According to the EEB, ambitious and intensive support from MEPs for European recycling, reusing and repairing industries could create 867.00 jobs in the EU by 2030 – enough to employ one in six of the currently unemployed young people in the bloc.
„Creating new jobs and slashing marine litter are just two of the benefits that boosting recycling targets and helping the repair and reuse industries could bring“, EEBs waste policy officer Piotr Barczak says. „But to truly reap these rewards, MEPs must support ambitious recycling and repairing targets in this crunch vote.“
EEB claims that Environment Committee MEPs must demand that 70 percent of all waste created in the EU is reused or recycled by 2030, and also set a clear target for the repairing and reusing of waste.
MEPs should also act to halve the amount of marine litter the EU pumps into the world’s oceans by 2025. They could do this by phasing out unnecessary, non-reusable packaging and plastic items which are only used once, such as disposable cutlery.
MEPs could help countries failing to meet recycling targets by encouraging them to boost recycling rates more quickly. Rather than allowing them extra time to meet these targets, MEPs should support waste prevention schemes, the creation of better separate collection systems, progressive economic tools such as tax cuts for repair work and improving recycling infrastructure in these countries.
