Brussels, 02/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - Zero waste is an admirable objective for the planet but is also a major challenge for the European economy, according to the European Commission, which intends to make this goal a driving force for the EU's transition to a circular economy in which reuse, repair and recycling become the norm. The raft of measures the Commission presented on Wednesday 2 July aims to provide the EU with the means to achieve this goal, guided by a dual imperative: resource efficiency and sustainable growth that creates jobs, within the limits of the planet itself.
Revision of the three waste directives (the framework directive on waste, the landfill directive, and the directive on packaging and waste from packaging) aiming to significantly increase the rates of recycling is, for the time being, the only legislative proposal in this package. It is accompanied by a communication outlining the general approach of the circular economy based on innovation, new business models and eco-design, whilst informing entrepreneurs of the advantages of this approach, and the job opportunities and possibilities for improving the construction and demolition waste markets.
A communication on green employment, a green action plan for SMEs to help them transform the environmental requirements into new business opportunities (see other articles) and a communication on energy efficiency opportunities in buildings complete the package. The communication on sustainable food, which is still being developed, will be put forward later but the question of food waste ha, as of now, been broached.
Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for the Environment, believes that this package is the most important one adopted by the outgoing Commission and was developed in a concerted approach between the respective commissioners for the environment, research and innovation, climate action and social affairs. Potocnik informed the European press that “this acknowledges that the growth trajectory we are following is not the right one for Europe and the economy. In order to be able to live well but within the limits of our planet, we need to define a clear trajectory, viable ecological solutions to reduce our ecological footprint and ensure that less developed countries do not follow our growth model. This means making our economy more viable and allowing emerging economies to develop without increasing their ecological footprint”. He also underlined the unreasonable and anachronistic notion of “living with linear economic systems inherited from the 19th century in the 21st century world of emerging economies”, millions of new middle-class consumers and interconnected markets.
The commissioner emphasised that “our future growth will be determined by our ability to adapt to limited resources. This is logical from an environmental point of view as well as from an economic one. The EU is dependent on imports of resources and fuel. To maintain growth, we have no other choice but to increase productivity and resources”. He believes that the raft of measures is “a major contribution towards the shift to resource productivity, business competitiveness, maintaining a strong industrial base while protecting health and the environment”. He said that the time has now come to devise products that use less energy, fewer raw materials and less water: “we are proposing to make Europe a waste-free society” and to “recycle 600 million tons of rubbish and transform it into resources for the economy”.
Revising the waste directives and revising recycling targets upwards. 42% of waste at a local level is currently recycled (according to statistics from Eurostat on waste management published last March - STAT/14/48). With a legislative target of 50% by 2020, the Commission is proposing recycling rates of at least 70% for solid waste at a local authority level and 80% for packaging waste by 2030 (with an interim target of 60% by 2025), as well as a ban on landfills for all recyclable materials such as paper, glass, biodegradable waste by 2025 (see EUROPE 11101). All of these targets will be binding.
The Commission is also proposing three other non-binding targets: an end to landfills by 2030, a 30% reduction in food waste by 2025; a 30% reduction in discharges at sea by 2020. Potocnik described the targets as “very ambitious”.
Sorting of waste, landfill taxes and increasing the extended producer responsibility will complete this provision. Referring to a Eurobarometer survey, the commissioner noted that “this is what citizens want. 76% believe that it is important for the EU to use its resources more efficiently; 51% want selective recycling facilities”.
The Commission proposes to simplify existing rules and boost cooperation between the Commission and member states to ensure better implementation.
Potocnik said that waste can generate gold quite literally because a hundred tonnes of ore is needed for a tonne of gold and by making use of the precious raw materials in old mobile phones, you can get 20 kg ingots of gold.
He said the new raft of measures, if implemented, would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and therefore protect the climate, reduce the quantity of marine waste and therefore protect ecosystems. Cutting food waste by 20% would in itself reduce the use of land and nitrate pollution of water courses only to produce food that will be thrown away.
The productivity of resources will be measured in a new GDP index based on the consumption of raw materials (GDP/RMC), as recommended by a high-ranking platform on resource efficiency. The European Commission suggests a 30% improvement by 2030 as a general target that could be introduced in the upcoming assessment of the EUROPE 2020 strategy.
Commissioner Potocnik said the potential of this new growth trajectory could lead to a 3% increase in GDP and two million new jobs.
Better buildings. The Commission's report lists ways of reducing the negative impact of new and renovated buildings on the environment by ensuring more efficient use of resources and improving information on buildings' environmental performance. It is considering measures to allow architects, construction product manufacturers, builders and anyone wishing to buy or rent a building to have access to better information about health and environment issues. This would make it easier to compare and contrast the environmental impact of different solutions for design, construction, use and demolition, which would promote more sustainable buildings across the EU.
Potocnik said there was much talk about the energy efficiency of buildings, but people also need to take an overview and improving information for the public on building performance is a good way of boosting the environmental performance of buildings in Europe.
In cooperation with national authorities and stakeholders, the Commission is preparing to draw up a framework based on a limited number of indicators for measuring the environmental performance of buildings in order to provide a tool that can be used across Europe by private and public players alike. The results of a public consultation exercise in 2013 showed that this would make a major improvement in the supply and demand for buildings that are less environmentally damaging.
Measures will also be taken to boost the environmental performance of buildings more directly. The new proposals will make it easier to recycle construction and demolition waste and use it to build new buildings or in renovation work, thus reducing the amount of waste in landfill sites and also reducing reliance on new raw materials.
Buildings make a massive impact on the environment because the construction and use of buildings uses up nearly half of all energy consumption and raw material extraction and around a third of water consumption. These measures are expected to benefit consumers because sustainable buildings are cheaper to run and have a positive impact on their occupants in terms of health and well-being. The economy would also do well because the European construction industry accounts for 10% of GDP and 20 million jobs.
The transition to a circular economy is central to the resource efficiency programme under the EUROPE 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. In the Commission's roadmap for a resource-efficient Europe published in 2011, it proposed an action plan and stressed the need for a joined-up approach across the board.
This has now been achieved with the new package of measures and draft legislation. As a sign of this joined-up approach, EU28 environment and employment ministers will meet in Milan on 17 July to hold an initial discussion on the circular economy's potential in terms of green jobs. On Wednesday, Commissioner Lazlo Andor said that water management and energy efficiency could create 400,000 definite jobs and 51,000 potential jobs (see related article). (AN)