NETHERLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Guido Koop, Jan de Heer and Nanne Kusters, Loyens & Loeff
• from which type of business or person they accept waste, in so far as is relevant for the acceptance and control thereof; • which requirements they set for offering waste; • how they inspect the waste before receipt (mostly visual); and • how waste that deviates in an environmental hygienically relevant way from what is usual for the category concerned is treated. The operator of such site or facility is responsible for complying with these acceptance and control proce- dures. The form on which this is documented must be kept for five years. Specific regulations apply to recycling schemes where a producer of products that will undoubtedly lead to waste (glass bottles, plastic bottles, electronics) will have to take further actions, such as imposing a fee on the consumer or attribution to a recycling system. 15.3 Circular Economy Requirements European regulation on circular design is gradually taking shape: for example, under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, which will result in specific targets for product groups on the basis of del- egated acts by the Commission. First of all, textiles, apparel and footwear will be subject to additional rules to ensure sustainable design thinking, as well as reuse and recycling. There is no general obligation for a producer of waste to choose a specific type of waste processing (recy- cling, recovering or re-using). However, there are spe- cific product-related regulations that prescribe par- ticipation in a take-back system or recycle scheme: for example, in relation to batteries, some electronic appliances, some types of packaging and car tyres. 15.4 Rights and Obligations Applicable to Waste Operators The EMA contains several prohibitions and regula- tions, such as a ban on the unauthorised discarding of waste and regulations pertaining to handing over, receiving, transporting and collecting hazardous waste and industrial waste. In short, waste may only be transferred by a discharger/producer to a party that is qualified (registered or permitted) to accept and/
or transport waste. The minister, municipalities and provinces can grant exemptions from some of these prohibitions and regulations, if permitted by law. The Environmental Activities Decree qualifies sev- eral forms of waste management as environmentally harmful activities, for which different regulations apply. In general, the party that disposes of the waste is responsible for the transfer to a qualified person, and for filing (and storing) the required waste trans- fer forms. If this is not done correctly, enforcement actions can be taken for not disposing of waste in accordance with the law. 16. Environmental Disclosure and Information 16.1 Disclosure and Reporting Requirements An obligation to notify the relevant competent authori- ties of any incidents might apply, pursuant to permit conditions. There is no general obligation to report each and every (possible) incident. However, a noti- fication duty does apply in the event of calamities if such calamities could result in significant negative consequences for the physical environment. Non-disclosure or incomplete disclosure may be enforced through either administrative or criminal enforcement measures; please see 4.1 Investigative and Access Powers and 5.1 Key Types of Liabili- ty . Note that protection from self-incrimination only applies in the event of potential criminal enforcement measures, and such protection would not remove the notification duty in respect of the aforementioned calamities. Please also see 6.5 ESG Requirements and 6.6 Envi- ronmental Audits . 16.2 Public Environmental Information Under the Open Government Act ( Wet Open Overheid – WOO), information held by public bodies will (have to) be provided if it is requested in a so-called WOO request, unless an exception as provided for in the WOO applies.
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