New Legislation (Germany)

This concerns an omnibus act, which apart from the Life-Cycle Resource Management Act and the Waste Avoidance and Management Act, has led to 11 further regulations being amended, and 2 statutory ordinances being annulled. In its present form the act came into power on February 1st, 2007. Its aim was to simplify legislation covering the supervision of waste material in the following three points:

1. Through alignment with EU law:
The structural and formal requirements of EU law were assimilated.
2. By using the electronic burden of proof:
Mandatory introduction by April 1st, 2010. Original hard copies will become the exception.
3. Through simplification of several supervision areas:
For example, the simplified verification procedure was abolished.

Criteria for waste types
“particularly in need of supervision” was substituted by “hazardous”.
“require supervision” and “do not require supervision” were replaced by “non-hazardous”.

Supervision
The verification log (waste report book ) has been replaced by the obligation to keep a compulsory register with the onus on the burden of proof.

Compulsory register
Producers, owners, commercial collectors, transporters and disposers of hazardous waste must keep a compulsory register.
In the case of waste disposers, an account of non-hazardous waste must also be kept.

Burden of proof
Apart from keeping a compulsory register, producers, owners, commercial collectors, transporters and disposers of hazardous waste are subject to a burden of proof. Here you will find further details about the Burden of proof

Status: December 2008 (no responsibility is taken for the correctness of this information)