The Moldovan authorities sent a letter to the European Commission for correcting the mistakes made earlier and for adjusting the list of waste that can be exported from European Union to Moldova. Details about the export of waste from the EU to Moldova were made by the Ministry of Environment following public discussions on the issue, IPN reports.
In accordance with the European Union’s legislation on the export of particular waste intended for recovery, the list of waste and of countries to which this can be exported is periodically subject to review. The EU’s decision to add or remove particular types of waste is based on the national legislations concerning the waste import and processing regime.
In the spring of 2019, by order of the European Commission, a study was carried out to adjust the list. Then the Republic of Moldova presented relevant information asked by the experts. However, a mistake was made in the process of compiling the list by the international experts and the provisions of the law on waste, which allow for exceptions on the import of particular categories of waste into the Republic of Moldova, weren’t included as exceptions in Annexes III and III-A of the European Commission’s Regulations.
Moldova’s law on waste stipulates that the import of waste and residues of any kind is banned, except for the categories of waste presented in Annex No. 7, including glass, cardboard and scarp iron.
The European Commission’s Regulations took effect last November and the export of particular categories of waste to the EU was stopped. Information for adjusting the Regulations was furnished by over 80 states.
The Regulations provide that waste imported from the EU into Moldova can be processed only by companies holding environmental authorizations. This authorization is issued by the Environment Agency of the Republic of Moldova. Respectively, the companies that do not comply will be unable to import and process particular categories of waste, even if the corrections to the Regulations are approved by the European Commission and the export of scrap iron is permitted.
