Cross-border waste transport in Italy: what to know

The National Register of Environmental Operators was established by Legislative Decree 152/06 succeeding to the National Register of Waste Operators governed by Legislative Decree 22/97. Its main task is to control and manage the waste sector by requiring waste transport companies to register themselves.

According to the Article 212, paragraph 5 of Legislative Decree No 152 of 3 April 2006, basing on their activity and the types of waste managed, the categories of companies and entities which must be registered in the Register are identified as follows:

• companies carrying out waste collection and transport activities;
• companies carrying out site remediation activities;
• companies carrying out activities for the reclamation of goods containing asbestos;
• companies carrying out waste trading and intermediation activities without holding the waste itself;
• companies carrying out cross-border waste transportation within the Italian territory (Article 194, paragraph 3 of Legislative Decree 152/2006).

Therefore, the registration on the National Register is a prerequisite for performing these functions.

However, there are also some simplified registering envisaged procedures for:

• enterprises and entities that are the initial producers of non-hazardous waste that carry out collection and transport operations of their own waste, as well as the initial producers of hazardous waste that carry out collection and transport operations of their own hazardous waste in quantities not exceeding thirty kilograms or thirty litres per day, pursuant to Article 212, paragraph 8 of Legislative Decree 152/2006;
• companies carrying out the collection and transport of waste electrical and electronic equipment pursuant to Decree no. 65 of the Minister of the Environment and Protection of the Territory and the Sea, in agreement with the Ministers of Economic Development and Health, of 8 March 2010;
• special public companies, consortia of municipalities and management companies of public services pursuant to Legislative Decree No 267 of 18 August 2000, for the management services of urban waste produced in the same municipalities.

Furthermore, according to the Article 1(124) of Law No 124 of 4 August 2017 and the Decree of the Ministry of the Environment of 1 February 2018, two more categories which falls into simplified procedure are established for:

• companies that carry out collection and transport of non-hazardous waste consisting of ferrous and non-ferrous metals;
• voluntary associations and religious bodies that intend to carry out the occasional collection and transport of non-hazardous waste consisting of ferrous and non-ferrous metals from urban areas.

These types of undertakings mentioned above are divided into ten categories as provided for in Article 8, Ministerial Decree 120/2014.

Overall, for all the companies or entities which want to register themselves, there are few register requirements that must be fulfilled:

• be registered in the Companies Register, REA or, if based abroad, in the professional register of the State of residence;
• not be in a state of bankruptcy or liquidation or be subject to bankruptcy proceedings or any other equivalent situation under foreign law;
• be in compliance with obligations relating to the payment of social security and welfare contributions for workers, according to Italian legislation or that of the State of residence.

Furthermore, the registration must be submitted to the section of the Region or Province in whose territory the registered office is located. Companies or entities with a registered office abroad must submit the application to the regional or provincial section in whose territory their secondary office or domicile is located.

It is possible to get the registration forms which has to be filled in by the owner of the sole proprietorship or the legal representative, online on the Invio telematico (camcom.it) website.

For registration, the applicant enterprise must:

• comply with a set of subjective requirements common to all registration categories;
• demonstrate technical suitability and financial capacity (for categories 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 only);
• provide a financial guarantee in the form of a bank surety (for categories 1, 5, 8, 9 and 10 only).
• appoint a Technical Manager who meets the professional and subjective requirements laid down by the National Committee (for categories 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 only);

Within 60 days of receiving the application for registration, the regional or provincial section shall inform the applicant of the outcome of the application, formalizing the registration measure.

Companies already registered in one of the categories of the Register of Environmental Operators must renew the registration every five years (Legislative Decree no. 152/2006, art. 212, c. 6) by submitting self-certification attesting to the continued fulfillment of the requirements, except for companies and entities which fall under Category 2/bis submit the registration renewal notice every ten years.

Looking at details for companies who decides to transport waste within Italian territory, they fall under ‘Category 6’, named as “Cross-border waste transport in Italy”. According to the ‘Camera di Commercio Milano MonzaBrianza Lodi’ website, the minimum requirements for the registration are divided in:

1. Vehicles  
2. Personnel
3. Financial Capacity

The financial capacity requirement is deemed to be met with an amount of EUR 9,000 for the first vehicle and EUR 5,000 for each additional vehicle.

This requirement is demonstrated by documents proving the economic and financial potential of the undertaking, such as its turnover, its ability to pay VAT, its assets, its balance sheets, or by appropriate bank credit lines, by means of a certificate issued by undertakings authorized to grant credit.

Undertakings that have demonstrated the financial capacity requirement for the purposes of the issue of the Community license for the carriage of goods (Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009) shall prove the requirement by submitting a copy of the license.

4. Technical Manager

Before the determination of the criteria for assessing the professional requirements and the necessary reconnaissance of the qualifications obtained in another Community State, the position of technical manager is taken on by the legal representative of the undertaking.

5. Documents required for registration with the Register of Environmental Managers. Certification from the competent authority (foreign company register) certifying:

• the company's personal data;
• the data of the legal representatives;
• the company structure;
• the activity carried out;
• the company's tax code or VAT number;
• the absence of any state of liquidation, bankruptcy or other insolvency proceedings against the company;

And also:

• Certification certifying that each legal representative is not in a state of disqualification, incapacitation or temporary disqualification from holding management offices;
• Certification equivalent to the general criminal record certificate for each legal representative;
• Certificate of contributory regularity according to the legislation of the state of residence;
• Certificates of availability of vehicles (registration books or leasing/rental contracts);
• Certificate of technical suitability of vehicles, according to the scheme approved by the National Committee;
• Copy of Community license or international authorization for the carriage of goods by road;
• Documents proving financial capacity for companies not in possession of a Community license;
• Anti-mafia self-certification signed by the same person who signs the application form;
• The documents must be submitted in Italian or any other language, provided they are accompanied by a sworn translation into Italian.

6. Secretarial fees

Companies carrying out cross-border waste transport in Italy are required to pay a secretarial fee equal to €90.

7. Other payments

Which can be summarized as follow:

• Stamp duty in the amount of 16 euros to be paid electronically when sending the online application and then again 16 euros when downloading the registration measure;
• Annual registration fee;
• Government concession fee of euro 168 to be paid by bank transfer or postal account in favor of the Revenue Agency before downloading the registration measure.