European Parliament approves EU circular economy legislation

The European Parliament has approved legislation which aims to reduce waste throughout the European Union.

The draft legislation aims to establish the framework for a circular economy throughout the EU, where products and materials can be reused for as long as possible, helping preserve the environment.

Targets established by the legislation include a commitment to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030, an aim to recycle 65% of municipal waste by 2035 and a target to ensure that 70% of packaging materials are recycled by 2030.

Waste sent to landfill sites throughout the EU will be drastically reduced under the new legislation, as the draft law also limits the share of municipal waste being landfilled to a maximum of 10% by 2035.

This new legislation is the latest sustainability pledge made by the EU, as earlier this year the Union announced a strategy to make all plastic packaging recyclable by 2030. 

MEP Simona Bonafè said: “With this package, Europe is firmly committed to sustainable economic and social development, which will at last integrate industrial policies and environmental protection.

“The circular economy is not only a waste management policy, but is a way to recover raw materials and not to overstretch the already scarce resources of our planet, also by profoundly innovating our production system.

“This package also contains important measures on waste management, but at the same time goes further, by defining rules taking into account the entire lifecycle of a product and aims to change the behaviour of businesses and consumers.

“For the first time, Member States will be obliged to follow a single, shared legislative framework”.