Recycling activities at the interface of waste legislation and REACH

When companies recycle waste and thereby make new products or secondary raw materials, they become – in legal terms – active at the interface of the REACH Regulation and the EU Waste Directive. Companies must pay attention to the requirements of both legal acts, in order to act in compliance with the law. Therefore, it is essential that the rules of the two legal acts are consistent with each other, so there are no contradictions or discrepancies. Furthermore, the European legislator must always bear in mind the consequences arising from the interaction of the law on chemicals and the law on waste. In this context, the legislator faces the problem that both laws pursue different objectives: while the law on waste aims to achieve the highest possiblerates of recycling for reasons of resource efficiency, the law on chemicals aims to ensure that the produced and distributed substances are as pure as possible and not contaminated with critical components. The importance of the topic is demonstrated by the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 7March 2013 in case C-358/11. Here, the question arose of the effects of REACH on EU waste law, if old telecommunications poles treated with wood preservative containing arsenic were used as support structure for wooden duckboards in a nature conservation area. The question of how recycling activities are to be assessed legally at the interface of the REACH Regulation and EU waste law, especially in the light of this judgment, and the problems that arise in this context shall be discussed in this article.