessary in order to comply with article 4 of Directive 75/442/EEC."

Directive 91/689/EEC, Annex III, states:

"PROPERTIES OF WASTES WHICH RENDER THEM HAZARDOUS

H1 -- 'Explosive': substances and preparations which may explode under the effect of flame or which are more sensitive to shocks or friction than dinitrobenzene.

H2 -- 'Oxidising': substances and preparations which exhibit highly exothermic reactions when in contact with other substances, particularly flammable substances.

H3 -- A 'Highly flammable':
 - liquid substances and preparations having flash point below 21C (including extremely flammable liquids), or

 - substances and preparations which may become hot and finally catch fire in contact with air at ambient temperature without any application of energy, or

 - solid substances and preparations which may readily catch fire after brief contact with a source of ignition and which continue to burn or to be consumed after removal of the source of ignition, or

 - gaseous substances and preparations which are flammable in air of normal pressure, or

 - substances and preparations which, in contact with water or damp air, evolve highly flammable gases in dangerous quantities.

H3 -- B 'Flammable': liquid substances and preparations having a flash point equal to or greater than 21C and less than or equal to 55C.

H4 -- 'Irritant': non-corrosive substances and preparations which, through immediate, prolonged or repeated contact with the skin or mucous membrane, can cause inflammation.

H5 -- 'Harmful': substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may involve limited health risks.

H6 -- 'Toxic': substances and preparations (including very toxic substances and preparations) which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may involve serious, acute or chronic health risks and even death.

H7 -- 'Carcinogenic': substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin may induce cancer or increase in incidence.

H8 -- 'Corrosive': substances and preparations which may destroy living tissue on contacts.

H9 -- 'Infectious': substances containing viable micro-organisms or their toxins which are known or reliably believed to cause disease in man or other living organisms.

H10 -- 'Teratogenic': substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may induce non-hereditary congenital malformations or increase their incidence.

H11 -- 'Mutagenic': substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may induce hereditary genetic defects or increase their incidence.

H12 -- Substances and preparations which release toxic or very toxic gases in contact with water, air or an acid.

H13 -- Substances and preparations capable by any means, after disposal, of yielding another substance, e.g. a leachate, which possesses any of the characteristics listed above.

H14 -- 'Ecotoxic': substances and preparations which present or may present immediate or delayed risks for one or more sectors of the environment.

Notes

1.  Attribution of the hazard properties 'toxic' (and 'very toxic'), 'harmful', 'corrosive', and 'irritant' is made on the basis of the criteria laid down by Annex VI, part I A and part II B, of Council Directive 67/548/EEC of 27 June 1967 of the approximation of laws , regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances (OJ L 196, 16.8.1967, p. 1.), in the version as amended by Council Directive 79/831/EEC (OJ L 259, 15.10.1979, p. 10.).

2.  With regard to attribution of the properties 'carcinogenic', 'teratogenic' and 'mutagenic' and reflecting the most recent findings, additional criteria are contained in the Guide to the classification and labelling of dangerous substances and preparations of Annex VI (part II D) to Directive 67/548/EEC in the versions as amended by Commission Directive 83/467/EEC (OJ L 257, 16.9.1983, p.1.).

Test methods

The test methods serve to give specific meaning to the definitions given in Annex III.

The methods to be used are those described in Annex V to Directive 67/548/EEC, in the version as amended by Commission Directive 84/449/EEC (OJ L 251, 19.9.1984, p.1.), or by subsequent Commission Directives adapting Directive 67/548/EEC to technical progress.  These methods are themselves based on the work and recommendations of the competent international bodies, in particular the OECD."

Go: Guide Index or Back

Risk Phrases

Article 2 of Commission Decision 2000/532/EC (OJ L 226/3 6.9.2000 (subsequently amended by Commission Decision (2001/118/EC) (OJ L 47/1 16.2.2001)) refers to so-called 'risk phrase' codes in the context of hazardous wastes.  These risk phrases originate from Annex III to Council Directive 67/548/EEC (and subsequent amendments).  Please note that only a small subset of these phrases are used in the current context.  These codes and their meanings are given below.

