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Illicit Waste Trafficking and Loopholes in the European and Italian Legislation

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Abstract

Evidence shows that waste crimes, principally trafficking, are facilitated by unclear regulatory frameworks. Indeed, lax legislation can unintentionally generate crime opportunities. The aim of this study is to combine criminological and legal knowledge to identify loopholes in the waste regulatory frameworks of the European Union and Italian government. A crime proofing analysis was conducted to identify vulnerabilities in the selected waste legislation. Results indicate the existence of three macrocategories of loopholes: the legal framework, the supply chain, and the justice response system. Policy implications involve the necessity to simplify the language in waste legislation, to create effective measures via which to improve the traceability of waste, and to provide law enforcement authorities with adequate training and technological resources to perform inspection activities. Given the transnational nature of illicit waste trafficking, international cooperation is integral for fighting this crime type.

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Notes

  1. Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives, published on the OJ L 312, 22.11.2008, p. 3–30.

  2. Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2008/98/EC on waste (Text with EEA relevance) {SWD (2015) 259 final} {SWD (2015) 260 final} Brussels, 2.12.2015 COM(2015) 595 final 2015/0275 (COD).

  3. Regulation (EU) No 660/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 amending Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 on shipments of waste, published in the OJ L 189, 27.6.2014, p. 135–142.

  4. Italian legislative decree No 152/2006 (as amended from time-to-time), published in the Italian Gazette No 88 of 14 April 2006 – Ordinary Supplement No 96.

  5. The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal was adopted on 22 March 1989 by the Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Basel, Switzerland.

  6. Formulario Identificativo del Rifiuto.

  7. Testo Unico Ambientale.

  8. Parte IV: Norme in materia di gestione dei rifiuti e di bonifica dei siti inquinati.

  9. Sistema sanzionatorio e disposizioni transitorie e finali.

  10. The value of the fine can vary from Euro 1550.00 to Euro 26,000.00.

  11. An expanded explanation of the CPL method can be found here: “A study on crime proofing – Evaluation of crime risk implications of the European Commission’s proposals covering a range of policy areas” (Transcrime, 2006).

  12. The cooperation between the academia and the institutions usually requires specific agreements that could not be achieved for this study. For this reason, the crime risk management is out of the scope of this analysis, although it may be the object of future research.

  13. The CPL is the result of an analysis firstly conducted by one researcher (law expert) and secondly checked by the other members of the research group (criminology experts), who verified the content of the analysis and the rigorous application of the CPL in order to minimize subjectivity in the identification of the vulnerabilities. Moreover, since the study is part of a wider project that involved other universities, the preliminary results of our analysis were also validated by other research teams.

  14. Additional information on the empirical strategy and its application can be found in the report “Crime Proofing analysis of the waste regulation. A specific focus on the European Union, Finland, Italy, and the Netherlands” (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_z0dJCe4UmYYWlUNjcxTlRJUkhxUENvOXlDVWN5TWFhQWxz/view)

  15. A policy option can be considered as a measure of intervention outlined by the legislation. Policy options are regulatory provisions whose aim is to tackle a phenomenon and that have economic, social and environmental impacts. For a detailed explanation, see also https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-making-process/planning-and-proposing-law/better-regulation-why-and-how/better-regulation-guidelines-and-toolboxen

  16. Article 3 and Article 4 of the European Waste Shipment Regulation.

  17. Under the framework of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the EU has the power to act—at different degrees of exclusivity—only when the Treaty recognizes its competence, competence that has been transferred by the EU MSs. Up to now, criminal law is still an exclusive competence of the EU MSs.

  18. The offences can be persecuted only through a limited number of years (generally, five or ten). When the time lapse expires without any initiative of persecuting, there is no chance to assess the criminal liability (concept of “prescrizione del reato”).

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Appendix

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Table 6 CPL of the European Waste Shipment Regulation
Table 7 CPL of Italian Environmental Code

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Morganti, M., Favarin, S. & Andreatta, D. Illicit Waste Trafficking and Loopholes in the European and Italian Legislation. Eur J Crim Policy Res 26, 105–133 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-018-9405-2

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