6.1 European Union

The member states of the European Union (EU) are subject to the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) or the Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament concerning general requirements for waste management. Established in 1975, this directive has been substantially amended with the latest revision provided in 2008. HHW is covered in article 20 of this directive, and as with previous directives, it is excluded from the definition of hazardous waste, while it is mixed with other types of household waste. The exclusion also applies when HHW has been separated from mixed household waste and remains until it has been collected properly. Under this legislation, there is no guidance to the management of HHW or legal obligation to the house owners [1, 16].

Directives exist for specific categories of hazardous waste. These documents provide some direction for member states on collection and disposal of the waste and encourage the education of householders on the importance of separating HHW from mixed municipal waste and of the collection and recycling programs that are available to them. The categories include waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), batteries and accumulators, and waste oils.

Waste oils are covered under the WFD directly in article 21. About 3 million tons of waste oil need to be managed annually in the EU that can severely damage soil and water. The directive prohibits any type of disposal that may adversely affect the environment and human health, discourages mixing of different types of waste oils, and encourages separate collection. The directives for 'batteries and accumulators' and WEEE call for accessible and free collection points and requires producers and distributors to take back waste batteries, accumulators and electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). However, while the disposal of industrial and automotive batteries and accumulators in landfills and incinerators are prohibited, no such legislation is put forth for household batteries. On the other hand, disposal of WEEE is prohibited until proper treatment has been carried out [17].
