Lesson 4.4 · 7 min
When something goes wrong: take-back, illegal shipments, penalties
Open in the coursewith narrated slides, a checklist to tick off and a quiz
At a glance
- What an illegal shipment is. Without notification or consent, with consent obtained by fraud, deviating from the documents or against a prohibition: all of these are illegal shipments.
- Take-back within 90 days. If a lawful shipment can't be completed as intended, the waste is taken back or treated another way within 90 days.
- Take-back within 30 days. For an illegal shipment, the waste must be taken back or treated another way within 30 days.
- The person in charge first. The notifier or arranger bears the costs first. Before anyone else pays, the financial guarantee is used.
- Up to criminal law. Possible are fines, revoking permits and exclusion from public tenders. For significant quantities, the Criminal Code threatens imprisonment.
In detail
What an illegal shipment is
A shipment is illegal if it is carried out Art. 3(26):
- without notification or without the consent of the authorities concerned;
- with consent obtained through falsification, misrepresentation or fraud;
- in a way that doesn't match the notification or movement document, except for minor clerical errors;
- so that recovery or disposal breaches Union or international law;
- against a prohibition in the regulation, such as the one on mixed municipal waste for disposal;
- for the Green List: in a way that misses the requirements on permits, the form, the information in the vehicle and the contract, or doesn't match the Annex VII document, except for minor clerical errors.
The BMLUK's example is a delivery that arrives on a different day than reported (lesson 2.3).
When a shipment can't be completed as intended
- Notification: if a facility rejects a delivery, it informs the authority of destination at once. The authority of dispatch ensures that the notifier takes the waste back within 90 days, unless it can be recovered or disposed of another way Art. 22(1)–(3). According to the BMLUK, the rejection is stated in the movement document, and then everyone waits for the authorities' decisions.
- Green List: the arranger informs the authority of dispatch at once. It or the consignee takes the waste back under the contract or ensures another recovery, within 90 days Art. 23(1). The details go into the Annex VII form (BMLUK).
- A partial rejection must be reported too, with its reason (BMLUK).
When a shipment is illegal
If the illegal shipment is the notifier's doing, the authority of dispatch ensures that it takes the waste back; if it is the consignee's doing, the authority of destination ensures that it treats the waste in an environmentally sound way. Both within 30 days, unless the authorities agree otherwise Art. 25(2), (5), (8). For the Green List the same applies to the arranger Art. 25(14). Waste is brought back, partial deliveries included, only with the consent of the authorities involved (BMLUK).
Who pays
The costs fall first on the notifier, then on whoever is deemed to be the notifier, such as the producer that authorised a dealer, and last on the authority of dispatch Art. 24 Art. 26. Before anyone other than the notifier pays, the financial guarantee is used. For the Green List, the same applies to the arranger.
Penalties
Member States lay down effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties. At the least, they must be able to impose fines, revoke or suspend the authorisation for waste activities, and temporarily exclude from public procurement Art. 63(1), (3). In Austria, § 181b(3) of the Criminal Code (StGB) threatens imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 720 daily rates for illegally shipping waste in more than insignificant quantities; its wording still refers to the old Regulation (EC) 1013/2006 (RIS, version of 4 October 2026).
Checklist
- Everyone knows that deviating from the documents can make a shipment illegal.
- There is a procedure for rejections: inform the authority, complete the form, wait for the decision.
- Take-back is covered by the contract and can be organised within 90 days.
- We know our cost exposure for a take-back.
Quiz
A facility rejects a notified delivery that was otherwise lawful. Within which period must the waste, as a rule, be taken back?
- 30 days
- 7 days
- 90 days
- 1 year
Show the answer
The answer is C: 90 days. Art. 22(2): within 90 days of the authority of dispatch becoming aware of it, unless the authorities agree otherwise. The 30 days apply to illegal shipments (Art. 25(5)).
Sources
This lesson's statements rest on:
Not legal advice. What counts is Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1290 in the Official Journal, Austrian law and the BMLUK's guidance (read on 4 October 2026). DIWASS is a system of the European Commission. Not an offer of the European Commission, the BMLUK or the Environment Agency Austria.