Eight European associations from the recycling and waste management, glass, copper and plastics industries had called at the end of January for an additional transition period for the digitalisation of administrative procedures related to transfrontier shipments of waste.
Five more organisations have now joined that appeal in a new letter to EU Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall. They represent the European steel industry (Eurofer), the non-ferrous metals sector (European Metals), the paper and pulp industry (CEPI), extended producer responsibility systems for packaging (Expra) and plastics recovery systems (EPRO).
In the new letter, the 13 signatories repeat their call for postponing the mandatory use of the new Diwass (Digital Waste Shipment System) platform for the digital exchange of documents. The European Commission and the member states should agree that, during a transition period of at least one year, alternative means of providing documents should continue to be permitted.
Under the EU Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR), the mandatory use of the system will take effect on 21 May. However, the European Commission, as operator of the platform, has fallen behind schedule with the technical preparations for the launch, and various questions surrounding its use remain unresolved.
The associations also renewed their call to repeal the requirement to submit the Annex VII form for shipments not subject to the notification procedure two working days before the start of the transport. In their view, this deadline is impractical and imposes disproportionate logistical constraints and administrative burdens on operators. They also argue that it should be permissible to enter estimated waste quantities before departure and only add the actual quantities after weighing at the recipient facility.
