INGEDE News April 2018

Higher recycling rates require separate collection for paper and cardboard, glass, metals, and plastic. Photo © Fischer/INGEDE

EP sets most ambitious recycling rates for paper and cardboard

New waste rules will make EU global front-runner in waste management and recycling

On April 18, the European Parliament approved a package to update current waste management rules, including new targets for recycling, packaging and landfilling. The new ambitious recycling and landfilling targets are meant to boost the re-use of valuable material in waste and improve the way municipal and packaging waste is managed. The targets further strengthens the “waste hierarchy” by placing prevention, re-use and recycling clearly above landfilling and incineration. The recycling targets for all municipal waste are 55% by 2025, to be increased to 60% by 2030, and 65% by 2035. Stricter rules for calculating recycling rates will help to better monitor real progress towards the circular economy. The rates for paper and cardboard, already the highest among the recyclable materials, will be increased further: New recycling targets for different waste streams

	By 2025	By 2030
All packaging	65%	70%
Plastic	50%	55%
Wood	25%	30%
Ferrous metals	70%	80%
Aluminium	50%	60%
Glass	70%	75%
Paper and cardboard	75%	85%

Extended Producer Responsibility schemes The new legislation foresees more use of effective economic instruments and other measures in support of the waste hierarchy. Producers are given an important role in this transition through extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes – meaning a producer’s responsibility for a product is extended to the post-consumer stage of a product’s life cycle. The new extended producer responsibility requirements will lead to better performance and governance of these schemes. A mandatory extended producer responsibility scheme has to be established for all packaging by 2025. Following the vote by the Plenary of the European Parliament, the package will be submitted to the Council for final adoption. The original press release by the European Commisson. More background on the European Commission’s website.

European Commission/Axel Fischer