Brussels, 26/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - As the Competitiveness Council prepares to make its contribution to the debate in the circular economy (see other article), MEPs on the European Parliament's environment committee, representatives from the drinks cartons industry and environmental NGOs are stepping up their efforts on the legislative package presented by the Commission in December (see EUROPE 11444).
Their desire to make progress and to work with the regulatory authorities to flesh out the proposals put by the Commission was clearly expressed in the debate “EU Circular Economy - Making It Work”, organised by Giovanni La Via (EPP, Italy), who chairs the committee, and Simona Bonafè (S&D, Italy), rapporteur on this issue, and held on 23 February.
Bonafè announced that she expected to finalise her report on 21 April and have it put to the vote in Parliament during the plenary session of 7-8 November. A compulsory passport for products and a legally binding indicator for resource efficiency are among the complementary proposals that Parliament expects from the Commission before the end of the year, La Via said.
The European packaging and packaging waste directive should encourage the use of materials from renewable sources, argued Karl Henrik Sundström, chief executive of Stora Enso, and Per Lindberg, who is the head of BillerudKorsnäs, underlined the importance of responsibly sourcing raw materials. Kristian Hall, president of ACE (Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment) and director for Environment at Elopak, called for a ban on packaging materials in landfills and for extended producer responsibility schemes to ensure effective collection and recycling of all packaging materials by producers.
Pieter de Pous, European Environmental Bureau (EEB) policy director, backed extended producer responsibility schemes for the collection of waste and a landfill ban for recyclable and compostable waste. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)