Another step towards a circular economy development model with the European Parliament Vote

On 14 March 2017, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted to demand that the share of waste in the EU should be recycled up to 70% by 2030, from the current figure of 44% under the draft legislation that has been proposed by the European Commission (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/20170308IPR65671/waste-boost-recycling-cut-landfilling-and-curb-food-waste-parliament-says).

This is an important step to try to reverse the trend to increase the use of raw materials by the adoption of a circular development model which keeps materials and their value in circulation.

With the 3 “R” “Re-use, Recycling and Recovery” waste will cease to be a problem and instead become a resource. By 2030, at least 70% by weight of so-called municipal waste (from households and businesses) should be recycled or prepared for re-use, (i.e. checked, cleaned or repaired).

For packaging materials, such as paper and cardboard, plastics, glass, metal and wood, MEPs demanded an 80% target for 2030, with interim 2025 targets for each material.

The issues voted through on 14 March 2017 represent the European Parliament’s negotiating position, ahead of negotiations with the EU Council of Member State ministers, which has yet to adopt its own position.

Regarding one of the materials mentioned above, namely plastics, the European Commission has already published a roadmap that is expected to result in the publication of an official Communication on a strategy on plastics in a circular economy by the end of 2017. Its aim is to inform stakeholders about the Commission’s work in order to allow them to provide feedback and to participate effectively in future consultation activities.

The text is available at the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/roadmaps/docs/plan_2016_39_plastic_strategy_en.pdf