Deponiezweckverband Eiterköpfe v Land Rheinland-Pfalz.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:2004:758
• Docket Number: C-6/03
• Celex Number: 62003CC0006
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Procedure Type: Reference for a preliminary ruling
• Date: 30 November 2004

OPINION OF ADVOCATE GENERAL

RUIZ-JARABO COLOMER

delivered on 30 November 2004 (1)

Case C-6/03

Deponiezweckverband Eiterköpfe

v

Land Rheinland-Pfalz

(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Verwaltungsgericht Koblenz (Germany))

(Environment – Landfill of waste – Directive 1999/31/EC – Compatibility of a more stringent national measure)

1. The Verwaltungsgericht Koblenz (Administrative Court, Koblenz) (Germany), has referred to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling two questions on Article 5(1) and (2) of Directive 1999/31/EC (2) and Article 176 EC, with a view to establishing whether national provisions containing more stringent protective measures are compatible with the Community legislation governing the landfill of waste.

I – Community legal framework

2. Title XIX of the EC Treaty, concerning the environment, comprises three provisions: Article 174, which sets out the Community policy objectives in that sphere; Article 175, in which the legal basis for action by the Community is explained; and Article 176, which provides:

‘The protective measures adopted pursuant to Article 175 shall not prevent any Member State from maintaining or introducing more stringent protective measures. Such measures must be compatible with this Treaty. They shall be notified to the Commission.’

3. Directive 75/442/EEC (3) concerns the management of waste, Article 3(1)(a) thereof imposing on Member States the obligation to take appropriate measures to reduce waste production, while Article 4 sets out their obligation to ensure that waste is recovered or disposed of without endangering human health and without using processes or methods which could harm the environment.

4. Landfill constitutes one of the stages in the treatment of waste. In that particular connection, ‘with a view to meeting the requirements of Directive 75/442/EEC, and in particular Articles 3 and 4 thereof’, the overall objective of Directive 1999/31 (hereinafter ‘the Directive’) is to provide for ‘… measures, procedures and guidance to prevent or reduce … negative effects on the environment … during the whole life-cycle of the landfill’ (Article 1).

5. Article 5 of the Directive stipulates:

‘1. Member States shall set up a national strategy for the implementation of the reduction of biodegradable waste going to landfills, not later than two years after the date laid down in Article 18(1) and notify the Commission of this strategy. This strategy should include measures to achieve the targets set out in paragraph 2 by means of, in particular, recycling, composting, biogas production or materials/energy recovery. …

2. This strategy shall ensure that:

(a) not later than five years after the date laid down in Article 18(1), biodegradable municipal waste going to landfills must be reduced to 75% of the total amount (by weight) of biodegradable municipal waste produced in 1995 or the latest year before 1995 for which standardised Eurostat data is available;

(b) not later than eight years after the date laid down in Article 18(1), biodegradable municipal waste going to landfills must be reduced to 50% of the total amount (by weight) of biodegradable municipal waste produced in 1995 or the latest year before 1995 for which standardised Eurostat data is available;

(c) not later than 15 years after the date laid down in Article 18(1), biodegradable municipal waste going to landfills must be reduced to 35% of the total amount (by weight) of biodegradable municipal waste produced in 1995 or the latest year before 1995 for which standardised Eurostat data is available.

…’

6. The date referred to in Article 18(1) of the Directive is 16 July 2001. (4)

II – National legislation

7. To meet the requirements of the Directive, Germany adopted the Verordnung über die umweltverträgliche Ablagerung von Siedlungsabfällen (Regulation on the Environmentally Sound Deposit of Municipal Waste) of 20 February 2001, which entered into force on 1 March 2001. (5)

8. In the view of the referring court, regard must be had to the following provisions:

‘Paragraph 3. General requirements for landfill

1. Municipal waste and waste within the meaning of Paragraph 2(2) may be deposited only on landfill sites or in landfill cells which meet the requirements for either category I or category II landfill sites. The requirements are laid down in point 10 of the Technical Instructions on Municipal Waste.

…

3. Municipal waste and waste within the meaning of Paragraph 2(2), save for waste treated by mechanical and biological processes, may be landfilled only if it meets the relevant waste acceptance criteria for category I or II landfill sites laid down in Annex 1.

