In 2012, Hungary enacted the CLXXXV Waste Management Act, aiming to protect human health, reduce environmental burdens, conserve natural resources, enhance resource efficiency, prevent or minimize waste generation and its harmful impacts, reuse old products, keep materials within the production-consumption cycle, maximize the utilization of materials from waste, and ensure environmentally sound treatment for non-reusable or non-recyclable waste. The core of this Act lies in the introduction of the waste hierarchy system.
The Act explicitly aligns its scope with the EU’s Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC), ensuring consistency between Hungarian national legislation and EU directives. The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) referenced in the Act is a key environmental policy framework of the EU. It requires any natural or legal person professionally engaged in product development, manufacturing, processing, treatment, sale, or import (as a product producer) to assume extended producer responsibility. Such measures may include accepting returned products and post-consumer waste residues, as well as subsequent waste management and financial responsibility for these activities. They may also entail obligations to provide public information on the extent to which products can be reused and recycled.
The general principles of waste management prioritize prevention and reduction of waste quantity and hazardousness, with emphasis on:
- Applying material- and energy-saving technologies that reduce waste generation;
- Maintaining material circulation within production and consumption processes;
- Producing products with minimal mass and volume, containing fewer pollutants and having lesser environmental impact;
- Substituting hazardous waste with safer alternatives.
In waste prevention and management, implementation must follow this order of priority, known as the waste hierarchy:
- Waste prevention;
- Preparing waste for reuse;
- Recycling waste;
- Other forms of waste recovery, particularly energy recovery;
- Environmentally sound disposal. This means avoiding waste generation is the preferred approach, while disposal is the last resort.
Additionally, the Act sets specific requirements for waste collection, trading, brokerage, and transportation. When disposing of non-recoverable waste, measures ensuring the overall best environmental outcome must be adopted. Entities handling waste must obtain appropriate permits. Waste producers, distributors, holders, and other stakeholders are required to fulfill obligations stipulated by the Act. Notably, waste classified as hazardous must not be mixed or diluted with other waste or substances without a waste management permit. Hazardous waste must not be diluted or mixed to reduce the original concentration of hazardous substances below the threshold that defines it as hazardous.
The Act also establishes penalties for non-compliant waste disposal practices, imposing fines of 10,000 Hungarian Forints (HUF) or more. These measures require all parties involved in waste management to strictly adhere to the waste hierarchy system. This approach—prioritizing prevention, followed by recycling, reuse, and finally disposal—significantly reduces resource waste, minimizes environmental and health impacts, and fulfills the legislative goal of resource conservation.
How to Respond
For specific waste-related requirements, refer to the provisions of the Act. To determine whether a product is classified as hazardous waste in Hungary:
First, correctly classify the product’s hazards according to the EU’s Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures Regulation (CLP). Then, analyze it under the Hungarian Waste Management Act. Since hazardous waste classification aligns with the EU’s Waste Framework Directive, an initial assessment can be made under the EU directive before applying the Hungarian Act.
