Regulations Regarding Separate Waste Collection, Preparation for Re-use, Recycling and Material Recovery

Issued pursuant to
Section 20, Paragraphs four, five and seven of the Waste Management Law

1. This Regulation prescribes:

1.1. the waste categories and the time period for separate collection of municipal waste within administrative territories of local governments;

1.2. the objectives of preparation of municipal waste, recycling and material recovery; and

1.3. the types of re-usable, recyclable or recoverable construction and building destruction waste, the amount and time period for re-use, recycling or material recovery.

2. A local government in co-operation with waste managers selected in accordance with the laws and regulations regarding waste management, shall organise separate collection of municipal waste within the administrative territory thereof according to the State waste management plan, regional waste management plans and the laws and regulations regarding sites for waste collection, sorting and composting of biodegradable waste, and by 31 December 2014 shall establish a system for separate collection of the following waste categories:

2.1. waste containing paper;

2.2. waste containing metal;

2.3. waste containing plastic;

2.4. waste containing glass.

3. Waste managers who prepare municipal waste for re-use and who recycle it shall, by 2020, ensure the preparation of waste for re-use, recycling thereof or material recovery (with the exception of energy recovery and waste recycling into materials intended for use as fuel) in the amount of 50% (by weight) of the amount of municipal waste produced in a calendar year. Achievement of this objective shall be determined as a percentage ratio between the weight of municipal waste prepared for re-use, recycled or subjected to material recovery in a calendar year, and the weight of municipal waste produced.

4. In order to assess the achievement of the objective referred to in Paragraph 3 of this Regulation, the managers referred to in Paragraph 3 of this Regulation shall determine the weight of waste prepared for re-use, recycled or subjected to material recovery.

5. Preparation of waste for recovery or disposal shall not be considered final waste recycling or other final material recovery activity.

6. Separately collected waste and waste sorted in sorting facilities that is transferred to recycling or to perform another recovery activity in which no significant reduction of the mass of waste takes place, shall be considered to be waste prepared for re-use, recycled or otherwise recovered.

7. When performing accounting of managed waste, the waste managers referred to in Paragraph 3 of this Regulation shall also ensure weight accounting of waste prepared for re-use.

8. The waste manager referred to in Paragraph 3 of this Regulation shall include in the weight of waste prepared for re-use, recycled or subjected to material recovery also the weight of waste produced in Latvia that is shipped to another European Union Member State for preparing it for re-use, recycling or subjecting it to other type of material recovery.

9. If waste is shipped to a state that is not a European Union Member State for preparing it for re-use, recycling or subjecting it to other type of material recovery, such waste shall be considered as prepared only in the case if there is valid proof of the conformity of the waste shipment with Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on shipments of waste, and in particular Article 49(2) thereof.

10. Aerobic or anaerobic treatment of biodegradable waste shall be considered as recycling if as a result of the treatment compost or digestate from anaerobic waste treatment is produced that is used according to waste recovery code R10 in accordance with the laws and regulations regarding the types of waste recovery and disposal.

11. Merchants, as a result of economic activity of which construction and building destruction waste referred to in Annex to this Regulation is produced which is not harmful in accordance with the laws and regulations regarding waste classification and characteristics making waste hazardous, shall ensure that by 2020 70% (by weight) of the total amount of construction and building destruction waste produced in a calendar year is re-used and recycled, or that recovery of the materials contained in this waste is performed, including use for backfilling operations - a waste recovery activity where suitable waste is used to fill in excavated pits or for engineering purposes in landscaping, and the waste is used to substitute other materials that are not considered waste.

12. Cabinet Regulation No. 598 of 2 August 2011, Regulations Regarding Separate Waste Collection, Preparation for Re-use, Recycling and Material Recovery (Latvijas Vēstnesis, 2011, No. 122), is repealed.

Informative Reference to the European Union Directive

This Regulation contains legal norms arising from Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives.

Acting for the Prime Minister, Minister for Welfare I. Viņķele

Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development E. Sprūdžs

Annex
Cabinet Regulation No. 184
2 April 2013

Types of Construction and Building Destruction Waste to Be Included in the Calculation of the Amount of Recovered and Produced Construction and Building Destruction Waste

The following waste shall be included in the calculation of the amount of recovered construction and building destruction waste:

1. Construction and building destruction waste marked with codes 17 01 01, 17 01 02, 17 01 03, 17 01 07, 17 02 01, 17 02 02, 17 02 03, 17 03 02, 17 04 01, 17 04 02, 17 04 03, 17 04 04, 17 04 05, 17 04 06, 17 04 07, 17 04 11, 17 05 08, 17 06 04, 17 08 02, 17 09 04 in accordance with the laws and regulations regarding waste classification and characteristics making waste hazardous.

2. Waste created as a result of mechanical treatment of construction and building destruction waste and which is marked with codes 19 12 01, 19 12 02, 19 12 03, 19 12 04, 19 12 05, 19 12 07, 19 12 09 in accordance with the laws and regulations regarding waste classification and characteristics making waste hazardous.

Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development E. Sprūdžs

Translation © 2014 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)