Royal Decree 180/2015, of March 13, regulating the transfer of waste within the territory of the State. Published in: «BOE» No. 83, of April 7, 2015, pages 29388 to 29406 (19 pages). Section: I. General provisions Department: Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment Reference: BOE-A-2015-3715
http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2015/04/07/pdfs/BOE-A-2015-3715.pdf
I
The Basel Convention of March 22, 1989, on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal – hereinafter referred to as the «Basel Convention» – was the international community’s response to the problems generated by the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes resulting from the incessant increase in global waste production.
The international treaty, ratified by a significant number of countries, aims primarily to control the movements of hazardous wastes and prevent their illegal traffic, recognizing that the most effective way to protect human health and the environment from the damage caused by waste is to reduce its generation in quantity and hazardousness.
The principles underlying the Basel Convention are appropriate waste management that minimizes transfers, treatment, and disposal of waste as close as possible to the source of generation, as well as the reduction and minimization of the generation of hazardous waste at its source.
By means of Council Decision 93/98/EEC of February 1, 1993, the then European Community was authorized to sign the Basel Convention on behalf of the European Community. With the adoption of Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 of February 1, 1993, on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into, and out of the European Community, rules were established to ensure that the Community’s monitoring and control system for waste movements met the requirements of the Basel Convention.
Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 of February 1, 1993, was replaced by Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 14, 2006, on shipments of waste («the Community Regulation» hereinafter), with the aim of adapting it to the successive modifications of the Basel Convention.
This Community Regulation aims to ensure that waste transported within the Community, as well as waste imported from third countries into the Community, is managed in such a way that throughout the shipment and when valorized or disposed of in the destination country, human health is not endangered and processes or methods that could be harmful to the environment are not used.
As for exports to third countries from the Community that are not prohibited, the Community Regulation aims to ensure that waste management is carried out in an environmentally sound manner throughout the course of the shipment and including valorization or disposal in the third-country destination. To this end, it is required that the waste-receiving facility comply with standards for the protection of human health and the environment equivalent to those established in Community legislation.
The monitoring and control of waste shipments within a Member State, as the Community Regulation itself acknowledges in its preamble, is a matter for the Member State concerned; however, as the regulation also states, national waste shipment regimes must take into account the need to maintain consistency with the Community system, in order to ensure a high level of environmental protection and human health throughout the territory of the Union.
For this reason, Article 33 of the Community Regulation obliges each Member State to establish an appropriate system for monitoring and controlling waste shipments carried out exclusively within its jurisdiction. This system must take into account the need to ensure consistency with the Community regime established by Titles II and VII of the Community Regulation itself (which regulate respectively shipments within the Community with or without transit through third countries and additional provisions relating to environmental protection, inspections of establishments and companies, as well as infringements and sanctions).
II
To comply with the mandate contained in the aforementioned Article 33 of the Community Regulation, Law 22/2011, of July 28, on Waste and Contaminated Soils, has established a legal framework to regulate the transfer of waste within the territory of the State, based on the principles of international and Community law.
It should be noted that this is not the first time that the matter has been addressed in our legal system. Royal Decree 833/1988, of July 20, approving the Regulation for the implementation of Basic Law 20/1986, on Toxic and Hazardous Waste, already regulated the obligations related to the transfer of waste, albeit limited to the then-called «toxic and hazardous waste» – «hazardous waste» in the current terminology – in line with the then-prevailing Community law: Council Directive 84/631/EEC of December 6, 1984, on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into, and out of the European Community.
This Royal Decree is repealed, among other reasons, because, as already mentioned, its purpose was limited to the regulation of a specific type of waste and because, over time, successive regulatory developments have altered the legal framework, which now includes not only the aforementioned Law 22/2011, of July 28, but also Law 22/2011, of July 28, on Waste and Contaminated Soils, and its implementing regulations, Royal Decree 180/2015, of March 13, on the transfer of waste within the territory of the State, which are now being approved.
III
Royal Decree 180/2015, of March 13, responds to the need to ensure a high level of environmental protection and human health throughout the territory of the State, as required by the Community system, and therefore establishes the requirements and procedures for the transfer of waste within the territory of the State, as well as the regime for the organization and functioning of the administrative bodies responsible for the supervision and control of these transfers.
IV
This Royal Decree, which is structured in six titles, a transitional provision, a repealing provision, and two final provisions, seeks to ensure that the transfer of waste within the territory of the State is carried out in a controlled manner and in accordance with the principles of proximity and self-sufficiency in waste management, prioritizing, as required by the Community system, the prevention of waste generation and the promotion of its reuse, recycling, and other forms of recovery, as well as the disposal of waste in accordance with the hierarchy of waste management established by Law 22/2011, of July 28, on Waste and Contaminated Soils.