Go: Guide Index or Back

The Official Journal of the European Communities

The full texts of all European Community legislation directly or indirectly associated with EINECS Plus are published in the OJ.  Only the texts published in the paper edition of the OJ are deemed authentic.  In certain circumstances, however, (and only when it is clear beyond any doubt that a printing mistake exists in the paper or electronic version of the OJ), corrections may be made in this product.

Subscriptions to and issues of the OJ, as well as copies of individual texts, may be ordered from the publishers, the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities at the address below, and from its sales agents in the Member States of the European Union and elsewhere.

Office for Official Publications of the European Communities (EUR-OP)
2 rue Mercier
L-2985 Luxembourg

Tel: (352) 2929-1
email: info-info-opoce@cec.eu.int; opoce-info-info@cec.eu.int

Go: Guide Index or Back

Fields in EWI

Records in the EU Waste Inventories are divided into the following fields (please consult the general Help Index for more information on records and fields).  The full list of possible fields appears below.  Select the long field name to see a definition of the field with an example of how to use it in searching.  Highlighted fields are limit fields.

There is also a special subset of fields, Citation (CITN), which consists of the UWC, UWD and LA fields.  Use Citation to display, print, or save only these fields for a set of records.

Go: Guide Index or Back

Go: Guide Index or Back

Limit Fields

The limit fields listed below are specially indexed fields that either have relatively few possible values or which are useful to browse.  They allow you to limit your searches to records of a particular type.

European Waste Code (index only) (EWCI)
Waste Chapter Code (WCC)
Waste Sub-Chapter (index only) (WSCI)
Language (LA)
Dangerous Waste ? (DS)

You can search these fields with in or =.  For example, to retrieve all waste records which have been classified as hazardous, type:

y in ds or ds=y

If you currently have all 10 EU Waste Inventories loaded but wish to restrict a search to just the German data enter:

and la=de or and de in la

Furthermore, you can do numeric and numeric range-searching on the WCC field as in wcc=19-20 or wcc>10.

Go: Guide Index or Back

Lateral Searching

You can select search terms from displayed records and then search for them directly, without having to retype them; this is called "lateral searching".

To search laterally with WinSPIRS:

1.  Select a term from the record display area of the Search or Index screen by
dragging across or double-clicking on the term.  WinSPIRS highlights the term.

2.  Click the Add to Search button in WinSPIRS.  If necessary, WinSPIRS switches to the Search screen.  The term is then copied to the Search: text entry area of the Search screen.

3.  Click the Search button to search for the term.

To search laterally with WebSPIRS:

1.  Select and copy the text you are interested in within your browser.

2.  Paste this text into the WebSPIRS search area.

3.  Click the Search button to search for the term.

Go: Guide Index or Back

Searching in the Index

The SPIRS Index allows you to look up, select, and search for variations of a term.  Use the index if you are uncertain of the spelling of a particular term.

For example, to locate information on the word "process" look up process in the Index.  You will see that processed, processes, and processing  will all appear.  Select and search for the appropriate combinations and you will retrieve all documents containing your selection of terms.

Refer to the general Help Index for more information on using the index function in SPIRS.

Go: Guide Index or Back

Search Examples and Notes on Retrieval

Unless otherwise stated, the examples in this section and throughout the entire guide are with respect to English data only.  Similar text-based searches can of course be constructed in other languages.  Please further note that the case of letters used in searching is not important.  SPIRS will always internally convert the serach phrase to upper case before attempting retrieval.

Example 1: I wish to browse all the wastes in chapter 05 (WASTES FROM PETROLEUM REFINING, NATURAL GAS PURIFICATION 
AND PYROLYTIC TREATMENT OF COAL).  How do I do that ?

Answer 1: 05 in wcc

NOTES:
The field label for the waste chapter code is wcc.  There are 24 records in this record set; 17 of which have been 
classified as Wastes from Petrol Refining (05 01 is the waste sub-chapter code), 4 of which have been classified as 
Wastes From The Pyrolytic Treatment Of Coal (05 06 is the waste sub-chapter code) and 3 of which have been classified 
as Wastes From Natural Gas Purification and Transportation (05 07 is the waste sub-chapter code).

Example 2: Which of the 16 06 wastes (Batteries And Accumulators) are deemed hazardous ?

