Waste (Art. 3 Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC)
Waste means any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard.

Responsibility for Waste Management (Art. 15 Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC)
Member States shall ensure that any waste producer or other holder carries out the treatment of waste himself or by a private or public waste collector. Member States may decide that the responsibility for arranging waste management is to be borne partly or wholly by the producer of the product and that distributors of such product may share this responsibility.

Extended Producer Responsibility (Art. 8 Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC)
In order to strengthen the re-use, prevention, recycling and other recovery of waste, Member States may take measures to extend responsibility to producer of the product. Such measures may include: acceptance of returned products as well as subsequent management of the product and financial responsibility for such activities. Member States could also encourage the design of products in order to reduce their environmental impacts.
When applying extended producer responsibility, Member States shall take into account the technical feasibility and economic viability and the overall environmental, human health and social impacts, respecting the need to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market.

Subsidiarity
The principle of subsidiarity is defined in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. It establishes that the European Union does not take action (except in the areas that fall within its exclusive competence), unless it is more effective than action taken at national, regional or local level. The principle of subsidiarity is closely linked with the one of proportionality, which requires that any action by the Union should not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the Treaties.

Services of General Interest (SGI)
The term «services of general interest» cannot be found in the Treaty itself. It is derived in Community practice from the term “services of general economic interest”, which is used in the Treaty. It is broader than the term “services of general economic interest” and covers both market and non-market services which the public authorities class as being of general interest and subject to specific public service obligations.
To read more see the Green Paper on Services of General Interest of 21 May 2003

Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI)
Services of general economic interest are commercial services of general economic utility, on which the public authorities impose specific public-service obligations (Article 86 of the EC Treaty, formerly Article 90).
Article 16, which was written into the EC Treaty by the Treaty of Amsterdam, acknowledges the place occupied by services of general economic interest in the shared values of the Union and their role in promoting social and territorial cohesion. Article 16 also states that such services must operate on the basis of principles and conditions which enable them to fulfill their functions.
Article 36 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union requires the Union to recognise and respect access to services of general economic interest to promote the social and territorial cohesion of the Union.