The (Legal) Concept of Waste: An Obstacle for Exnovating Linear Economic Activities and the Transition to a Circular Economy (In the Brussels Capital Region)?

This contribution examines whether and how the legal framework regarding waste, as applicable, is an obstacle or not to exnovating the linear economy. After providing an overview of the applicable legal framework regarding waste and the role of waste in the context of exnovating the linear economy (or put differently in the transition to a circular economy) (section II) the contribution dives into the concept of waste (section III) and examines the criteria that are to be fulfilled to qualify a product as waste. Once qualified as waste, a substance or good can also lose again this status if it complies with the conditions of the so-called ‘end-of-waste status’. This contribution examines how these criteria impact a circular economy. The conclusions of the assessment are bundled in section IV. This contribution is part of the interdisciplinary ULB/VUB research project Gosete, financed by Innoviris Brussels (Belgium). Gosete examines the governance issues related to the transition to a sustainable economy and in that context different case studies focused on the Brussels Capital Region (BCR) have been performed. This contribution thus also focuses on the legal framework as applicable to the BCR. However, to the extent this legal framework derives from EU legislation this contribution includes a more general assessment.