Implementation of the Waste Shipment Regulation

Expert Group on Waste

The Expert Group on Waste held discussions on shipments of waste on 13 May 2024 and and 20 June 2025.

Waste shipment correspondents

The Waste Shipment Regulation requires EU Member States and the Commission to nominate correspondents who are responsible for informing or advising persons or undertakings making enquiries related to the implementation of the Regulation.

Please find the most recently updated list of correspondents here.

In the past, correspondents had meetings where the minutes were publicly available. See here.

See below for other related documents:-

• Summary on waste carriers
• Threshold values for contaminants in "green" listed waste as established by Member States

The Digital Waste Shipment System

The Commission is working on the development of the central system for electronic submission and exchange of information and documents concerning shipments of waste. The Digital Waste Shipment System (DIWASS) will be used for the exchange of documents and information as of 21 May 2026. The system will be based on the existing IMSOC platform.

The DIWASS should be interoperable with other systems and software that are used by some competent authorities or economic operators. Requirements necessary for such interoperability are laid down in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1290 adopted on 2 July 2025.

The adoption of the act was preceded by intensive discussions within the Committee on Waste, which unanimously issued a positive opinion on the draft act. 

The Commission continues its work, in close cooperation with the Member States, to prepare the electronic exchange of waste shipment-related documents and information via DIWASS.

More information on the DIWASS and its functioning will be published at a later stage.

Green-listing of waste for shipments within the EU

One of the objectives of the new Waste Shipment Regulation is to support the transition to a circular economy in the EU by strengthening the single market for waste and facilitating shipments of waste destined for recycling between Member States. 

The Regulation contains several measures aimed at achieving this aim. Among others, it empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts:

• Green-listing certain non-hazardous waste for intra-EU shipments.
• Green-listing certain mixtures of non-hazardous waste for intra-EU shipments.
• Establishing criteria, such as contamination thresholds, based on which to differentiate between the green-listed waste and (mixtures of) waste subject to the notification procedure for intra-EU shipments. 

In order to explore the potential green-listing of certain waste, the Commission has launched a Public Consultation, seeking the views of all stakeholders on the matter. Please provide your input, underpinned by rationale, data and evidence, via the following link. 

Notification by non-OECD countries willing to receive waste

Non-OECD country authorities wishing to import waste from the EU are invited to notify the European Commission of their willingness and demonstrate their ability to treat this waste environmentally soundly, as per Annexes VIII and IX of the Regulation.

Under the waste shipment regulation, non-OECD countries willing to continue receiving waste from the EU had to submit their request to the Commission by 21 February 2025. 

In respect of the deadline, to submit a request by the end of February, requests for inclusion on the list of countries eligible to import non-hazardous waste from the EU were received from Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, El Salvador, Georgia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan¹, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Ukraine and Vietnam.

In addition, two countries have submitted their request in, respectively, June and July 2025: Lao DPR and Andorra.

Find an overview of the waste streams contained in the requests here.

Countries that have not submitted a request by 21 February 2025 can still send one to the Commission. These requests will still be considered, but there is no guarantee that their assessment will be finalised before establishing the first list of countries authorised to import waste from the EU. This first list is planned for adoption in November 2026. 

The request must be submitted by the competent national authority designated by that country. Requests can be submitted using the 'Request for Inclusion' form, which can also be found below. Requests must include detailed evidence supporting the country's claims, structured according to the form's guidance note.

This request must be submitted electronically to the following email address:- ENV-WASTE-SHIPMENTSec [dot] europa [dot] eu (ENV-WASTE-SHIPMENTS[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)

Or by registered post to the following address:-

European Commission
DG Environment – Unit B3
Avenue d’Auderghem 19
1040 Brussels
Belgium

This request and all related documentation or other communication shall be provided in English or with a translation in English.

The European Commission will assess the applications received and draw up a list of non-OECD authorities authorised to import specific waste streams from the EU. In the assessment process, the Commission may contact applicant countries to seek clarifications or request to complete the information provided.

A first list of authorised countries will be established by 21 November 2026 and exports to non-OECD countries not on the list will be prohibited. This list will be updated regularly and at least every two years.

More information can be found here.

^{1 The use of the term ‘country’ should not be interpreted as reflecting any official position of the European Union with regard to the legal status of Taiwan.}

Waste Shipment Enforcement Group

The Waste Shipment Regulation, established with its entry into force, a new EU-level group to facilitate and improve cooperation and coordination between the Member States in order to prevent and detect illegal shipments: the ‘Waste Shipment Enforcement Group’ or WSEG.

The WSEG consists of representatives of all EU Member States and the Commission, and is meant to be a forum for sharing information relevant to the prevention and detection of illegal shipments, for exchanging views on best practices, as well as for facilitating cooperation and coordination between relevant authorities.

The WSEG held its first meeting in Warsaw, Poland, from 22 to 23 May 2025.

Implementation reports

Every three years, the Commission must report on the implementation of the regulation. Please see below for prior documentation.

Guidelines

Read all correspondent guidelines.

Several Member States have published their own guidance documents for the implementation of the Waste Shipment Regulation:

IMPEL network

The cross-border shipment of waste is a key focus of IMPEL, the EU network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law. See IMPEL’s guidance on waste shipment inspection planning.