L 110/48 Official Journal of the European Union 1.5.2009 COMMISSION DECISION of 30 April 2009 completing the technical requirements for waste characterisation laid down by Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the management of waste from extractive industries (notified under document number C(2009) 3013) (2009/360/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the management of waste from extractive industries and amending  Directive 2004/35/EC ('), and in particular Article 22(1)(e) thereof, Whereas: (1) Directive 2006/21/EC provides for waste characterisation as part of the waste management plan, which has to be drawn up by the operator of extractive industries and approved by the competent authority. Annex II of that Directive provides a list of certain aspects to be included in the waste characterisation. (2)  The purpose of the characterisation of extractive waste is to obtain the relevant information on the waste to be managed in order to be able to assess and monitor its properties, behaviour and characteristics and thereby ensure that it is managed under environmentally safe conditions in the long term. Furthermore, the character- isation of extractive waste should facilitate the determi- nation of the options for managing such waste and the related mitigation measures in order to protect human health and the environment. (3)  The necessary information and data for the characteri- sation of extractive waste should be collected on the basis of existing relevant and appropriate information or, if needed, by sampling and testing. It should be ensured that information and data for waste characteri- sation are appropriate, of adequate quality and represen- tative of the waste. This information should be duly justified in the waste management plan to the full satis- faction of the competent authority. (4)  The level of detail of information to be gathered and the related sampling or testing needs should be adapted to () O] L 102, 11.4.2006, p. 15. the type of waste, the potential environmental risks, and the intended waste facility. From a technical point of view, it should be made possible to adopt an iterative approach to ensure appropriate waste characterisation. (5)  From a technical point of view, it is appropriate to exempt waste defined as inert in accordance with the criteria  laid down in  Commission Decision 2009/359/EC (?) from part of the geochemical testing. (6)  The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee estab- lished by Article 18 of Directive 2006/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (), HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: Atrticle 1 Waste characterisation 1. Member States shall ensure that the waste characterisation to be carried out by operators in the extractive industries complies with this Decision. 2. Waste characterisation shall cover the following categories of information as specified in the Annex: (a) background information; (b) geological background of deposit to be exploited; (¢) nature of the waste and its intended handling; (d) geotechnical behaviour of the waste; (e) geochemical characteristics and behaviour of the waste. 3. The criteria for defining inert waste laid down in Decision 2009/359[EC shall be taken into account for the purpose of assessing the geochemical behaviour of waste. Where, on the basis of those criteria, waste is considered to be ‘inert), it shall be only subject to the relevant part of geochemical testing referred to in point 5 of the Annex. (%) See page 46 of this Official Journal. () O L 114, 27.4.2006, p. 9.