On the basis of Article 30, paragraph two and Article 70 of the Environmental Protection Act (Uradni list Republike Slovenije / Official Journal of the Republic of Slovenia – nos. 32/92 and 1/96) the Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning hereby issues the

RULES ON THE LANDFILL OF WASTE

Article 1

These rules determine the obligatory practices and other conditions for tipping waste and the conditions and measures in connection with the planning, construction, operation and closure of waste landfills, and also following their closure.

For issues in connection with waste which is tipped, and with the general conditions for waste disposal not specifically covered by these rules, the rules on waste management (Official Journal of the Republic of Slovenia no. 84/98) shall apply.

Article 2

For the purposes of these rules the terms used shall have the following meaning:

1. Non-hazardous wastes are wastes that are not hazardous.

2. Inert waste is waste which physically, chemically or biologically does not essentially change, degrade, burn or react in some other way chemically or physically, is not biodegradable and does not have a harmful effect on other matter on contact with it in a way which increases the burden on the environment or which is harmful to health. Total leaching and the content of pollution parameters in inert waste and the ecotoxicity of effluent waters as the hazardous property H 14 from the waste management regulations shall not endanger the quality of surface or groundwaters.

3. Municipal waste is waste from households and other waste which by its nature and composition is similar to household waste.

4. Liquid waste is any waste in liquid aggregate state including waste waters, except mud or sludge.

5. Biodegradable waste is remnants of food, kitchen waste, waste from gardens or parks, paper, cardboard or other waste which decomposes if it is exposed to anaerobic or aerobic processes of decomposition.

6. Construction waste is the mixture of materials produced in demolishing concrete, brick or stone constructions, removal of asphalt and other construction or demolition works, and waste construction material from masonry or minerals.

7. Waste of the same kind is waste of the same waste holder produced in a process without essential change or disturbance, such that the physical, chemical or biochemical properties of the waste that are significant for its disposal do not essentially change, and such waste is listed under the same group in the waste classification list.

8. Waste consignment is the quantity of wastes of the same kind which a landfill operator receives in one calendar day within the framework of one accompanying document on received waste.

9. Waste treatment is any physical, thermal, chemical or biological process, including sorting of waste, whereby the properties of waste are altered with the intention of reducing their volume or hazardous properties, easier handling of the waste or increasing the possibility of its recovery.

10. A representative sample of waste is a sample taken from a whole quantity of waste and having the same properties as the average composition of the waste which is the subject of chemical analysis.

11. A landfill waste tipping site (hereinafter: landfill) is a facility or several facilities for tipping waste into or onto the ground or underground. A landfill is also:

- a facility or part of a facility where the waste producer disposes of waste at the site of its production, and

- a permanent facility or part of a facility where waste is stored for more than one year.

A landfill is not:

- an appliance, facility or part of a facility where waste is unloaded in order to permit its preparation for further transport for recovery, treatment or disposal, or

- a waste storage facility where waste is temporarily stored for a maximum of three years prior to recovery or treatment or a maximum of one year prior to its disposal.

12. An existing landfill is a landfill which is already built or operating on the day these rules enter into force, or a landfill for which prior to the entry into force of these rules a construction permit was obtained.

13. Reconstruction of a landfill is construction and other works whereby the capacity of the landfill is increased or the type of landfill from Article 4 of these rules is changed.

14. Landfill operator is a legal or natural person that manages a landfill in compliance with regulations during the time of its operation or after its closure.

15. Waste holder is a generator of waste or a legal or natural person that has waste in their possession.

16. Tipping permit is a permit for disposal from the waste management regulations.

17. The landfill body encompasses the entirety of all tipped waste and the system of sealing the landfill bottom, covering the landfill surface, the systems for drainage of leachate and precipitation water from the surface of the landfill, the system of gas removal and other technical appliances and the side and retaining embankments and other technical constructions for ensuring the stability of the landfill body.

18. Sealing of the landfill is a technical system of appliances and measures for preventing the emission of substances into the ground, comprising sealing of the landfill bottom and a system of removal of leachate and waste waters. Combined sealing of a landfill is sealing composed of various sealants with mutually enhancing properties. Mineral sealing is an artificial seal comprising single or multi-layered condensed layers of mineral excavation material and necessary additional material.

19. Leachate is any liquid leaching out of the tipped waste or percolating through the body of the landfill and which is drained or retained within the landfill.

