Classification of plastic waste in the context of transboundary shipments
Guidance document, Last updated: 15 January 2021
As of 1 January 2021 the new entries for plastic waste, specified in the Annexes III, IIIA, IV, V, VII and V of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on shipments of waste (EC-WSR) apply in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/2174 of 19 October 2020 amending Annexes IC, III, IIIA, IV, V, VII and VIII of that Regulation. These amendments were introduced in order to strengthen the control of transboundary shipments of plastic waste and to ensure its environmentally sound recycling (and recovery within the EU).
This new regulation required an amendment of the Austrian specifications for the classification of plastic waste in the context of transboundary shipment.
Pending the planned update of the Federal Waste Management Plan 2017, the Austrian requirements for transboundary shipments of plastic waste can be taken from the national guidance document on the classification of plastic waste in the context of transboundary shipment as of 1 Jan 2021.
In this respect, the provisions of Article 28 of the EC-WSR are worth noting, according to which, in the event of different views of the competent authorities in the state of dispatch and destination regarding the classification of the plastic waste, always the stricter control regime takes precedence.