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The European Commission's report on management of municipal waste in the European Union grades waste management in all Member States according to 18 criteria. Given the significant amount of waste generated per person in the European Union as a whole, some of the criteria considered in this ranking include aspects such as the development of waste prevention programs, the existence of pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) systems or the implementation of certain prohibitions and restrictions on landfill waste disposal. One of the criteria also considers the degree of compliance with the European Landfill Directive and ongoing procedures for violations in this regard.

On the top of the table are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden which show better urban waste management policies. While none of these countries has more than two red flags, on the opposite side of the table the situation is completely different. The countries with the biggest deficiencies are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. These deficiencies include the lack of prevention policies in waste generation, lack of incentives to find alternative destinations to landfill as well as the lack of adequate management infrastructure.

A number of Member States have made rapid progress from reliance on landfilling to its virtual elimination. But even the best performers face a number of challenges such as stepping up waste prevention and addressing overcapacity in the incineration sector. Many of these cause that valuable resources are not being used and potential economic benefits are being lost.

With this European table the European Commission will prepare Roadmaps for the ten countries showing worst performance and will initiate bilateral dialogues in order to improve their situations. These Roadmaps will include a series of country-specific recommendations to improve waste management systems using the available legal and administrative tools as well as European Structural Funds.