Language of document :

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Landesverwaltungsgericht Steiermark (Austria) lodged on 23 August 2019 — Sappi Austria Produktions-GmbH & Co KG and Wasserverband ‘Region Gratkorn-Gratwein’

(Case C-629/19)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Landesverwaltungsgericht Steiermark

Parties to the main proceedings

Appellants: Sappi Austria Produktions-GmbH & Co KG, Wasserverband ‘Region Gratkorn-Gratwein’

Defendant authority: Landeshauptmann der Steiermark

Questions referred

Is sewage sludge to be regarded as waste in light of the exclusion under Article 2(2)(a) of Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives 1 in conjunction with Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste-water treatment and/or the Sewage Sludge Directive, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1137/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008? 2

If the first question is answered in the affirmative:

Does Article 6(1) of Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives permit a substance to be classified as a by-product within the meaning of the concept of waste under EU law if, for process-related reasons, other substances which would otherwise have to be regarded as waste are added to that substance in a small proportion, if this has no effect on the composition of the substance as a whole and provides a significant benefit to the environment?

____________

1 OJ 2008 L 312, p. 3.

2 OJ 2008 L 311, p. 1.