What the Waste Disposal Permit System Covers
The disposal of waste in Georgia is regulated by the Waste Management Code, which governs both the categories of landfills and the waste admissible on them, and the procedure for obtaining an environmental decision — the administrative act that constitutes the legal basis for waste processing activities. If your company plans to build or operate a landfill, or to bring an existing landfill into compliance, this page explains which category of landfill is designated for which waste, what happens to landfills that existed when the Code entered into force, and what information is required to obtain the environmental decision.
One systemic detail matters: the Waste Management Code does not use the name waste disposal permit as a separate document. Disposal operations are included in the list of waste processing related activities, and the act required for them is the environmental decision. The correct question is therefore not how to obtain a disposal permit but how to obtain an environmental decision for disposal operations — and that is the path described below.
The Three Categories of Landfills and Placement Rules
Under the Code, landfills are divided into three categories: landfills for hazardous waste, landfills for non hazardous waste and landfills for inert waste. This classification determines which waste may be placed where, and violating it carries consequences both for the environment and for liability.
The rules are strict. Hazardous waste is placed only on a landfill for hazardous waste. On a landfill for non hazardous waste, only municipal waste and other non hazardous waste that satisfies the waste acceptance criteria for this category of landfill, determined by a resolution adopted on the basis of the Code, may be placed. In addition, the operator of a non hazardous waste landfill has a clear obligation: it must accept the municipal waste generated on the territory of the respective municipality — meaning the operator has no right to refuse acceptance of local municipal waste. For waste producers this creates predictability: municipal waste has a guaranteed route to the designated landfill of the municipality.
Existing Landfills — Transitional Period Rules
For landfills operating at the time the Code entered into force, a special transitional rule applies. A landfill continues to function if it holds a permit issued in accordance with the Law of Georgia on the Permit for Impact on the Environment. In other words, an act issued under the old permitting system retains its force and allows the landfill to continue operating.
That force, however, is conditional: the holder of such a permit is obliged, after the Environmental Assessment Code enters into force, to request the issuance of an environmental decision under the procedure established by that Code. In practice this means existing facilities are being transferred in stages to the new permitting regime, and if your company manages such a landfill, the request for an environmental decision should be planned well before the deadline, because missing the periods established by the rules creates the risk of suspending the operation of the landfill. The transition also involves technical preparation, since the environmental decision process examines the facility against current standards rather than grandfathered conditions.
Which Activities Are Subject to the Environmental Decision
Of the activities related to waste processing, those provided for by the Environmental Assessment Code are subject to the environmental decision. In other words, the circle of relevant activities is determined not by the Waste Management Code itself but by the Environmental Assessment Code — the waste field then shapes that circle with additional requirements specific to waste operations.
The list of documents to be submitted to the competent administrative authority for obtaining the environmental decision, and the requirements for their content, are determined by the Waste Management Code, the Environmental Assessment Code and the subordinate normative acts adopted and issued on their basis. An important simplification applies: if a person carries out more than one such activity and these activities are substantially connected, that person is entitled to request a single environmental decision — which significantly reduces the administrative burden for large facilities combining recovery, treatment and disposal operations at one site.
The Content of the Application — What Information Is Required
In addition to the information provided for by the Environmental Assessment Code, for waste processing related activities the competent authority must be presented with: the type of waste to be processed, by code and name in accordance with the resolution adopted on the basis of the Code; the quantity and origin of the waste to be processed; the codes and description of the recovery or disposal operations in accordance with the relevant annex to the Code; the means and equipment to be used, as well as their capacity; and the information on the planned landfill provided for by Georgian legislation.
These requirements demand technical precision already at the application preparation stage: the waste codes, the classification of operations and the capacity figures must correspond to the real parameters of the project, because the data fixed in the decision subsequently become operational restrictions. Vagueness in the application or later changes trigger repeated administrative procedures from which there is no escape, and each repetition costs time and resources. A well prepared application is therefore not a formality but the foundation of the entire permit lifecycle.
The 2026 Changes — the Integrated Environmental Permit
Legislation in this field is changing. A norm has been introduced under which activities provided for by the Environmental Assessment Code are subject to the environmental decision, while activities provided for by the Law of Georgia on Industrial Emissions are subject to the integrated environmental permit. For more than one substantially connected activity, a person is entitled to obtain a single environmental decision or integrated permit, and the informational requirements of the application are shaped by both regimes.
This change enters into force on 1 September 2026. Until then, the current regime applies — the environmental decision in the cases determined by the Environmental Assessment Code. If the timetable of your project crosses that date, the application strategy should be planned in advance for both variants, so as not to find yourself in a situation where the application is prepared for one regime while its examination proceeds under the other.