By setting eligibility criteria for EU investments in Member States, the Parliament is excluding financial support to waste incineration and other residual waste treatment facilities from the scope of the next funding period.
Janek Vahk, Development and Policy Coordinator at Zero Waste Europe, said: “The Parliament has given a strong signal for Member States to make better use of EU funds: redirecting investments from residual waste treatment to waste prevention, reuse and recycling is key to meet the 2035 circular economy targets.”
However, Zero Waste Europe is concerned about the exemptions allowing EU funding of waste burning plants in Europe’s outermost regions, which risk to undermine their efforts towards better waste management.
The Parliament also voted to limit EU subsidies to landfills, with the exception for the outermost regions, and for improving the condition of existing landfills to comply with EU standards.
The three-way negotiations on the Cohesion Policy between governments, the European Parliament, and the European Commission are expected to start after the European elections.
