Unusually, sections of European industry – the recycling sector and the recyclable material producers – and environmental NGOs are united in hailing the ambitious vote of the European Parliament’s environment committee on the revision of the EU’s waste directive – a key part of the circular economy package of December 2015. The prospects for job creation have been particularly welcomed by the recycling industry and the NGOs, which immediately highlighted the benefits that can be expected for the environment. SMEs in sectors which produce a lot of waste, however, fear they will suffer.
MEPs voted for at least 70% of municipal waste (that is, from households and businesses) to be recycled or prepared for re-use (as opposed to the 65% proposed by the Commission). They also set targets, by the same date, of: - 80% of packaging materials, such as paper and cardboard, plastics, glass, metal and wood to be recycled, with interim 2025 recycling targets for each material; - a limit of 5% of municipal waste to be put in landfill sites (compared with 10% in the Commission proposal). They advocate an EU food waste reduction target of 30% by 2025 and 50% by 2030, compared to 2014 and propose a similar target for marine litter.
When asked by the press on Tuesday for his comments on the vote, European Commission Vice-President with responsibility for Sustainable Development Frans Timmermans signalled that he doubted that the European Parliament and the member states would agree to such a high level of ambition.
“We are completely open but we feel that our proposal has more chance of being agreed in Parliament and in Council. What we are proposing is close to the limit of what is acceptable. We’ll see what is possible”, he said in answer to a question put to him at the presentation of the new mini package on the circular economy (see EUROPE 11712).
The European Parliament will vote on this issue at the plenary session in Strasbourg, 13-16 March.
The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) welcomed the vote, seeing it as “strengthening the foundation of a truly circular economy in Europe”. CEPI particularly welcomes the call to measure real recycling rates at the input to the final recycling process. It also hails: - the call for quality standards and traceability in the paper recycling chain “that will enhance targeted investments and serve the efficient functioning of the secondary raw material market in Europe”; - the reinforcement of separate collection which “will drive quality recycling and boost circularity of Europe’s economy”; - the call for member states to promote the use of bio-based recyclable packaging. CEPI states, nonetheless, that it will further assess the “extremely high gap” between recycling targets of competing packaging materials.
APEAL, the European association of producers of steel for packaging, sees the environment committee vote as a great step towards achieving higher recycling rates and also the creation of new jobs and savings for businesses that, it says, will benefit from greater resource security.
“Implementing the Circular Economy Package (CEP) as soon as possible will bring numerous benefits, specifically a harmonised EU approach, greater legal certainty and a more viable internal market for waste”, states APEAL Secretary General Alexis Van Maercke in a press release.
SMEs in the construction sector are unhappy with the vote and call, at the very least, to be allowed time to adjust and to have their technical, economic and environmental conditions taken into account. Through the European Builders Confederation (EBC), they make clear that they oppose the idea of additional targets for construction and demolition waste and reject the provisions on extended producer responsibility, taking the view that the lack of accompanying measures and feasibility for SMEs will put their competitiveness at risk. “Legal certainty for the future is important. However, legislation must allow time for our entrepreneurs to adapt to new framework and has to be based on a clear and consistent assessment of the current situation. SMEs need to have access to the best available techniques to make reusing and recycling waste a reality”, argues EBC Secretary General Riccardo Viaggi. 30% of the EU waste comes from construction activities. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)