Certain Disposals [EU]

Disposal of waste oils

This Directive aims to promote collection and disposal of waste oils.

Council Directive 75/439/EEC of 16 June 1975 on the disposal of waste oils [See amending acts].

This Directive applies to any mineral-based lubrication or industrial oils which have become unfit for their originally intended use.

Member States must ensure that waste oils are collected and disposed of (by processing, destruction, storage or tipping above or under ground).

They must give priority to the processing of waste oils by regeneration, i.e. by refining.

Where this process is not used, other methods may be considered: combustion, destruction, storage or tipping. The Directive stipulates the conditions under which this must occur; in particular, it allows undertakings to collect and/or dispose of waste oils.

The following are banned:

• any discharge into inland surface water, ground water, territorial sea and drainage systems;
• any deposit and/or discharge of waste oils harmful to the soil and any uncontrolled discharge of residues resulting from the processing of waste oils;

This is why:

• any processing causing air pollution which exceeds the level prescribed by existing provisions.
• any undertaking which collects waste oils must be subject to registration and national supervision, including possibly a system of permits;
• any undertaking which disposes of waste oils must obtain a permit.

The Directive does not authorise mixing waste oils with polychlorinated biphenlys and polychlorinated terphenyls (PCBs and PCTs) or with toxic and dangerous wastes. Any oil:

• containing PCBs or PCTs must, without exception, be destroyed;
• containing toxic or dangerous products must be destroyed.

The Commission sets the reference method of measurement for determining the PCB/PCT content of waste oils.

Member States may carry out public information and promotional campaigns to ensure that waste oils are properly collected and stored.

Member States may apply more stringent measures than those laid down in the Directives.

Every three years, Member States must produce reports on the implementation of this Directive to be used by the Commission when drafting a Community report.

Directive 75/439/EEC is repealed with effect from 12 December 2010.

References

Act	Entry into force	Deadline for transposition in the Member States	Official Journal
Directive 75/439/EEC	18.6.1975	18.6.1977	OJ L 194 of 25.1.1975

 

Amending act(s)	Entry into force	Deadline for transposition in the Member States	Official Journal
Directive 1987/101/EEC	13.1.1987	1.1.1990	OJ L 42 of 12.2.1987
Directive 91/692/EEC	23.12.1991	1.1.1993	OJ L 377 of 31.12.1991
Directive 2000/76/EC	28.12.2000	–	OJ L 332 of 28.12.2000
Directive 2008/98/EC	12.12.2008	–	OJ L 312 of 22.11.2008

RELATED ACTS

Application of legislation

Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament of 19 July 2006 on implementation of the Community waste legislation: Directive 75/442/EEC on waste, Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste, Directive75/439/EEC on waste oils, Directive 86/278/EEC on sewage sludge, Directive94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste and Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste for the period 2001-2003 [COM(2006) 406 final – Not published in the Official Journal].
According to the data provided on waste oils management, in 2003 almost 2 million tonnes of waste oils were collected, giving a collection rate of 81%. Out of this amount, 44% was regenerated while 46% was treated by combustion. Over the period 1995-2003 the total quantity of oil marketed/sold decreased by 11% All the Member States transposed the Community provisions on waste oil disposal. Most stated that they had adopted more stringent measures for environmental protection reasons. Several Member States have indicated that there was no regeneration plant on their territory. Several Member States reported constraints preventing them from giving priority to regeneration of waste oils, mainly arising from the low volume of waste oils produced and the possibility of low-cost combustion in other Member States.

Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament of 19 May 2003 on the implementation of Community waste legislation – Directive75/442/EEC on waste, Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste, Directive75/439/EEC on waste oils, Directive 86/278/EEC on sewage sludge and Directive94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste – for the period 1998-2000 [COM(2003) 250 final – Official Journal C 76 of 25.3.2004].
According to this report, the hierarchy of principles for the specific management of waste oils (regeneration, combustion and safe destruction/tipping) is not sufficiently complied with. Combustion remains the most frequently used option; regeneration is very rare within the Union. Eleven Member States apply derogations from excise duties on waste oils used as fuel. This practice is contrary to the priority given to regeneration as it encourages combustion. The average rate of waste oil collection increased during the reference period. However, 20% of this oil is still illegally dumped or burnt.

