Technological watch
EU faces ‘daunting challenge’ to meet recycling targets
A review published Oct. 6 by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) has warned that the European Union may fail to meet its plastic packaging recycling targets for 2025 and 2030.
While the update of the legal framework for plastic recycling in 2018 could help boost recycling capacity, the scale of the challenge facing the Member States should not be underestimated.
New and more accurate recycling reporting rules and a tightening of plastic waste export rules will reduce the EU’s reported recycling rate.
“Concerted action is thus needed to get the EU to where it wants to be in just 5 to 10 years’ time,” said the auditors.
Packaging, such as yogurt pots or water bottles, accounts for about 40 percent of plastic use and for over 60 percent of plastic waste generated in the EU. It is also the type of packaging with the lowest recycling rate in the EU (slightly over 40 percent).
To address this growing waste problem, the European Commission adopted the plastics strategy in 2018, which included updating the 1994 Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. It further doubled the current recycling target to 50 percent by 2025 and to 55 percent by 2030. Reaching these targets would be a significant step towards achieving the EU’s circular economy goals.
“To meet its new recycling targets for plastic packaging, the EU must reverse the current situation, whereby we incinerate more than we recycle. This is a daunting challenge”, said Samo Jereb, the Member of the European Court of Auditors responsible for the review.
“By resuscitating single-use habits amid sanitary concerns, the COVID pandemic shows that plastics will continue to be a mainstay of our economies, but also an ever-growing environmental threat.”
While the update of the legal framework for plastic recycling in 2018 could help boost recycling capacity, the scale of the challenge facing the Member States should not be underestimated.
New and more accurate recycling reporting rules and a tightening of plastic waste export rules will reduce the EU’s reported recycling rate.
“Concerted action is thus needed to get the EU to where it wants to be in just 5 to 10 years’ time,” said the auditors.
Packaging, such as yogurt pots or water bottles, accounts for about 40 percent of plastic use and for over 60 percent of plastic waste generated in the EU. It is also the type of packaging with the lowest recycling rate in the EU (slightly over 40 percent).
To address this growing waste problem, the European Commission adopted the plastics strategy in 2018, which included updating the 1994 Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. It further doubled the current recycling target to 50 percent by 2025 and to 55 percent by 2030. Reaching these targets would be a significant step towards achieving the EU’s circular economy goals.
“To meet its new recycling targets for plastic packaging, the EU must reverse the current situation, whereby we incinerate more than we recycle. This is a daunting challenge”, said Samo Jereb, the Member of the European Court of Auditors responsible for the review.
“By resuscitating single-use habits amid sanitary concerns, the COVID pandemic shows that plastics will continue to be a mainstay of our economies, but also an ever-growing environmental threat.”
This project has been co-funded with the support of the LIFE financial instrument of the European Union [LIFE17 ENV/ES/000438] Life programme
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