Government Ordinance (OG) no. 2 on waste storage was published in the Official Gazette, Part I, no. 794 of August 18, 2021.
The purpose of this ordinance is to establish the legal framework for waste disposal, by reducing the Government Ordinance on the disposal of waste that can be recycled or recovered and introducing measures to prevent and reduce negative effects on the environment and public health.
Initially, it was a draft law that was transformed into a draft ordinance of the Government, in order to faster transpose into legislation the European Directive 850/2018. It was to be transposed by July 5, 2020, and this was initially intended by a bill, but the move would have delayed things even further.
We specify that these radical measures will take place only in 2030. The main reason for changing the regulatory framework is the emergence of a new European directive in the field, which had to be transposed a year ago.
The main purpose of the Government Ordinance no. 2/2021 is to avoid, as much as possible, the collection of waste, in landfills, in order to be disposed of.This will apply, especially, in situations where the waste can be recycled or otherwise recovered.
It is important to mention that the Government Ordinance no. 2/2021 repeals, once it enters into force (August 21), the Government Decision no. 349/2005 regarding the storage of waste, and any reference made in another normative act to this decision will be considered made to the Government Ordinance no.2 / 2021. „The administrative and normative acts issued based on the Government Decision no. 349/2005, with subsequent amendments and completions, remain valid until the entry into force of normative and administrative acts with the same regulatory object that will be adopted under this ordinance “, also provides Government Ordinance 2/2021, as well as that its reports the legal situations born under the regulation of the Government Decision 349 started and not fulfilled at the date of entry into force of the law are entirely subject to the legal provisions that established them.
Like the Government Decision 349/2005, and the Government Ordinance 2/2021 aims to prevent the negative effects of waste storage on the environment.
Like the old normative framework, the new waste ordinance targets those who have waste storage activity, especially those industrial economic operators with intense activity.
The national waste management plan, hereinafter referred to as PNGD, approved by Government Decision no. 942/2017, establishes measures for separate collection, recycling, composting, mechano-biological treatment, biogas production and / or recycling of materials and energy recovery that to lead to the achievement of the objective of reducing the amount of municipal biodegradable waste stored to 35% of the total quantity, expressed gravimetrically, produced in 1995.
The central public administration authority for environmental protection shall inform the European Commission of the national measures mentioned above.
Waste that is not accepted for storage in a landfill is:
- liquid waste;
- explosive, corrosive, oxidising, highly flammable or flammable waste, as defined in accordance with the national provision transposing Annex III to Directive 2008/98 / EC on waste and repealing certain Directives;
- hazardous medical waste or other hazardous clinical waste from medical or veterinary units owned by HP 9, defined in accordance with the national provision transposing Annex III to Directive 2008/98 / EC on waste and repealing certain Directives and other substances chemicals resulting from research, development or education that are not identified and / or are new and whose adverse effects on the environment or human health are not known, such as laboratory residues;
- all types of used tires, whole or cut, excluding tires used for construction in a warehouse;
- any other type of waste that does not satisfy the acceptance criteria provided in point 2 of annex no. 2;
- waste which has been collected separately for preparation for re-use and for recycling, pursuant to Article 11 (1) and Article 22 of Directive 2008/98 / EC on waste and repealing certain Directives, with the exception of waste from subsequent treatment of separately collected waste for which disposal by disposal produces the best result in terms of the environment, in accordance with Article 4 of Directive 2008/98 / EC.
According to Article 7 of Government Ordinance 2/2021, the central public administration authority for environmental protection proposes appropriate measures to promote the reuse of products and activities for their preparation for reuse, so that starting with 2030 no waste will be accepted in landfills which may be recycled or otherwise recovered, in particular in the case of municipal waste, with the exception of waste for which disposal results in the best environmental performance in accordance with Article 4 of Directive 2008/98 / EC on waste and repealing certain directives.
The requirements and operational and technical measures for waste storage in order to prevent or reduce as much as possible the negative effects on the environment and human health, generated by waste storage, throughout the operation of a landfill, are contained in the Technical Regulation on waste storage, approved by the Order of the Minister of Environment and Water Management no. 757/2004, with the subsequent modifications and completions, which is revised according to the modification of the national and European legislative provisions and of the technical-economic conditions.