20. Eluate is the solution obtained through a laboratory waste leaching test.

21. Landfill gas is any gas produced from tipped waste.

22. Gas removal systems are flues, tanks and installations, as well as regulatory appliances and other technical facilities for the capturing and controlled flaring of landfill gas.

23. Active gas removal is the vacuum suction of landfill gas through artificially produced negative pressure.

Article 3

The provisions of these rules shall not apply to:

1. the placing of sludge from treatment facilities or cesspools and silt from riverbeds or lakes and similar fertiliser into or onto the ground for the purposes of fertilisation or soil quality improvement,

2. the use of inert waste as a filler in establishing a new or replacing the former state of the environment or in ensuring the stability of the landfill body, sanitary measures and other works in reconstruction of landfills or in construction,

3. depositing of sludge on the banks of a watercourse, if it was taken from the bed or subsoil of the watercourse and constitutes non-hazardous waste according to these rules,

4. depositing of materials produced in excavation of the ground for construction works, and

5. depositing of uncontaminated spoils or inert waste produced in prospecting, extraction, beneficiation, processing and storage of mineral raw materials or in open-cast excavation works.

Compulsory methods of handling and other conditions for landfill tipping of waste

Article 4

Waste may be tipped only in landfills.

Types of landfill are:

1. hazardous waste landfill,

2. non-hazardous waste landfill, or

3. inert waste landfill.

Article 5

Only treated waste may be tipped.

Irrespective of the provision of the preceding paragraph, it shall be permissible without prior treatment to tip inert waste, when its treatment is technically unfeasible, or other waste, if its treatment would not reduce its quantity or the properties that would give rise to harmful impacts on the environment or human health.

Article 6

Hazardous waste disposed of at hazardous waste landfills must fulfil the requirements for hazardous waste set out in annex 1, which is a constituent part of these rules (hereinafter: annex 1).

The following may be tipped at non-hazardous waste landfills:

- municipal waste,

- other non-hazardous waste which fulfils the requirements for non-hazardous waste from annex 1, and

- solidified or vitrified hazardous waste which in respect of leachate fulfils the requirements for non-hazardous waste from annex 1, in landfill sites where biodegradable non-hazardous waste is not tipped.

The following may be tipped at inert waste landfills:

- inert waste which fulfils the requirements for inert waste from annex 1, and

- construction waste set out in annex 2, which is a constituent part of these rules.

Article 7

The total quantity of biodegradable municipal waste which may in an individual calendar year be tipped at all landfills, is set out in annex 3, which is a constituent part of these rules.

A landfill operator may in an individual calendar year dispose of in the landfill municipal waste treated such that the proportion of biodegradable waste in it is equal to the proportion specified in the permit by the ministry competent for environmental protection (hereinafter: ministry).

In determining the proportion from the preceding paragraph the ministry shall take into account the guidelines in connection with reducing the tipping of biodegradable municipal waste from the environmental protection action programme in the area of waste management, and data on handling biodegradable municipal waste from the waste handling plan, which in compliance with regulations is enclosed by the landfill operator with the application for a tipping permit from Article 46 of these rules.

Article 8

The ministry may determine for a landfill operator for an individual calendar year such a proportion of biodegradable waste in tipped municipal waste that is equal at most to the proportion determined for the entire annual quantity of tipped municipal waste in annex 3 to these rules.

The ministry may also permit a landfill operator to tip a greater proportion of biodegradable waste in tipped municipal waste than is determined in the preceding paragraph, if on the basis of data on tipping biodegradable municipal waste at other landfills it is possible to establish that the entire annual quantity of biodegradable municipal waste disposed of at all landfills does not exceed the quantity from the first paragraph of the preceding article.

Article 9

Disposal of the following in landfills shall be prohibited:

1. waste which does not fulfil the requirements from Article 6 of these rules,

2. liquid waste, except leachate water which is returned to the landfill in a closed cycle and for which on the basis of the total water balance it is demonstrated that in the long term the landfill body cannot become saturated with water,

3. waste which, in the conditions of landfill, has the hazardous property of explosive, corrosive, oxidising, highly flammable or flammable waste, in compliance with the regulations on waste management, or waste which promotes burning,

4. vessels filled with gas under pressure,

5. substances which react violently on contact with water,

6. waste produced by health care activities, and infectious material of animal origin from veterinary or other activities, which has the hazardous property of infectious waste in compliance with the regulations on waste management,

7. laboratory waste and other chemical substances which are generated in research and development activities or in educational activities and which are not identified or are new and whose effects on humans or the environment are not known,

8. whole or shredded used tyres, except if they are used as construction material at landfills or if this involves tyres with an outside diameter greater than 1,400 mm or bicycle tyres, and

9. sludge, paste or fine-grained waste if in the conditions of landfill it may harm the functioning of the system of draining leachate and precipitation water or the stability of the landfill body.

