EU waste regulation in the context of the circular economy: peculiarities of interaction

Abstract

The European Union (EU) is implementing the concept of the circular economy (hereafter – CE) system, the main idea of which is to maintain the added value in products for as long as possible both to improve the quality of the environment and eliminate waste. These provisions presuppose the improvement of EU waste management systems and legal regulation. The European Commission proposed a legislative package for amending the main Directives related to waste management. The European Parliament and the Council adopted this document in 2018. The legislative package amends six Directives, which are the main components of the legal framework for waste management in the EU. These are systematic changes in EU waste law regulation and include: the modification of the waste management system; the alignment of definitions; and the formulation of new legal definitions (for example municipal waste, backfilling) or establishment of qualitative and quantitative indicators which cover the meaning of waste hierarchy. The aim of this article is to divulge the main legal changes, and to evaluate their content in the context of the concept of the CE.