In Germany and in other EU countries, transboundary shipments of waste are regulated by Regulation (EC) No. 1013/2006 on shipments of waste.

The Regulation (EC) No. 1013/2006 implements international obligations, in particular those arising from the Basel Convention of 1989 on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal, as well as the OECD Council Decision on the control of transboundary movements of wastes destined for recovery operations.

On 11 April 2024, Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 on shipments of waste was adopted. It replaces Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 and will apply in its essential parts from 21 May 2026.

At national level in Germany, the German Waste Shipment Act (Abfallverbringungsgesetz) supplements the directly applicable European Waste Shipment Regulation.

All relevant legal provisions are available for download on the website of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN).

Shipments of wastes to other countries are subject to variously strict requirements depending on which wastes are involved, which disposal methods are planned, and which countries are involved.

Non-hazardous wastes of the so-called “green list” (Regulation (EC) No. 1013/2006, annexes III, IIIA, and IIIB), which are destined for recovery, are only subject to the “general information requirements” of Art. 18 of Regulation (EC) No. 1013/2006 when shipped within the EU. This means that a prescribed document (Regulation (EC) No. 1013/2006, Annex VII) must accompany each transport. In addition, the person who arranges the shipment and the consignee must conclude a contract for recovery before the shipment starts.

When exporting green-listed waste to non-EU countries, special provisions must be observed. These may require a notification or may prohibit the shipment altogether.

When shipped within the EU, wastes for which a notification is required are subject to the procedure of “prior written notification and consent” (Regulation (EC) No. 1013/2006, Art. 4 et al.). This means that before such wastes may be shipped transboundary, a notification request must be submitted to the authority of dispatch (to notify = to announce). The transport may take place only if all the competent authorities concerned consent to the intended shipment. All wastes for disposal, wastes for recovery on the so-called “yellow list” (Regulation (EC) No. 1013/2006, Annexes IV and IVA), as well as all unlisted wastes and waste mixtures are considered subject to the notification obligation.

When exporting waste subject to notification from the EU or importing such waste into the EU, special provisions must be observed. In particular, shipment prohibitions apply to certain wastes and certain countries.

From 21 May 2026, the revised Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 on shipments of waste will apply in its essential parts and will replace Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006. As an EU Regulation, the Regulation (EC) No. 1013/2006 is directly applicable in every Member State. This also applies to the new electronic system for waste shipments established in Article 27 in conjunction with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1290.

All actors involved in transboundary shipments will be required to use the central electronic system operated by the European Commission (DIgital WAste Shipment System – DIWASS) from 21 May 2026 on. This applies both to shipments subject to the notification procedure and to shipments subject to general information requirements. From that date onwards, all Annex VII documents, notifications and movement documents, the related documentation, as well as declarations, confirmations and decisions relating to such shipments, must be submitted digitally via DIWASS (exception: notifications for which an acknowledgement of receipt was issued before 21 May 2026). Waste management operators in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are free to choose whether to use the European DIWASS website or interoperable software for this purpose.

The technical implementation of DIWASS in Germany is being coordinated by the Working Group of the Federal States on Joint Waste IT Systems – Länderarbeitsgruppe Gemeinsame Abfall-DV-Systeme (LAG GADSYS) in coordination with the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN). The LAG GADSYS website provides regularly updated information on the status of implementation and on the necessary preparations to be undertaken by waste management operators, such as the registration of sites involved in shipments and the establishment of the required access credentials.

In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the State Agency for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Geology – Landesamt für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Geologie (LUNG) is responsible for site registrations and user authorisations. We will provide information here as soon as the technical systems are activated for the submission of corresponding applications.

Further information:

EU: https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/waste-shipments/implementation-waste-shipment-regulation_en

LAG GADSYS: https://www.gadsys.de/abfallverbringungsverordnung

EORI number: https://www.zoll.de/DE/Fachthemen/Zoelle/EORI-Nummer/eori-nummer_node.html

National Business Identification Number – Bundeseinheitliche Wirtschaftsnummer (at the bottom of the page): https://www.bundesumweltministerium.de/GE1040

Electronic numbering service – Elektronisches Nummernvergabeverfahren (eNRV): https://www.gadsys.de/nachweisverordnung/vergabe-von-behoerdlichen-betriebsnummern

EU-Login: https://trusted-digital-identity.europa.eu/index_en

In Germany, decisions concerning the export and import of wastes have been delegated to the federal states (Waste Shipment Act, sec 14). In the case of export, the competent authority is the authority of the federal state in whose territory the shipment of the waste starts. In the case of import, the decisive factor is the place where the waste is to be recovered or disposed of for the first time. The Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt) is responsible for transit through Germany.

Since 1 June 2006, the State Agency for Environment, Nature Conservation and Geology (Landesamt für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Geologie, Section 540) has been the competent authority for transboundary shipments of waste from and to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.