Article 10

The mixing of waste with other substances or waste for the purpose of fulfilling the tipping requirements by dilution shall be prohibited.

Article 11

Disposing of waste in a landfill shall be permitted only if an assessment has been made of the properties of the waste that are significant for tipping (hereinafter: waste assessment).

The waste assessment must contain:

- the designation, title and description of the waste and its properties,

- an assessment of permissibility of disposing of the waste in a landfill in compliance with the provisions of Article 6 and Article 9 of these rules,

- an assessment of the anticipated consequences deriving from the properties of the tipped waste, emphasising the impact on the stability of the landfill body where this involves sludge, paste or fine-grained waste,

- a description of the prior or additional necessary treatment of waste or a justification for omitting its prior treatment, and

- findings in connection with the hazardous properties of the waste as set out in the regulations on waste management.

The waste assessment must be made in a form as set out in annex 4, which is a constituent part of these rules and upon the tipping of waste must not be more than twelve months old.

The waste assessment must be made by the waste holder surrendering the waste for tipping.

Article 12

Irrespective of the provisions of the preceding article, a waste assessment does not need to be made for:

1. waste from the same holder, if its total tipped quantity in a period of four consecutive months does not exceed 500 kg and if on the basis of available data on the waste and its visual inspection it is possible to rule out its contamination by hazardous substances;

2. waste from the same holder, if its total tipped quantity in a period of one year does not exceed 15 tons, and prior to the start of waste delivery the holder has given written confirmation that this quantity will not be exceeded in the permitted period and that the waste is not contaminated by hazardous substances, where the type, source and place of production of each consignment must be entirely known, and

3. treated municipal waste.

In cases from the preceding paragraph, the identification form must enclose a filled-in form B from annex 4 to these rules, and it must be clear from this that the waste is not contaminated by hazardous substances and has none of the hazardous properties set out in points 1.2 and 4 of this form.

Article 13

In the event of the waste holder surrendering consignments of the same kind of waste to the same landfill for a long period of time, a waste assessment must be made prior to the tipping of the first consignment surrendered, and for subsequent consignments of the same kind of waste at least once every twelve months.

Article 14

Waste assessments must be based on a chemical analysis of the waste, except for:

-separately collected fractions of municipal waste and similar waste from industry, craft establishments and service activities from the waste classification list,

-construction waste from annex 2 to these rules,

-waste set out in annex 5, which is a constituent part of these rules, and

-waste from which the taking of representative samples is not possible.

Article 15

The chemical analysis must cover all the parameters of waste contamination from form C in annex 4 to these rules, except those contained in a quantity that has no significant effect on the reactive processes at the landfill. Parameters which are not included in the chemical analysis must be cited separately.

In addition to the parameters from the preceding paragraph, the analysis must include other parameters of waste contamination if they are significant for the reactive processes at the landfill. If as a result of the source or location of production the waste is atypically contaminated by hazardous substances not listed in annex 4 to these rules, this must be cited separately in the waste assessment.

A chemical analysis of waste may not be more than four years old.

Where the taking of a representative sample is not possible because of the non-homogeneous nature of the waste, the waste assessment must be based on theoretical data and empirical values and substantiation.

If the waste is chemical residues or unused chemicals or packaging contaminated by chemicals for which a safety sheet has been made in compliance with regulations, instead of the results of chemical analysis, data on the composition of the substance from the safety sheet may be used for making a waste assessment.

Article 16

For taking samples of waste, leaching of waste, measuring the parameters of waste and the parameters of eluate within the framework of chemical analysis from the preceding article, application shall be made of procedures set out in annex 6, which is a constituent part of these rules, and test methods determined by standards from annex 6 to these rules.

In the procedures from the preceding paragraph other test methods may also be used, if the results of validation of these methods are the same as the results of validation of methods from the standards in the preceding paragraph.

The standards from the first paragraph of this article with the designations SIST ISO, SIST EN and DIN are available for inspection at the Slovenian national standardisation body, and other standards from the first paragraph of this article at the ministry.

Article 17

Taking of samples from waste and the waste assessment must be done by persons authorised by the ministry to do waste assessments.

In order to obtain authorisation, persons from the preceding paragraph must fulfil the following conditions:

1. that they are a commercial company, a public institution or independent private trader,