lists have been introduced into EC Council Regulation 93/259/EEC on the supervision and control of shipments of waste.
The European waste catalogue
The initiative to create a general nomenclature for waste has been undertaken by the European Commission to develop a European Waste Catalogue (EWC). The EWC has been developed and approved (EC Decision 94/3/EC) in compliance with EC Council Directive on waste 75/442/EEC as amended by EC Directive 91/156/EEC (Framework Directive), which requires a common reference list of waste to be established across the EU Member States. Its implementation will provide a common basis for cross-referencing national lists, and facilitate the implementation of EU waste management policies. The catalogue is not meant to replace national classification schemes nor to follow strictly a single approach. Instead it should allow EU Member States to harmonise waste control systems and reporting on waste. The system classifies waste according to sources, processes and waste streams, providing the basis for producing comparable and compatible statistics on waste in EU Member States. The EU and UNECE are cooperating towards extending the catalogue to all European countries.