Paragraph 4. Requirements governing the landfilling of waste treated by mechanical and biological processes

1. Waste treated by mechanical and biological processes may be landfilled only if:

(1) the landfill sites or landfill cells concerned meet the requirements for category II landfill sites;

(2) the waste in question meets the acceptance criteria for category II landfill sites set out in Annex 2;

(3) the waste in question has not been mixed in order to meet the acceptance criteria in Annex 2, and the overlaying of waste which has already been deposited and has a high biodegradable content (untreated household waste, for example) does not impair capture of the gas coming from that waste, the infiltration of water to maintain the process of biodegradation in the waste is either technically feasible or unnecessary and there is no uncontrolled gas release as a result; and

(4) during mechanical and biological treatment, waste with a high thermal value, together with other recyclable waste matter and waste containing pollutants, is removed for recovery or thermal treatment.

With regard to the cases in the first sentence of point 1, the requirements are defined in point 10 of the Technical Instructions on Municipal Waste.

2. In order to guarantee the proper disposal of waste in the landfill site concerned treated by mechanical and biological processes the landfill operator shall be required:

(1) to meet the requirements in Annex 3 governing the emplacement of waste treated by mechanical and biological processes, and

(2) to ensure that any traces of residual landfill gas emissions apparent after a landfill cell has been filled in are oxidised prior to their discharge into the atmosphere; observation reports pertaining to residual gas emissions, drawn up by independent monitors in accordance with the third sentence in point 6 of Annex C to the Technical Instructions on Municipal Waste, shall be submitted to the competent authority on request.

Paragraph 6. Transitional arrangements

…

2. Upon application from the landfill operator, the competent authority may grant authorisation, subject to the conditions laid down in subparagraph (3), for the following:

(1) Household waste, industrial waste similar to household waste, sewage sludges and other waste with a high organic content can be landfilled even if the requirements for waste under Annex 1 or Annex 2 hereto are not met. The waste may be deposited at old landfill sites (municipal waste landfill sites) even if those sites fail to meet the requirements of Paragraph 3(1), on condition that they at least meet the requirements in point 11 of the Technical Instructions on Municipal Waste, or it may be deposited in separate cells at category II landfill sites. Such authorisation shall be granted until no later than 31 May 2005.

(2) Municipal waste and waste within the meaning of Paragraph 2(2), which meets the waste acceptance criteria for category I landfill under Annex 1, may continue to be deposited at old landfill sites which do not meet the requirements of Paragraph 3(1), on condition that they at least meet the requirements of point 11 of the Technical Instructions on Municipal Waste. Such authorisation shall be granted until no later than 15 July 2009.

(3) Municipal waste and waste within the meaning of Paragraph 2(2) which meets the criteria for category II landfill under Annex 1, and waste treated by mechanical and biological processes which meets the landfill acceptance criteria in Annex 2, may also be deposited at old landfill sites (household waste landfill sites) – where appropriate, in separate landfill cells – provided that it satisfies the requirements of Paragraph 3(1) for category II landfill, to the exclusion of points 10.3.1 and 10.3.2 of the Technical Instructions on Municipal Waste, and the requirements in point 11 of the said Technical Instructions. Such authorisation shall be granted until no later than 15 July 2009. The expiry date may be disregarded if evidence is furnished in an individual case to indicate that the safeguards listed in points 10.3.1 and 10.3.2 of the aforementioned Technical Instructions have been achieved by other, equivalent, technical safeguards and that public welfare (measured against the requirements laid down in this Regulation) is not affected. For the period up to 31 May 2005, point 1 shall apply mutatis mutandis as regards the relevant technical requirements governing landfill sites.

3. The derogations referred to in subparagraph (2) may be authorised only on condition that they do not affect public welfare and that:

(1) in the circumstances of subparagraph (2), point 1, it is not possible to use existing treatment capacity, and

(2) in the circumstances of subparagraph (2), points 2 and 3, it is not possible to use landfill sites which meet the requirements laid down in Paragraph 3(1).

4. Any derogation from the rules governing the acceptance of waste at landfill issued by the competent authority prior to the entry into force of this Regulation, in accordance with the first and second sentences, under (a), of point 12.1 of the Technical Instructions on Municipal Waste, shall, in the case of household waste, industrial waste similar to...