The legal relationship between the various holders of waste

Abstract

This study tackles the definition of waste under the Waste Framework Directive. Emphasis was made on the prominence of waste as a useful resource. As opposed to past times where waste was simply perceived as a problem, nowadays, it is seen as a source of production of high economic value. Since waste is increasing in its importance, there is an ever growing demand by the holders of waste to know what their rights and responsibilities are, in relation to the waste which they come into contact with, in their daily lives. An attempt was made to explore the meaning of the phrase holder of waste, as expounded by the Waste Framework Directive. Unfortunately, the drafters of national law merely transposed the Directive into national legislation without addressing those issues which might arise under national law. One such matter is precisely in relation to such phrase. As shall be seen in the course of this thesis, there may be a number of holders of waste, who may fall within the meaning found in the Directive, but under national law, these same persons may be regulated under different legal institutes. The functions of holders of waste, under the Directive, were thoroughly analysed, after which an examination took place to determine under what institute each holder should be regulated. This study brought to the forefront a number of lacunas in our law, the most notable of which, is with regards to the question as who may be considered as owner of a particular waste when there is a transfer of waste. To provide a feasible solution to this problem, an evaluation was carried out as to how various jurisdictions, both in EU and non-EU Member States, have tackled this matter.