Landfill Directive

1999 European Union directive

The Landfill Directive, more formally Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999, is a European Union directive which regulates waste management of landfills in the European Union. It was to be implemented by EU Member States by 16 July 2001. Directive (EU) 2018/850 amended the 1999 directive with effect from 5 July 2020. The Directive's overall aim is "to prevent or reduce as far as possible negative effects on the environment, in particular the pollution of surface water, groundwater, soil and air, and on the global environment, including the greenhouse effect, as well as any resulting risk to human health, from the landfilling of waste, during the whole life cycle of the landfill". This legislation also has important implications for waste handling and waste disposal.

Member States must report to the European Commission every three years on the implementation of the Directive. According to the Directive, the amount of biodegradable municipal waste must be reduced to 50% in 2009 and to 35% in 2016 (compared to 1995 levels). In 2009, 10 years after the enactment of the Landfill Directive, the European Environment Agency published a report, which closely analysed the progress on implementing the Directive in the Member States. Its close analysis focuses on five countries and one sub national region: Estonia, Finland, the Flemish Region of Belgium, Germany, Hungary and Italy. According to this report, significant progress has been made, largely due to two core factors:
setting medium and long term targets for reducing landfilling enabled Member States to define waste strategies and monitor their progress continuously. the directive's flexibility allowed Member States to try out different policies and adapt and adjust approaches "to match national and regional realities".