EMRE: the Special Waste Minimisation Study

What is the EMRE?

The Special Waste Minimisation Study (EMRE, 'estudio de minimización de residuos especiales') aims to reduce the hazardous waste generated by an industrial activity.

Minimising waste means reducing its quantity or its hazardousness, or recycling it at source, within the same installation.

Which companies must prepare it?

Spanish national legislation requires hazardous waste producers, whatever their activity, to have a minimisation plan and to report its results to the regional government where the site is located.

Exempt are producers generating less than 10 tonnes per year of hazardous waste at each site, installation and maintenance companies, and those holding EMAS certification or another equivalent system that includes measures to minimise this waste.

How often must it be submitted?

The study works in four-year cycles: at the end of each period, the company must report to the authorities on the results achieved with its minimisation plan.

The exact date depends on when the activity started and when the last study was submitted. If you are not sure, it is worth checking before the deadline passes.

How it is submitted in Catalonia

1. Access credentials
   You need access credentials for the waste documentation system (SDR) of the Waste Agency of Catalonia (Agència de Residus de Catalunya).
2. Preparing the study
   It records the hazardous waste generated and the measures to reduce its quantity or hazardousness, or to recycle it at source.
3. Electronic submission
   The study is submitted through the application available in the SDR.