The constantly increasing generation of waste in the EU is identified as one of the major priorities of EU environmental policy. In 2005 the European Commission proposed a Strategy on the prevention and recycling of waste in order to further foster sustainable resource management and environmental protection. Directive 2008/98/EC requires that Member States take appropriate measures to encourage the prevention or reduction of waste production and its harmfulness. This can be done by a combination of several strategies. Especially mentioned are the development of clean technologies more sparing in their use of natural resources as well as the technical development and marketing of products designed so to contribute as little as possible to increasing the amount of waste.