EU Launches Legal Action Against 14 Member States Over Waste Recycling Failures

The European Commission has stepped up enforcement action against 14 EU Member States for failing to meet waste recycling obligations and correctly implement key EU waste legislation. The measures include letters of formal notice and reasoned opinions covering shortcomings related to municipal waste recycling targets, packaging waste recycling, the Single-Use Plastics Directive, and the Waste Framework Directive.

The latest action affects Germany, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Czechia, Spain, Croatia, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Finland. The Commission warned that countries that fail to address the identified deficiencies could ultimately face proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

Under the Waste Framework Directive, EU Member States were required to prepare at least 50% of municipal waste for reuse and recycling by 2020. According to the Commission, Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal, and Romania all failed to achieve the target based on the latest reported data.

The Commission also found that several countries did not meet recycling targets under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. Cyprus and Portugal missed the required recycling rate for glass packaging, while Greece, Romania, and Hungary fell short of both glass and overall packaging recycling targets. Croatia failed to meet targets for glass, metals, and total packaging waste, while Malta did not achieve the required recycling rates for paper and cardboard, metals, and total packaging.

Germany, Greece, and Cyprus have now received letters of formal notice and have two months to respond. Bulgaria, Czechia, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal, and Romania had already received formal notices in July 2024, prompting the Commission to escalate their cases to reasoned opinions. If the deficiencies remain unresolved, the Commission may refer the cases to the CJEU.

The Commission said stronger implementation will be necessary as the EU moves toward higher recycling targets set for 2025, 2030, and 2035. Improving recycling performance is expected to strengthen the market for secondary raw materials, reduce dependence on imported resources, and support the bloc’s industrial competitiveness.

Separate enforcement measures were also taken against Slovakia over its implementation of the Single-Use Plastics Directive. The Commission said Slovak legislation does not fully require producers to finance waste collection, transport, treatment, litter clean-up, and awareness campaigns through extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes.

According to the Commission, tobacco producers are not required to cover waste collection costs under current Slovak law, while producers of food and beverage containers, cups, lightweight plastic carrier bags, and other single-use plastic products are not fully responsible for transport, treatment, or litter clean-up costs. Although Slovakia previously indicated it would amend the legislation following a formal notice issued in May 2025, the necessary legal changes have not yet been adopted.

Finland has also received a letter of formal notice for failing to fully transpose parts of the Waste Framework Directive into national law by the July 2020 deadline. The Commission identified shortcomings relating to the definition of municipal waste, material recovery, hazardous waste management, and exemptions from separate collection requirements.

The latest infringement actions form part of the Commission’s broader effort to improve compliance with EU environmental legislation. In recent years, the Commission has opened multiple infringement procedures against Member States over waste collection, recycling performance, packaging rules, and the implementation of sustainability-related legislation.

Separately, France remains before the Court of Justice of the European Union over its national packaging sorting logo requirements, while the Commission recently withdrew its objections to Germany’s draft Packaging Law Implementation Act after concluding that elements of the proposed legislation had been misinterpreted during the notification process.

Source: Packaging Europe

SUNSHINE Spotlight: The Commission’s latest enforcement actions highlight growing pressure on EU Member States to improve recycling performance and fully implement waste legislation as the bloc raises circular economy targets.