Answer 2: 16-06 in wsci and y in ds

NOTES:
The first part of the search could have been keyed in as 16 adj 06 in wsci - it retrieves all the wastes in the 16 06 
waste sub-chapter.  There are six of them.  The second half of the search restricts the first half to those wastes 
deemed hazardous.  Both searches are joined together with the SPIRS and operator.  The final result of the search 
yields four wastes which are:

lead batteries (16 06 01)
Ni-Cd batteries (16 06 02)
mercury-containing batteries (16 06 03)
separately collected electrolyte from batteries and accumulators (16 06 06)

Note that the same results would have been achieved by merely typing 16-06 and y in ds because the waste sub-chapter 
bound terms are also indexed in the free text index and terms of this structure do not occur elsewhere in free text 
fields.

Example 3: If I have all the 10 EU waste inventories loaded for searching, how do I restrict retrieval to only those 
records in the German or Dutch languages ?

Answer 3: and ((de or nl) in la)

NOTES:
SPIRS will combine any search beginning with an operator with the previous search in the search history.  Note the 
use of brackets.  If brackets were not present the subsearch that would be executed would be and de or (nl in la) 
which would yield entirely different results as the search on de would be throughout the free text.  If you are 
unsure about operator precedence, use brackets.

Example 4: Are there any records in the inventory concerning photographic waste ?

Answer 4: photograph*

NOTES:
The simple free text search will look through all the text based fields which are the European Waste Description 
(EWD field), the Waste Chapter Description (WCH field) and Waste Sub-Chapter Description (WSCH field) for the term 
specified.  Note that the use of truncation will allow hits to be returned on photography as well as photographic and 
photographically.  Such (simple) text searches are particularly useful if the numeric codes are unknown.

Go: Guide Index or Back

Using Accented and Other Special Characters in Searching

The EU Waste Inventories contain data in all Community languages except Greek and many of these languages contain accented characters in their alphabet.

All words containing accented characters are displayed as such in both WinSPIRS and WebSPIRS.  For the former, you may need to choose a font other than the default font if it does not support the ISO 8859-1 (Latin alphabet No. 1) character set (known elsewhere in this database compendium as ISO Latin-1) for display/printing.  All words containing accented or foreign characters (as well as a to z and A to Z) are converted to their upper case equivalents and then indexed as such.  The collating sequence chosen for all indices in all languages is that for ISO Latin-1 except that all terms beginning with a numeric character appear at end.  This has been done to provide ease and consistency in a multi-lingual and multi-database (i.e. when two or more databases from different languages are selected for retrieval) environment.

The actual collating sequence or character order in all indices is:

-, ., A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, À, Á, Â, Ã, Ä, Å, Æ, Ç, È, É, Ê, Ë, Ì, Í, Î, Ï, Ñ, Ò, Ó, Ô, Õ, Ö, Ø, Ù, Ú, Û, Ü, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0.

Go: Guide Index or Back

Stopwords

In general, some words appear too frequently in databases to be useful for searching; these are known as stopwords.

Owing to the multilingual nature of EINECS Plus, there are NO stopwords in any of the EU Waste Inventories.  This allows complete searching of all common words in phrases.

Note that words such as "in", "and", "or", "not", "near" and "with" which form part of a search phrase, should be placed in double quotes when searching any of the databases in this compendium, as they are search operators.

Go: Guide Index or Back

Copyright Statement

EINECS Plus 2005:1

Multilingual Databases

EU Chemical Inventories - EINECS/ELINCS/NLPL
List of Dangerous Substances
EU Priority & Prior Consent Lists
EU Indicative Occupational Exposure Limits
Summary of EU Legislation on Dangerous Substances and Preparations (English)
ECICS - European customs inventory of chemical substances
EU Cosmetics Inventory
EU Cosmetics Legislation (English)
EU Waste Catalogue

Product languages (where available): Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Finnish, Swedish
Interface languages (where available): English, French, German, Spanish

The licensors strongly recommend that you refer to the on-screen guides to help you understand how to use this product.

This database correlates information extracted from EC legislation but has no official status.  Neither the European Commission nor the publishers guarantee its accuracy or accept responsibility for the consequence of its use.  Only the legislative texts are authoritative, as published in the Official Journal of the EC.  For a complete statement of terms of supply, see the EINECS Plus Subscription and Licence Agreement.

Data © European Communities, 2005
Application and software © Croner Publications, 2005

Guide Revised October 26, 2005

Go: Guide Index or Back