Thus, according to the above, an important change is the prohibition of waste storage, if it can be recycled or recovered in another way, especially municipal waste (it is mainly those wastes collected from households). However, this will not become the norm until 2030.
Also in this context, the local authorities will be obliged, by 2035, to take measures so that the maximum number of waste disposed of by storage is at most 10% of the total municipal waste generated. But this term, under certain conditions, may be postponed.
The Government Ordinance no. 2/2021 also refers to measures to stimulate a circular economy (in essence, the circular economy refers to the development of economic and human activities, so as to avoid waste and resources to be reused; it becomes clear, in this context, why the considerable reduction of landfills is pursued).
Apart from the first article, which establishes the main objectives of the future ordinance, the new normative act contains only one reference to the measures taken to ensure the stimulation of a circular economic activity, by establishing the fact that the relevant environmental authorities will take measures in this regard. But Government Ordinance 2 refers to European Directive 98/2008, which contains a list of measures that can be taken to stimulate a circular economy. For example:
– promoting ecodesign (systematic integration of environmental aspects in product design in order to improve their environmental performance throughout their life cycle);
– organizing awareness campaigns or granting financial aid, in making decisions or other types of support for enterprises;
– economic instruments, such as incentives for clean purchases or the establishment of a mandatory payment by consumers for a certain item or packaging that would normally be provided free of charge, etc.
We emphasize that the companies generating industrial waste and operating their own landfills will have to highlight more costs in the accounting records than has been the case so far.
The document also states that it will be mandatory to highlight the costs of post-closure monitoring of the landfill, including costs for environmental guarantee and closure fund, based on a program established by agreement with the county agency for environmental protection or the National Agency for Environmental Protection.
The owner / operator of the landfill will be able to review the technical project for closing the landfill (which will have to provide measures for closing and post-closure monitoring of the landfill), in the following situations:
– the pollution produced by the deposit will be significant, so that it will be necessary to review the technical solutions provided in the initial project;
– substantial changes in the best available techniques will make it possible to significantly reduce the impact on the environment;
– the safety in operation of the processes or activities will require the use of other techniques;
– the provisions of new legal regulations will impose it.
Another important aspect contained in Government Ordinance 2/2021 refers to the fact that the environmental agreement and authorization for landfills will no longer be granted if the applicant does not prove the establishment of a closure fund and a financial guarantee, in this regard.
These two obligations still exist today, but the current normative framework conditions (even if indirectly) the issuance of the environmental permit only by the proof of the establishment of the financial guarantee.
In fact, the establishment of the fund, according to the Government Decision 349/2005, becomes mandatory only after receiving the environmental permit. “The environmental financial guarantee is constituted before the start of the storage activity, in the form of a letter of bank guarantee or other guarantee instrument, corresponding to the value of the works established by the technical project of the deposit or by depositing a percentage of 10% of the value of the works established by the project. of the deposit, in an account at the disposal of the Administration of the Environmental Fund, which constitutes a specific fund, having as destination the financing of projects on waste management, in accordance with the provisions of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 196/2005 on the Environmental Fund ”, according to the new provisions.
Moreover, Government Ordinance 2/2021 introduces an additional sanction for non-compliance with the obligations regarding the closure fund – suspension of the effects of the environmental permit / integrated environmental permit.
The fund is not mandatory only at the time of requesting the authorization, it must be funded quarterly. In such situations, for non-compliance with the ordinance, there will be a risk of suspending the activity of the person operating the landfills.
It is important to mention that the main targets of the new document are the companies that have industrial activity and have their own landfills, as well as the landfill operators, which offer services to third parties.
Another project seeks to increase fines for abandoning or disposing of waste, outside the authorized spaces.
Legal basis:
– Directive 850/30-May-2018 amending Directive 1999/31 / EC on landfills;
– Government Ordinance (OG) 2/2021 on waste storage.