European Union: "Towards a circular economy: a zero waste programme for Europe"

The European Commission adopted the Communication "Towards a circular economy: a zero waste programme for Europe" and annex to establish a common and coherent EU framework to promote the circular economy.

Turning Europe into a more circular economy means:

• boosting recycling and preventing the loss of valuable materials;
• creating jobs and economic growth;
• showing how new business models, eco-design and industrial symbiosis can move us towards zero-waste;
• reducing greenhouse emissions and environmental impacts.

As part of the circular economy package, the Commission also adopted a legislative proposal to review recycling and other waste-related targets in the EU and annex. Achieving the new waste targets would create 180 000 new jobs, while making Europe more competitive and reducing demand for costly scarce resources. The proposal aims to:

• Increase recycling/re-use of municipal waste to 70% in 2030;
• Increase packaging waste recycling/re-use to 80% in 2030 with material-specific targets set to gradually increase between 2020 and 2030 (to reach 90 % for paper by 2025 and 60% for plastics, 80% for wood, 90% of ferrous metal, aluminium and glass by the end of 2030);
• Phase out landfilling by 2025 for recyclable (including plastics, paper, metals, glass and bio-waste) waste in non hazardous waste landfills – corresponding to a maximum landfilling rate of 25%;
• Reduce food waste generation by 30% by 2025;
• Introduce an early warning system to anticipate and avoid possible compliance difficulties;
• Ensure full traceability of hazardous waste;
• Increase the cost-effectiveness of Extended Producer Responsibility schemes by defining minimum conditions;
• Simplify the reporting obligations and lighten obligations affecting SMEs;
• Harmonise and streamline the calculation of the targets and improve the reliability of key statistics;
• Improve the overall coherence by aligning definitions and removing obsolete legal requirements.