Waste management

In order to ensure the protection and preservation of the environment and the improvement of its quality, Luxembourg has recently adopted five laws making up the so-called "Circular Economy Package".

Among these laws, two concern waste and waste packaging more generally:

• the Law of 9 June 2022 amending the amended Law of 21 March 2012 on waste,
• the Law of 9 June 2022 amending the Law of 21 March 2017 on packaging and packaging waste.

These laws implement a number of fundamental principles of the circular economy and the protection of the environment:

• prevention of waste and packaging waste,
• for essential waste and packaging waste, manufacture of the least polluting products possible,
• reuse/recycling of waste and packaging waste,
• the costs of waste management shall be borne by the original waste producer or by the next waste holder,
• extended producer responsibility,
• control of breaches and sanctions.

The newly implemented means are:

• ban on single-use plastic products from 5 January 2024. Examples: trays and other plastic food containers, cutlery, straws etc.,
• ban on the deposit of printed advertising material on vehicles, in letterboxes (unless the recipient gives his or her express consent) from 1 January 2024,
• implementation of the deposit system for bottles and containers,
• obligation for restaurants to use reusable containers and cutlery from 1 January 2023,
• food waste reduction: obligation for supermarkets to implement a food waste prevention plan, every restaurant customer has the right to have their leftover food returned to them to be taken away,
• obligation for all waste holders to ensure that their waste is able to be reused, recycled or other recovered, in particular through separate collection.