For the purposes of this Directive:

1. (a)

   ‘waste’ means any substance or object which is covered by Directive 75/442/EEC;

2. (b)

   ‘municipal waste’ means waste from households, as well as other waste which, because of its nature or composition, is similar to waste from household;

3. (c)
   ‘hazardous waste’ means any waste which is covered by Article 1(4) of Council Directive 91/689/EEC of 12 December 1991 on hazardous waste7
4. (d)

   ‘non-hazardous waste’ means waste which is not covered by paragraph (c);

5. (e)

   ‘inert waste’ means waste that does not undergo any significant physical, chemical or biological transformations. Inert waste will not dissolve, burn or otherwise physically or chemically react, biodegrade or adversely affect other matter with which it comes into contact in a way likely to give rise to environmental pollution or harm human health. The total leachability and pollutant content of the waste and the ecotoxicity of the leachate must be insignificant, and in particular not endanger the quality of surface water and/or groundwater;

6. (f)

   ‘underground storage’ means a permanent waste storage facility in a deep geological cavity such as a salt or potassium mine;

7. (g)

   ‘landfill’ means a waste disposal site for the deposit of the waste onto or into land (i.e. underground), including:

   • internal waste disposal sites (i.e. landfill where a producer of waste is carrying out its own waste disposal at the place of production), and

   • a permanent site (i.e. more than one year) which is used for temporary storage of waste,

   but excluding:

   • facilities where waste is unloaded in order to permit its preparation for further transport for recovery, treatment or dispsal elsewhere, and

   • stoarage of waste prior to recovery or treatment for a period less than three years as a general rule, or

   • storage of waste prior to disposal for a period less than one year;

8. (h)

   ‘treatment’ means the physical, thermal, chemical or biological processes, including sorting, that change the characteristics of the waste in order to reduce its volume or hazardous nature, facilitate its handling or enhance recovery;

9. (i)

   ‘leachate’ means any liquid percolating through the deposited waste and emitted from or contained within a landfill;

10. (j)

    ‘landfill gas’ means all the gases generated from the landfilled waste;

11. (k)

    ‘eluate’ means the solution obtained by a laboratory leaching test;

12. (l)

    ‘operator’ means the natural or legal person responsible for a landfill in accordance with the internal legislation of the Member State where the landfill is located; this person may change from the preparation to the after-care phase;

13. (m)

    ‘biodegradable waste’ means any waste that is capable of undergoing anaerobic or aerobic decomposition, such as food and garden waste, and paper and paperboard;

14. (n)

    ‘holder’ means the producer of the waste or the natural or legal person who is in possession of it;

15. (o)

    ‘applicant’ means any person who applies for a landfill permit under this Directive;

16. (p)

    ‘competent authority’ means that authority which the Member States designate as responsible for performing the duties arising from this Directive;

17. (q)

    ‘liquid waste’ means any waste in liquid form including waste waters but excluding sludge;

18. (r)

    ‘isolated settlement’ means a settlement:

    • with no more than 500 inhabitants per municipality or settlement and no more than five inhabitants per square kilometre and,

    • where the distance to the nearest urban agglomeration with at least 250 inhabitants per square kilometre is not less than 50 km, or with difficult access by road to those nearest agglomerations, due to harsh meteorological conditions during a significant part of the year.

Each landfill shall be classified in one of the following classes:

• landfill for hazardous waste,

• landfill for non-hazardous waste,

• landfill for inert waste.

Member States shall take measures in order that:

1. (a)

   only waste that has been subject to treatment is landfilled. This provision may not apply to inert waste for which treatment is not technically feasible, nor to any other waste for which such treatment does not contribute to the objectives of this Directive, as set out in Article 1, by reducing the quantity of the waste or the hazards to human health or the environment;

2. (b)

   only hazardous waste that fulfils the criteria set out in accordance with Annex II is assigned to a hazardous landfill;

3. (c)

   landfill for non-hazardous waste may be used for:

   1. (i)

      municipal waste;

   2. (ii)

      non-hazardous waste of any other origin, which fulfil the criteria for the acceptance of waste at landfill for non-hazardous waste set out in accordance with Annex II;

   3. (iii)

      stable, non-reactive hazardous wastes (e.g. solidified, vitrified), with leaching behaviour equivalent to those of the non-hazardous wastes referred to in point (ii), which fulfil the relevant acceptance criteria set out in accordance with Annex II. These hazarouds wastes shall not be deposited in cells destined for biodegradable non-hazardous waste,

4. (d)

   inert waste landfill sites shall be used only for inert waste.

