New waste rules will make EU global front-runner in waste management and recycling
The 18th of April 2018 the European Parliament approved the package to update current waste management rules, including new targets for recycling, packaging and landfilling. The package is a key element of the Circular Economy Action Plan the European Commission adopted on 2 December 2015.
This agreement generally preserves the ambition level of the Commission’s initial proposal and reconciles long-term targets with realities on the ground. The new ambitious recycling and landfilling targets will boost the re-use of valuable material in waste and improve the way municipal and packaging waste is managed thus making the circular economy a reality. It further strengthens the “waste hierarchy” by placing prevention, re-use and recycling clearly above landfilling and incineration.
The new waste rules include targets to recycle at least 55 percent of all waste from households and businesses by 2025, rising to 65 percent by 2035. 70 percent of all packaging materials should be recycled upon use by 2030.
The package of rules, which is still be ratified by the European Council, also caps at 10 percent the amount of municipal waste that can be sent to landfill. This could prove particularly difficult for some EU member states, such as Greece and Croatia, which send more than 75 percent to landfill. Member states will also be mandated to reduce food waste by 50 percent by 2030.
