The European Court of Justice has ruled that authorities in EU member states cannot halt waste shipments to other EU countries unless they can prove risk of harm to the environment or to health.
The court confirmed that national authorities have the legal right to object to trans-border shipments of waste destined for recycling if treatment standards in the receiving country are lower than those prevailing domestically. However, it insisted that the national authority must demonstrate ‘the risks to human health and the environment which recovery in the state of destination would entail’.
The case was referred to the European Court of Justice after Danish waste collector Marius Pedersen challenged his environment agency’s refusal to authorise a shipment of electronic waste to a German treatment facility.