Member States shall take measures in order that the application for a landfill permit must contain at least particulars of the following:

1. (a)

   the identity of the applicant and of the operator when they are different entities;

2. (b)

   the description of the types and total quantity of waste to be deposited;

3. (c)

   the proposed capacity of the disposal site;

4. (d)

   the description of the site, including its hydrogeological and geological characteristics;

5. (e)

   the proposed methods for pollution prevention and abatement;

6. (f)

   the proposed operation, monitoring and control plan;

7. (g)

   the proposed plan for the closure and after-care procedures;

8. (h)
   where an impact assessment is required under Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment8, the information provided by the developer in accordance with Article 5 of that Directive;
9. (i)

   the financial security by the applicant, or any other equivalent provision, as required under Article 8(a)(iv) of this Directive.

Following a successful application for a permit, this information shall be made available to the competent national and Community statistical authorities when requested for statistical purposes.

Member States shall take measures in order that:

1. (a)

   the competent authority does not issue a landfill permit unless it is satisfied that:

   1. (i)

      without prejudice to Article 3(4) and (5), the landfill project complies with all the relevant requirements of this Directive, including the Annexes;

   2. (ii)

      the management of the landfill site will be in the hands of a natural person who is technically competent to manage the site; professional and technical development and training of landfill operators and staff are provided;

   3. (iii)

      the landfill shall be operated in such a manner that the necessary measures are taken to prevent accidents and limit their consequences;

   4. (iv)

      adequate provisions, by way of a financial security or any other equivalent, on the basis of modalities to be decided by Member States, has been or will be made by the applicant prior to the commencement of disposal operations to ensure that the obligations (including after-care provisions) arising under the permit issued under the provisions of this Directive are discharged and that the closure procedures required by Article 13 are followed. This security or its equivalent shall be kept as long as required by maintenance and after-care operation of the site in accordance with Article 13(d). Member States may declare, at their own option, that this point does not apply to landfills for inert waste;

2. (b)

   the landfill project is in line with the relevant waste management plan or plans referred to in Article 7 of Directive 75/442/EEC;

3. (c)

   prior to the commencement of disposal operations, the competent authority shall inspect the site in order to ensure that it complies with the relevant conditions of the permit. This will not reduce in any way the responsibility of the operator under the conditions of the permit.

Specifying and supplementing the provisions set out in Article 9 of Directive 75/442/EEC and Article 9 of Directive 96/61/EC, the landfill permit shall state at least the following:

1. (a)

   the class of the landfill;

2. (b)

   the list of defined types and the total quantity of waste which are authorised to be deposited in the landfill;

3. (c)

   requirements for the landfill preparations, landfilling operations and monitoring and control procedures, including contingency plans (Annex III, point 4.B), as well as provisional requirements for the closure and after-care operations;

4. (d)

   the obligation on the applicant to report at least annually to the competent authority on the types and quantities of waste disposed of and on the results of the monitoring programme as required in Articles 12 and 13 and Annex III.

Member States shall take measures in order that control and monitoring procedures in the operational phase meet at least the following requirements:

1. (a)

   the operator of a landfill shall carry out during the operational phase a control and monitoring programme as specified in Annex III;

2. (b)

   the operator shall notify the competent authority of any significant adverse environmental effects revealed by the control and monitoring procedures and follow the decision of the competent authority on the nature and timing of the corrective measures to be taken. These measures shall be undertaken at the expense of the operator.

