WRAP EU makes its debut

The meeting included members of the European Commission, senior business executives from the food, plastics and clothing sectors, bankers, NGOs, trusts, foundations and MEPs.

The event provided an opportunity to introduce the NGO’s new CEO Catherine David and executive director of WRAP EU, Sofie Schop.

Delegates discussed how the EU can move from a linear business model of take, make and dispose, to a more circular living model of reuse, repair and remanufacture, starting with food, textiles and manufactured products.

‘Unprecedented change’

David said: “Europe is about to undergo unprecedented change. The incoming textiles EPR will touch every member from Copenhagen to Milan and change how countries make and manage clothes for good. The EU is also committed to halving per capita food waste and reducing food losses in production and supply chains. Its Waste Framework Directive is world-leading in ambition for transformative collaborative action, underscored by its long track record of sustainable leadership.

“Driving Circular Living models on this scale will have a profound impact on global actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions. I am delighted to convene this meeting to show how this should be a blueprint for more action from more countries, more businesses and more governments to secure a prosperous and sustainable future for us all.”

The urgency of the talks follows a delay to the final round of voting on the revised Waste Framework Directive. This pause is said to mean many countries are collecting growing volumes of used textiles, as mandated from January 2025, but without an effective infrastructure to manage the increasing volumes and few national textiles EPR schemes in place to support its development or expansion.

WRAP shared its review of the effectiveness of different EPR policies in Europe around plastics, and its work with the government of Ireland to develop a textiles EPR scheme ahead of the directive.

WRAP EU was created through a partnership of WRAP and the International Food Waste Coalition (IFWC). The new organisation will transform global food systems and address unsustainable production and consumption in textiles and plastics.