Brussels, 16/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - Yet another voice - that of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) - was raised on Friday 13 February to urge the European Commission to give up on its planned withdrawal of the waste package that seeks to review the existing directives on waste management - the cornerstone of the circular economy package. Several formations of the Council of the EU have already made the same call, as has the European Parliament, voting by overwhelming majority (see EUROPE 11250, 11232 and 11220).
In an opinion adopted in plenary session (see EUROPE 11253), the CoR argues that it would be far more sensible to build on the original proposals than to waste time by withdrawing them and starting again from scratch. It, therefore, calls on the Commission to use the proposals on the table as the basis for an ambitious piece of legislation that will help the EU become a sustainable circular economy.
“The EU is grounded on compromise and the original waste package is precisely that: how can we expect to find a new agreement acceptable to all in a few months?” observed CoR rapporteur Mariana Gaju. Addressing the plenary session, Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans who is responsible for “better legislation”, confirmed that the circular economy package was under review. He argued that it was necessary to improve the proposals to ensure that they would also include a focus on sustainable economic production (see EUROPE 11248).
To improve the proposals already on the table that it deems far from perfect, the CoR proposes: - banning the landfilling of recyclable and biodegradable waste by 1 January 2025 and making the target of a maximum of 5% landfilling of residual waste by 2030 binding; - ensuring a single definition of municipal waste and establishing a single method for calculating recycling targets in the EU; - increasing the environmental responsibility of businesses by introducing recommendations to ensure marketing products come from recycled sources. (Aminata Niang)