The European Recycling Industries’ Confederation (EuRIC) has endorsed two recent European Commission initiatives meant to streamline cross-border waste movements, while cautioning that there were technical and other issues that would need to be resolved if recyclers are to meet the "tight timeline" for the implementation of the EU's future digital waste shipment platform.
On 2 July the Commission adopted Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1290, setting out the rules for the EU's future Digital Waste Shipment System (Diwass). The IT platform is a central element of the digitalisation objectives set out under the 2024 revision of the EU Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR). Under the Regulation, Diwass will be used in place of paper documentation for intra-EU waste transfers and will be compulsory from 21 May 2026.
The Commission also launched a public consultation on adding new waste streams to the "green list" of non-hazardous wastes in the first week of July. New green list entries would allow these wastes and waste mixtures to be shipped between EU member states accompanied only by an Annex VII document instead of being subject to the full notification procedure. As part of the consultation which runs until 31 October 2025, participants can provide feedback on the classification of non-hazardous e-waste and textile mixtures as well as on appropriate contamination thresholds for clean metal scrap.
In a statement on 10 July, EuRIC "strongly welcomed" both initiatives, arguing that digitalisation and wider green-list coverage "will simplify procedures and support an EU-wide market for secondary raw materials". Nevertheless, the federation also identified three areas of concern, given the May 2026 deadline for implementing Diwass. Recyclers needed "early clarity on the system to be used", such as confirmation on whether they will be connected to a central EU hub or to one or more national systems. EuRIC also argues for "timely access to test environments", and "clear backup procedures in case of technical disruptions", especially for Annex VII submissions which were "core to daily business operations".
With regard to the consultation on harmonising green-list classifications, EuRIC was entirely positive, underlining the importance of amending the list "to ensure that non-hazardous e-waste can continue to move without notification as of 2027 to enable economies of scale for recycling critical materials such as copper, steel and plastics." The federation noted that modifying the list for other streams such as textiles was necessary "to align classifications with operational realities and facilitate treatment across member states."
