---
title: "Waste Management Licensing"
url: "https://legal.ge/en/service/environmental-and-energy-law-en/waste-management-licensing-en"
field: "Environmental & Energy Law"
description: "Waste management licensing: decision vs registration, tonnage thresholds, Basel Convention transboundary rules. Legal.ge."
reviewed: "2026-06-27"
updated: "2026-10-24"
publisher: "legal.ge"
---

# Waste Management Licensing

> Source: legal.ge, https://legal.ge/en/service/environmental-and-energy-law-en/waste-management-licensing-en

## Waste Management Licensing — Decision or Registration

Waste management activities in Georgia are regulated by the Waste Management Code and, depending on the scale and type of the activity, fall into one of two administrative forms: the environmental decision and registration. On this page you will learn which activity requires which form, where the boundaries run in tonnes, and how the transboundary movement of waste is regulated.

This distinction directly affects time and cost: the environmental decision means a full administrative procedure, while registration is a light form for small scale operations. Knowing the thresholds precisely determines the regime in which you declare your activity and how quickly you can start operating.

The full text is available on legal.ge after signing in: https://legal.ge/en/service/environmental-and-energy-law-en/waste-management-licensing-en

### Which activities are subject to the environmental decision?

Those provided for by the Environmental Assessment Code. Where more than one substantially connected activity is carried out, a single decision may be requested; from 1 September 2026 the format expands to a decision or integrated permit.

### Which activities require registration?

Collection or transportation; a temporary storage facility for more than 50 tonnes of non hazardous waste; pre processing of up to 100 tonnes per year; temporary storage of 2 to 10 tonnes of hazardous waste; a waste transfer station; recovery or disposal of up to 10 tonnes per year of non hazardous waste; and activities not subjected to assessment by a screening decision.

### How is the export and import of waste regulated?

Transboundary movement is regulated by a separate law on the import, export and transit of waste, taking into account the Basel Convention of 22 March 1989. A local permit status does not substitute for this regime.

### Where does the border between registration and the decision run?

The border is expressed in tonnes: 50 tonnes for temporary storage, 100 tonnes for pre processing and 10 tonnes for recovery or disposal; the registration corridor for hazardous waste storage runs from 2 to 10 tonnes. Volumes beyond a threshold require the environmental decision.