EC Framework Directive on Waste and the Landfill Directive

The EC Framework Directive on Waste and the more recent Landfill Directive, set out a common framework for action on waste by individual countries within the European Community. The Framework Directive aims at a strategic approach to waste management that protects human health and the environment by establishing an integrated and adequate network of waste facilities. To achieve this, member states are required to produce waste management plans, setting out their abilities and capacities to manage their own waste arisings, using such networks of facilities. These will enable the EC to be self-sufficient and to deal with waste as close as possible to its point of origin. The aim is also to minimise waste production and to recover as much as possible of the waste produced through recycling, recovery and reuse. This Directive is implemented through the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997.