EU waste reporting requirements are mandatory
Reporting is a legal requirement for the commercial & industrial (C&I) and construction & demolition (C&D) waste industries. This is in addition to regional sustainability legislation. In some cases, these initiatives are even more ambitious than what the EU demands. How EU and local requirements are implemented depends on national enforcement. Note, even non-EU regions are demanding data from C&I & C&D waste businesses, so no one is exempt.
Let's briefly look at key EU waste management regulations. This is not an exhaustive list, and you also need to know your national regulations.
1. Waste Framework Directive: C&I + C&D
- Record keeping submitted to your national authority
2. Waste Statistics Regulation: C&I + C&D
- Submit data through your national digital platform
3. Waste Shipment Regulation: C&I + C&D exporting or importing waste
- Submit data through your national digital platform
4. Corporate Sustainability Reporting Initiative: C&I + C&D
- Affects large waste management companies. Follow the link to see the new definition of who’s required to report. Waste data disclosed in ESG/sustainability reports
5. Landfill Directive: C&I and C&D
- Record keeping required for audits and inspections – this legislation is creating new opportunities to reclassify waste as usable material, especially in the C&D sector. Recovered building materials can now re- enter the market, helping operators create value.
common compliance challenges
Both industries must improve EU recycling rates. This involves more effective material separation at source and recovery. Materials must be correctly classified according to EWC codes.
The theme here is data: tracking and documenting waste types, quantity, origin, destination, treatment method, and collection and transport details.
Evidence is part of compliance. Businesses still using paperwork and spreadsheets will find new requirements especially difficult to meet. Human errors are common and then there’s the threat of inaccuracies – both put you at risk for non-compliance. Reporting will also reflect fragmented data from subcontractors or facilities. This does you and your reporting no favours.
what’s at stake: consequences
Reputational damage, the loss of contracts, and legal penalties are all real possibilities if found to be non-compliant. Penalties are meted out by national authorities. The European Commission can, and have, penalised countries, but businesses are typically beholden to their country’s authorities. For serious offenses, 2024’s new European Directive calls for a minimum fine of 5% of the total annual worldwide turnover, or €40,000,000. For lesser offenses, the recommendation is 3% of annual world turnover, or €24,000,0001.
Note, C&I waste businesses will have to support clients with data for their own Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) reporting obligations. For operators, this opens the door to new commercial opportunities and service offerings.
EU regulatory landscape: driving circularity and compliance
The demands on the C&D and C&I waste industries are tightening. Find out what to expect with new EU regulations and how to prepare to meet compliance and create opportunities.
how software supports compliance
Digitalisation does what manual processes can’t: automatically track waste, types, and treatment paths in real time. Traceability is mandatory. Dashboards and analytics give sustainability teams insights into diversion rates, landfill avoidance, and emissions from waste operations.
With the right tools, compliance becomes less about obligation and more about optimisation.
how AMCS eases the compliance process
C&D and C&I waste management solutions must be in line with sustainability requirements. That’s at a bare minimum. The AMCS Platform goes further.
This is cloud-based, enterprise-grade software. It tracks and records every stage, every quantity, of a material’s life. Everything the AMCS Platform does is to help you meet regulatory requirements, and more. You can monitor performance, such as recycling rates and landfill diversion rates. Monitor where you’re falling short to gain insights into how you should adjust your processes.
The AMCS Platform ensures the structure, data integrity, and automation needed so that you're tracking the right metrics, meeting the right standards, and submitting the right reports. You can also track your own carbon emissions to help you meet your own sustainability targets.
This invaluable platform also integrates with AMCS Vision AI. This technology should be part of C&I and C&D waste management best practices. With automated material identification, it detects contamination and links it to the producer. Its material composition analysis helps you understand the granular components of the waste stream. If hazardous materials are present, you’ll know about it.
C&D waste tracking software automates the work
Construction and demolition waste regulations demand that 70% of non-hazardous waste is prepared for reuse, recovery or recycling. The right software tracks material flow—again, in real time—automating the waste classification and reporting. Everything is made visible, making compliance easier to achieve. C&D waste management best practices also become easier to implement. It’s all automated.
For C&D waste operations, the AMCS Platform addresses other industry challenges such as asset management by automating processes. It gives C&D waste businesses operational end-to-end visibility into managing waste collections, transfer stations, recycling, landfills, and material trading.
Users are already experiencing a 15–25% increase in the number of delivered full loads per vehicle with container tracking. The AMCS Platform optimises routes, reducing their mileage by 10–20% and the number of vehicles needed by 5-10%. This is how you also lower your operation’s own carbon footprint.
industrial waste compliance solutions: the role of the AMCS Platform
The C&I waste industry has a number of waste streams to track across multiple sites. It gets even more fun. National regulations have increased the number of waste streams that you have to manage. This makes your job more difficult, but robust software automates the tracking and reporting for you. A full audit trail reduces the administrative burden, giving you accurate data and documentation.
The AMCS platform provides end-to-end visibility and real-time insights across customer management, route optimisation, asset tracking, billing, and subcontractor coordination. With intelligent automation, robust analytics, and seamless digital workflows, the AMCS Platform reduces costs, eliminates paper processes, improves service, and maximises your return on assets.
This is about smart inbound and outbound logistics management. The AMCS Platform enables dynamic real-time planning and scheduling. It works with FEL-certified weighing technologies, reduces missed collections with proof of service capture, and integrates with weighbridge operations. From compliance reporting and material sales, from invoicing to brokerage, the AMCS Platform is the end-to-end solution you need for every aspect of your business.
ready to streamline your compliance?
EU waste management compliance is not as daunting as it might seem. C&I and C&D waste businesses have options to make the process easier, drive innovation, and open new revenue streams. Get to know the AMCS Platform, the automated all-in-one solution for complying with waste and recycling regulations and achieving sustainability targets.
For the C&I waste industry: AMCS Platform for Commercial & Industrial waste management
For the C&D waste industry: AMCS Platform for Commercial & Demolition waste management
Sources
1The new EU Directive 2024/1203: Extending environmental protection under criminal law in the European Union and its impact on Germany, Norton Rose Fulbright, November 2024