reuse, recovery, and recycling
This is the principle of the Waste Framework Directive, and guidance for your processes. Municipal solid waste (MSW) regulations—both EU and your national legislation—require you to separate materials correctly at the source. If that doesn’t happen, then you’re already failing at compliance. Only high-quality materials can be fed back into the loop for reuse, recovery, or recycling.
you need data for reporting
All regulations require you to track materials. There must be complete traceability for all waste streams to meet compliance. This includes municipal waste for both households and businesses:
● Paper, glass, plastics, metals, bio-waste, textiles
● Hazardous waste
● Packaging waste – this is also covered under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation of 2025
● Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
You’ll need to document waste types, quantity, origin, destination, treatment method (reuse, recovery or recycling), collection and transport details. Data is the new barometer, and it must be traceable for audits and inspections. You’ll need this information for your report, which you’ll submit to your national authorities. Typically, this is done annually, but other mandates require more regular reporting. This depends on what your national authorities dictate.
extended producer responsibility (EPR) in municipalities
EPR reporting is done by waste producers, namely manufacturers. They also have to fund what happens to their waste. But If you’re collecting and sorting that waste, they’ll need your data.
That is, you’ll supply data to producer responsibility organisations (PROs). You’ll need to develop a good relationship with these groups. You should also make responsibilities clear for PROs and your operations in your service agreement. National authorities vary in what they require and how often reporting is needed. The UK, for example, demands reporting of large producers’ waste every six months. Check your own government guidelines.
landfill directive: what you must do
As already mentioned, 10% of municipal waste streams must be diverted from landfill by 2035. This is why proper material separation is so important. Recyclable and compostable materials are kept out of the general waste stream for processing and recovery. Mixed or contaminated waste is simply too expensive and complicated to recycle. Finally, tracking your diversion rate is absolutely essential for your reporting obligations.
get up to speed: the EU regulatory landscape: driving circularity and compliance
Are you prepared? Our whitepaper takes you through newer EU and regional regulations for municipal waste. We’ll take you through what to expect and how you can meet compliance.
best practices for municipal waste management
Sustainable waste management practices – in this context – is about optimising your operations. Keep in mind the complexity of municipal waste management. Anything you can do to create efficiencies saves costs, even with the added burden of reporting. The right software does this, while compiling reliable, accurate data to help you with compliance.
EU waste directives are too complicated to trust to outdated manual ways of working. Compliance requirements contain several layers and recording data on spreadsheets leads to errors. Data itself is a problem. Manual data collection often leaves gaps and inaccuracies, which can flag you for inspections and possible penalties.
Best practice begins with digitalisation. If you can automate your data collection, the work is done for you. In an ideal world, a single piece of software could monitor waste flows in real time. Leave you with granular insights to see where you need to improve to meet targets, and what you’re doing right. And it would provide the transparency in your reporting as required by EU municipal waste regulations.
The cloud-based AMCS Platform is an intelligent platform that rises to the challenge of EU regulations. But it’s more than just a municipal waste tracking solution. It gives you smart automation, secure data management, and scalable architecture. It monitors your progress and material flows in real time with full visibility. Regulatory requirements are built into its processes, making compliance that much easier to achieve. You can even generate mandatory reports.
The AMCS Platform does all this while optimising your operations. It integrates with AMCS Route Optimisation to give you the most efficient collection routes while supporting your own decarbonisation.
By automating route planning for waste collection, you’ll reduce fuel, mileage, and your own CO2 emissions by 25%. Cut your planning time by up to 75%. It lowers your day-to-day operational costs, improves performance, decreases missed collections, lowers cart management costs, minimizes unauthorized lifts, enhances customer satisfaction, and stops revenue leakage.
stay informed about local regulations
It’s not only EU municipal waste regulations you need to think about. Your own country has legislation inspired by EU waste directives. In some cases, this legislation is even more demanding than EU requirements – make sure you check your government’s website for details.
Data is the backbone of the circular economy—and automation is the key to unlocking it.
With accurate, real-time data collection, authorities can ensure full traceability and maintain an audit trail for all material flows. The AMCS Platform empowers municipal and residential waste operators with a complete, intuitive solution. Designed with ease of use in mind, it features a user-friendly dashboard, automated data capture, and built-in compliance tools, making regulatory reporting faster, more accurate, and stress-free.
Want to learn more? Get in touch with our team of experts to see how AMCS can support your company’s goals.