Mine wast e Alr eady in 2018 E ur omines joined a c onsortium of experts to undertak e a study c ommissioned by DG En vir onment to support the dev elopment of further guidanc e for the im plementation of the Extractiv e W aste Dir ectiv e 2006 21 EC During 2019 E ur omines pla y ed an important r ole in leading the dialogue with Member States to understand how k ey c onc epts of the Dir ectiv e ar e being applied and to clarify statistics on extractiv e waste The detailed study data serv ed to further underline how or e body characteristics driv e significant differ enc es be tween mining operations acr oss the EU Member States whilst achieving the same lev el of en vir onmental pr otec tion in all As mining and quarrying activities c o v er man y differ ent sectors with v ery differ ent waste categories and management objectiv es pr escriptiv e EUlev el guidanc e will not be meaningful and must instead ac c ommodate a wide range of techniques that ma y or ma y not be appli cable in specific geological settings A t the same time the study has r ev ealed an inspiring menagerie of best a vail able techniques that ha v e been applied to c omply with the EWD and the rigours of c ompetition on international c ommodity mark ets Thr ough r egular c onsultation of the E ur omines network of members and other c ontacts pr o duction and waste generation data wer e also estimated for all E ur opean metal mines The pr oject is due to be c om pleted in October 2020 Table of Contents page 32 of 35 S ustainabi li ty and Competi ti veness