This Wednesday, the Commission presented its Circular Economy Package, which shall enhance a mode of production, which is geared towards both sustainability and recycling. According to Commissioners Jyrki Katainen and Frans Timmermans, this represents a great step forward. However, environmental experts take a different view.

The funding for this package will be worth over 6 billion euro and shall include a number of measures, such as the reduction of food waste, the development of quality standards for recycling materials, a plan for eco-friendly product design (“Ecodesign”), a revised Regulation on fertilisers, a strategy on plastics and on actions on water reuse and a revised legislative proposal on waste disposal.

About a year ago, the Commission had withdrawn its then legislative proposal on waste disposal and had made the promise to present a more comprehensive and ambitious package by the end of 2015. However, comparing the two shows that the opposite is true: admittedly, the new proposal covers more topics, but many of the regulations are non-binding and the targets have been reduced.

The target to recycle 70 % of municipal waste has been reduced to 65 %. Seven Member States had their deadline for implementation extended by 5 years. The time limit for the reduction of food waste has been extended. The obligation of municipalities to collect organic waste has been watered down. Apart from that, no measures were taken to increase the efficient use of resources. Compared to the original package, the new proposal contains rather more vague expressions of intention and non-binding initiatives than binding measures.

The package will now be debated with Parliament and Council; its adoption is scheduled for 2016. However, according to environmental non-governmental organisation Friends of the Earth there is hope that the European Parliament will provide critical impulses for more far-reaching regulations.

Further Information:

Press release by the Commission

Article of Friends of the Earth