   At a frequency to be determined by the competent authority, and in any event at least once a year, the operator shall report, on the basis of aggregated data, all monitoring results to the competent authorities for the purpose of demonstrating compliance with permit conditions and increasing the knowledge on waste behaviour in the landfills;

3. (c)

   the quality control of the analytical operations of the control and monitoring procedures and/or of the analyses referred to in Article 11(1)(b) are carried out by competent laboratories.

Member States shall take measures in order that, in accordance, where appropriate, with the permit:

1. (a)

   a landfill or part of it shall start the closure procedure:

   1. (i)

      when the relevant conditions stated in the permit are met; or

   2. (ii)

      under the authorisation of the competent authority, at the request of the operator; or

   3. (iii)

      by reasoned decision of the competent authority;

2. (b)

   a landfill or part of it may only be considered as definitely closed after the competent authority has carried out a final on-site inspection, has assessed all the reports submitted by the operator and has communicated to the operator its approval for the closure. This shall not in any way reduce the responsibility of the operator under the conditions of the permit;

3. (c)

   after a landfill has been definitely closed, the operator shall be responsible for its maintenance, monitoring and control in the after-care phase for as long as may be required by the competent authority, taking into account the time during which the landfill could present hazards.

   The operator shall notify the competent authority of any significant adverse environmental effects revealed by the control procedures and shall follow the decision of the competent authority on the nature and timing of the corrective measures to be taken;

4. (d)

   for as long as the competent authority considers that a landfill is likely to cause a hazard to the environment and without prejudice to any Community or national legislation as regards liability of the waste holder, the operator of the site shall be responsible for monitoring and analysing landfill gas and leachate from the site and the groundwater regime in the vicinity of the site in accordance with Annex III.

Member States shall take measures in order that landfills which have been granted a permit, or which are already in operation at the time of transposition of this Directive, may not continue to operate unless the steps outlined below are accomplished as soon as possible and within eight years after the date laid down in Article 18(1) at the latest:

1. (a)

   with a period of one year after the date laid down in Article 18(1), the operator of a landfill shall prepare and present to the competent authorities, for their approval, a conditioning plan for the site including the particulars listed in Article 8 and any corrective measures which the operator considers will be needed in order to comply with the requirements of this Directive with the exception of the requirements in Annex I, point 1;

2. (b)

   following the presentation of the conditioning plan, the competent authorities shall take a definite decision on whether operations may continue on the basis of the said conditioning plan and this Directive. Member States shall take the necessary measures to close down as soon as possible, in accordance with Article 7(g) and 13, sites which have not been granted, in accordance with Article 8, a permit to continue to operate;

3. (c)

   on the basis of the approved site-conditioning plan, the competent authority shall authorise the necessary work and shall lay down a transitional period for the completion of the plan. Any existing landfill shall comply with the requirements of this Directive with the exception of the requirements in Annex I, point 1 within eight years after the date laid down in Article 18(1);

4. (d)
   1. (i)

      within one year after the date laid down in Article 18(1), Articles 4, 5, and 11 and Annex II shall apply to landfills for hazardous waste;

   2. (ii)

      within three years after the date laid down in Article 18(1), Article 6 shall apply to landfills for hazardous waste.

The Commission shall publish a Community report on the implementation of this Directive within nine months of receiving the reports from the Member States.

Measures necessary to adapt the Annexes to this Directive to scientific and technical progress and to establish the standardisation of control, sampling and analysis methods in relation to the landfill of waste shall be adopted by the Commission, assisted by the Committee established by Article 18 of Directive 2006/12/EC. Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive, inter alia , by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 17(3). To this end, as regards Annex II, the Committee shall take into account the general principles and general procedures for testing and acceptance criteria set out in Annex II and shall set specific criteria and/or test methods and associated limit values for each class of landfill, including if necessary specific types of landfill within each class, including underground storage.

The Commission shall, in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 17(2), adopt, and when necessary amend, provisions for the harmonisation and regular transmission of the statistical data referred to in Articles 5, 7 and 11.

This Directive will enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.