Definition of “Waste” in Cross-Border Context: Un-Typical Story of TPS-NOLO (Geobal)

Abstract

The boundaries of EU waste legislation are drawn by the definition of “waste”. This is also true of the Waste Shipments Regulation. What if the authorities of dispatch and destination disagree on the classification of a particular substance? A recent judgment of the EU Court of Justice shows that the rule according to which, in case of such a disagreement, the substance “shall be treated as if it were waste” is in the end of limited value. There is no way the European Commission or the Member State of (typically) destination can win their case on this basis.