The Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging (APEAL) sees the ENVI’s approval of the proposals as a “great step towards achieving higher recycling rates as well as the creation of new jobs and savings for businesses that will benefit from greater resource security”.
“APEAL has promoted higher recycling rates and zero steel packaging to landfill for many years now. Our industry objective has long been 80% steel recycling by 2020. This legislation and its implementation are crucial to drive improved performance across all materials in all EU member states”, said Alexis Van Mercke, secretary general of APEAL. “However, given that the EP’s proposed objectives for steel recycling are higher than the original targets proposed by the European Commission we would first recommend an impact assessment including guidelines on the calculation of the recycling rate.”
APEAL also particularly welcomes the approach to place the measurement point of recycling at the input to the final recycling process, which correspondents with a “real recycling”.
Gerd Götz, director general of European Aluminium, also complimented the decision regarding the measurement point. He pointed out that this new rule will trigger investments to improve the whole recycling chain. “We are pleased that the European Parliament has asked the EU commission to consider setting targets for all construction and demolition waste regarding preparing for re-use and recycling”, Götz continues. He also agrees to the recognition of permanent materials. However, he is not too happy about the decisions on scrap exports. “Today, waste leaving Europe to be recycled in other parts of the world is not held to the same high environmental, health and safety standards – and is taken away from European’s own circular economy ambitions”, Götz states. “Without clear guidelines on how scrap should be recycled, there is no equal level playing field.”
EEBs waste policy officer Piotr Barczak, appreciates the decision of the comittee in terms of a job boost. “The strong support shown for the recycling and repair sector by MEPs today can pave the way for over 800.000 job s to be created across Europe by 2030. But for this boom to materialise, the Council must now put the economy and the planet first and support these ambitious targets.” He is less pleased with the target for the reduction of food waste, which is only voluntary. “Having the amount of food waste within the EU by 2030 would cut greenhouse gas emissions, save households money and reduce the pressure on land exerted by European’s insatiable demand for food. Unfortunately, MEPs missed and opportunity to guarantee these rewards by not making them legally binding – potentially letting countries that waste large amounts of food off the hook”, Barczak pointed out.
The European Federation of waste management and environmental services (FEAD) welcomes that the definition of municipal waste shall apply regardless of the public or private status of the operator. On the other hand, FEAD regrets that the ‘quantity’ criterion has not been retained. The federation also welcomes the adoption of ambitious targets set by the EP and the clarification of the definition on “final recycling process”, which is now coherent with the existing definition on recycling.
