A legal assessment of the waste shipment regulations in Malta

Abstract

The rapid economic growth and globalisation over the past years sought an increase in waste generation which occasioned an increase in global waste trade. The scope of this term paper is to examine, from a legal perspective, the current legislative framework regulating the said operations and the enforcement measures implemented by EU Member States to ensure the protection of the environment and human health during transportation. Following an analysis of the leading international legal instrument regulating transboundary shipments of waste, the term paper continues to critically examine the EU and national legal frameworks regulating the said operations. This provides the backdrop for the next stage of the research as the term paper then studies and compares the implementation and enforcement measures undertaken by Malta, Ireland and Cyprus to give effect to these legal instruments. The term paper concludes with an overall audit of the different measures of enforcement undertaken by the said countries, and presents a number of proposals relating to the development of interoperable systems to better enforce and facilitate the operation of transboundary movement of shipments of waste.