Alongside the measures to reduce landfill there will be a push for more energy recovery but slightly less emphasis on recycling. The overall recycling target is likely to be reduced from the 70% rate proposed in last year’s package, partly because this is seen as unrealistic for a number of EU member states.
Letsrecycle.com understands that tighter landfill targets and restrictions are favoured because their continuing use is harming the environment and hampering the development of recycling in some states.
The proposals, currently under preparation, are due to be unveiled by the Commission before Christmas 2015.
On recycling, while the overall target is likely to be cut, it is understood that there could be more specific targets for different member states with a requirement for them to report “year by year increases at a prescribed rate”.
This is because there is a recognition in Brussels of the need to tackle “existing problems of non-compliance with existing legislation”.
Targets
So far, on the new package, the Commission has officially said: “The new strategy will include a new legislative proposal on waste targets, taking into account the input already given to us during public consultations, and by Council and in Parliament, in particular the comments made by many that the previous proposals needed to be more country-specific.”
The first package was adopted in July 2014 by the Commission and included a legislative proposal for the review of waste legislation. The latter specifically was in response to the legal obligation to review the targets of three Directives: the Waste Framework Directive, the Landfill Directive, and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive.
In its 2015 Work Programme, the Commission announced the intention to withdraw the 2014 proposal on Waste Review (the withdrawal was finalised on 25 February 2015 and to replace it with a new, ‘more ambitious’ proposal by the end of 2015 to promote the circular economy.
Potocnik
The original package, which was promoted in June 2014 by former EU environment commission Janez Potocnik, proposed new targets for recycling and landfill. These included 70% municipal recycling and 80% packaging waste recycling by 2030. The landfill actions features a ban on landfilling recyclables by 2025 and the virtually complete ban on landfilling by 2030.
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