The European Commission is proposing to speed up the fight against food waste in the EU and to involve textile producers in the fight against the waste of used clothes and shoes.
The proposal for a directive it presented on Wednesday 5 July aims to amend the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98) accordingly, to tackle this waste in two sectors that contribute most to greenhouse gas emissions, in breach of the EU’s climate objectives, with its Zero Pollution and Circular Economy Action Plans by 2030, which includes the industrial strategy for sustainable textiles.
Such waste “is a loss for the economy, a wasted opportunity”, declared the European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius, when presenting this proposal of the European Green Deal.
Food waste. This represents 58.5 million tonnes of waste per year, or 131 kg per person per year (an estimated value of €132 billion), 53% of which comes from households and 20% from the food production and processing sector, the Commission points out.
The proposed directive would require EU Member States to set reduction targets of 30% per capita in both retail and consumption (restaurants, catering services and households) and 10% in the production and processing sector compared to 2020. This is the reference year for which the Commission has data.
A review of these targets is planned for 2027, with the aim of achieving a 50% reduction by 2030.
The Commission’s ambition is to accelerate Member States’ progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3, which is to halve the volume of food waste per capita at both distribution and consumption levels worldwide, and to reduce food losses throughout the production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.
An EU digital platform had already been launched in 2021 to promote best practices (see EUROPE 12801/8).
Textile waste. Given that 80% of used textiles in the EU are currently landfilled or incinerated, the European Commission is proposing to involve the sector in the collection and treatment of this waste, with a view to recycling.
The introduction of a mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system in all Member States, under which the producer would be responsible for managing this waste, is the proposed flagship measure. The Waste Framework Directive already contains minimum requirements for EPR, which the Commission is proposing to harmonise across the EU.
In line with the ‘polluter pays’ principle, the Commission is proposing that producers should be required to pay for the cost of recycling, with the fee modulated according to the environmental circularity of textiles. In other words, more circular products will be associated with a lower fee.
This contribution will be used to finance investment in separate collection, sorting, reuse and recycling capacity.
“This initiative will drive investments in the re-use and recycling infrastructure for textiles, create local jobs and boost innovation in all phases of textiles’ lifecycle. It will also create cost-saving opportunities for citizens who choose vintage, timeless fashion over fast fashion”, Virginijus Sinkevičius pointed out.
The Commission is also proposing a definition of textile waste, to help combat any illegal exports of this type of waste to third countries.
The European Environmental Bureau, an NGO which had warned that the EU was wasting more food than it was importing (see EUROPE 13025/7), welcomed “a step in the right direction”, but considers that the targets for reducing food waste are “too low to reduce food waste to sustainable levels”.
To see the Commission’s proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/7wv (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)