Summary

In the field of waste, modern environmental law must tackle two seemingly contradictory challenges at the same time: it must protect people and the environment against risks arising from waste as much as possible, while simultaneously enabling the use of waste as a resource to the largest possible extent. On the one hand, a broad approach to the concept of waste helps to protect people and the environment because it allows public authorities to monitor what happens with waste to the greatest possible extent. However, in the same way that surveillance activities in criminal proceedings extensively infringe upon the rights of individuals, a concept of waste that is too broad may prevent the goals of a circular economy from being achieved. The article examines this problem in the context of the definition of waste, the concepts of by-products and end-of-waste status, and a few recent court decisions.