The solid waste management in Brazil is deficient for political and regulatory failures. Population growth and technological innovation increased waste generation, but appropriate waste management is possible and can be done with effective standards. However, the process of law elaboration with the involvement of actors and divergent interests undermines the effectiveness of its implementation. Under with this assumption, the process of drawing up Brazilian legislation and regulatory framework should be evaluated in an attempt to identify possible defective points that could be improved. The most interesting possibility is to propose improvements to this system via a comparative study with the European system, which has demonstrated success in implementing its policy for of waste management. Therefore, this article analyzed the normative development in parallel with the Brazilian National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS) with Directive 2008/98 / EC of the European Union. From the PNRS instruments it is evident the inability of decision-making systems in Brazil, as the delay in officializing the National Solid Waste Plan , the delay in the signing sectoral agreements and the lessons that could be taken from the European practice in this sector.