Rules applicable to certain types of waste management operations
B) The landfill of waste - Scope of application
Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste, has a broad scope of application (1), and one should determine the types of waste permitted to be dumped into landfill (2) before considering the applicable rules (3).
Scope of application
For the purposes of the Directive, a landfill is a “waste disposal site for the deposit of the waste onto or into land”, including the “internal disposal sites” of waste producers and sites used for temporary storage of a duration of over one year (Article 2(g)). However, the dumping of certain types of waste does not fall within the scope of the Directive, such as waste stored on a temporary basis prior to transport for recovery, treatment or disposal elsewhere, as well as waste stored prior to recovery or treatment for a period of less than three years or prior to disposal for a period of less than one year (Article 2(g)). Also excluded from the scope of the Directive is the spreading of sludge on the soil for the purposes of fertilisation or improvement, the use of inert waste as filling-in material or for construction purposes, the deposit of non-hazardous dredging sludge alongside small water ways, or that of unpolluted soil or of non-hazardous inert waste from extraction activities (Article 3(2)).