Council of the European Union and European Parliament 19 November 2008, Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives (Text with EEA relevance)

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Directive 2008/98/EC establishes a Community legal framework to protect the environment and human health by preventing or reducing the adverse impacts of waste generation and management while improving resource use efficiency. It defines key concepts such as waste, recovery, and disposal, introduces a binding five-step waste hierarchy, sets rules for by-products, end-of-waste status, hazardous waste, and extended producer responsibility, and repeals Directives 75/439/EEC, 91/689/EEC, and 2006/12/EC. Member States are required to implement waste management plans and waste prevention programmes, enforce permit, registration, and inspection regimes, and bring compliant laws into force by 12 December 2010.AI