Commission Report to the Council and the European Parliament of 10 January 2000 on the implementation of Community waste legislation for the period 1995-1997 (Directives75/442/EEC,91/689/EEC,75/439/EEC and86/278/EEC) [COM(1999) 752 final – Not published in the Official Journal].
The Commission found that the hierarchy of principles for the specific management of waste oils (regeneration, combustion and safe destruction/tipping) was not sufficiently complied with. Among the eleven countries that have submitted a report, only Germany, Luxembourg and France comply with the regeneration principle. Overall, a growing use of the regeneration technique is, however, observed.

Commission Communication to the Council and the European Parliament of 23 February 1997 concerning the application of Directives75/439/EEC,75/442/EEC, 78/319/EEC and86/278/EECon waste management [COM(97) 23 final – Not published in the Official Journal].
The Commission found that Directive 75/439/EEC was only partially implemented in the Member States and that the latter had not given priority to regenerating waste oil instead of its combustion.

This summary is for information only. It is not designed to interpret or replace the reference document, which remains the only binding legal text.

Disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated terphenyls (PCTs)

This Directive lays down rules to approximate the laws of the Member States on the controlled disposal of PCBs, the decontamination or disposal of equipment containing PCBs and/or the disposal of used PCBs in order to eliminate them completely.

ACT

Council Directive 96/59/EC of 16 September 1996 on the disposal of

Polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated terphenyls

Member States must take the necessary measures to ensure that:

• used PCBs *are disposed of;
• PCBs and equipment containing PCBs are decontaminated or disposed of.

Inventories must be compiled of equipment with PCB volumes of more than 5 dm3, which Member States must send to the Commission by September 1999 at the latest. The equipment and PCBs contained in the inventories must be decontaminated or disposed of by 2010 at the latest.

These inventories must supply the following data:

• the names and addresses of the holders;
• the location and description of the equipment;
• the quantity of PCBs contained in the equipment;
• the date and types of treatment planned;
• the date of the declaration.

Any equipment which is subject to inventory must be labelled.

Member States must prohibit:

• the separation of PCBs from other substances for the purposes of reusing the PCBs;
• the topping-up of transformers with PCBs.

Member States must take the necessary measures to ensure that:

• PCBs, used PCBs and equipment containing PCBs which is subject to inventory are transferred to licensed undertakings, at the same time ensuring that all necessary precautions are taken to avoid the risk of fire;
• any incineration of PCBs or used PCBs on ships is prohibited;
• all undertakings engaged in the decontamination and/or the disposal of PCBs, used PCBs and/or equipment containing PCBs obtain permits;
• transformers containing more than 0.05% by weight of PCBs are decontaminated under the conditions specified by the Directive.

The Commission:

• fixes the reference methods of measurement to determine the PCB content of contaminated materials;
• sets the technical standards for the other methods of disposing of PCBs;
• makes available a list of the production names of capacitors, resistors and inductance coils containing PCBs;
• determines, if necessary, other less hazardous substitutes for PCBs.

Within the three years following the adoption of this Directive, Member States must draw up:

• plans for the decontamination and/or disposal of inventoried equipment and the PCBs contained therein;
• plans for the collection and subsequent disposal of equipment not subject to inventory.

Key terms of the Act
·         The acronym PCB means: ·         polychlorinated biphenyls, ·         polychlorinated terphenyls, ·         Monomethyl-tetrachlorodiphenyl methane, Monomethyl-dichloro-diphenyl methane, Monomethyl-dibromo-diphenyl methane, ·         any mixture containing any of the abovementioned substances in a total of more than 0,005 % by weight.

REFERENCES

Act	Entry into force	Deadline for transposition in the Member States	Official Journal
Directive 96/59/EC	16.9.1996	16.3.1998	OJ L 243 of 24.9.1996

 

Amending act(s)	Entry into force	Deadline for transposition in the Member States	Official Journal
Regulation (EC) No 596/2009	7.8.2009	–	OJ L 188 of 18.7.2009

The successive amendments and corrections to Directive 96/59/EC have been incorporated in the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

RELATED ACTS

Decision 2001/68/EC of the Commission of 16 January 2001 establishing two reference methods of measurement for PCBs pursuant to Article 10(a) of Council Directive 96/59/EC on the disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated terphenyls (PCBs/PCTs) [Official Journal L 23 of 25.01 2001].