Waste and Secondary Raw Materials in Recent Jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union

Abstract

Judgment of 18 December 1997

"Directive 91/156/EEC “ Transposition deadline “ Effects “ Concept of waste"

THE COURT OF JUSTICE hereby delivers the following Judgment:

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By judgment of 29 March 1996, lodged at the Registry of the Court of Justice on 23 April of that year, the Conseil d’Étatof Belgium referred, pursuant to Article 177 of the EEC Treaty, two questions for a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of Articles 5 and 189 of the EEC Treaty and of Article 1(1)(a) of Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste (OJ L 194, p. 39; English Special Edition 15, Vol. I, p. 129), as amended by Council Directive 91/156/EEC of 18 March 1991 (OJ L 78, p. 32).

Those questions were raised in the context of proceedings for the annulment of the decision of the Walloon Regional Executive of 9 April 1992 concerning toxic or hazardous waste (hereinafter "the decision"), brought by the non-profit association Inter-Environnement Wallonie (hereinafter "Inter-Environnement Wallonie").