COMMENT
PRE president Ton Emans reacts to MEPs' vote in favour of tighter waste shipment rules: “Plastics waste exports stop a key measure to keep valuable resources in the EU”
Members of the European Parliament have voted in favour of tighter waste shipment rules and said they are now ready to start negotiating with member states.
Following a plenary debate on 16 January 2023, a majority of MEPs – 594 – supported the proposals, while there were five against and 43 abstentions. The vote follows approval by the parliament’s Environment Committee (ENVI) in December 2022 (see Plasteurope.com of 31.01.2023).
Following a plenary debate on 16 January 2023, a majority of MEPs – 594 – supported the proposals, while there were five against and 43 abstentions. The vote follows approval by the parliament’s Environment Committee (ENVI) in December 2022 (see Plasteurope.com of 31.01.2023).
 Plastics Recyclers Europe president, Ton Emans (Photo: PRE / CeDo) |
President of industry association Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE, Brussels; www.plasticsrecyclers.eu), Ton Emans, has commented on the decision:
“Plastics Recyclers Europe has been advocating, since its creation, for putting a halt to plastics waste exports as a key measure to keep valuable resources in the EU and to recycle them back into new products. Therefore, the EU plastics recycling industry welcomes the European Parliament’s vote on the revision of the Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR), which calls for stricter rules on plastic waste exports. It is a major step towards improving waste management in the EU.
The new rules will boost further investments in the plastics recycling capacities while ensuring that plastic waste is treated according to the highest environmental as well as health and safety standards.
These measures will have to be further complemented by facilitating intra-EU shipments for all plastic and waste streams to ensure that plastic waste is effectively recycled while safeguarding the cross-border nature of the EU waste management sector while considering the different recycling capabilities and infrastructure across the Member States.
Additionally, effective enforcement of the waste shipment rules by the EU Member States is a must to ensure that EU environmental law is applied consistently.
The overall goal must be now to take the opportunities stemming from these rules to develop new EU recycling capacities, which are essential to reach the new recycling and recycled content targets. The EU recyclers are ready to deliver on that with the right legislative support. The testament of this are the investments done by recyclers who only in 2020 invested EUR 1.5 bn translating into 1.1 mn t additional installed capacity when compared to 2021, and a total of EUR 4.9 bn of investments since 2017.
We look forward to the Council’s adopting its position under the Swedish Presidency so that the new WSR rules can be formally endorsed before the next European Commission’s term.”
“Plastics Recyclers Europe has been advocating, since its creation, for putting a halt to plastics waste exports as a key measure to keep valuable resources in the EU and to recycle them back into new products. Therefore, the EU plastics recycling industry welcomes the European Parliament’s vote on the revision of the Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR), which calls for stricter rules on plastic waste exports. It is a major step towards improving waste management in the EU.
The new rules will boost further investments in the plastics recycling capacities while ensuring that plastic waste is treated according to the highest environmental as well as health and safety standards.
These measures will have to be further complemented by facilitating intra-EU shipments for all plastic and waste streams to ensure that plastic waste is effectively recycled while safeguarding the cross-border nature of the EU waste management sector while considering the different recycling capabilities and infrastructure across the Member States.
Additionally, effective enforcement of the waste shipment rules by the EU Member States is a must to ensure that EU environmental law is applied consistently.
The overall goal must be now to take the opportunities stemming from these rules to develop new EU recycling capacities, which are essential to reach the new recycling and recycled content targets. The EU recyclers are ready to deliver on that with the right legislative support. The testament of this are the investments done by recyclers who only in 2020 invested EUR 1.5 bn translating into 1.1 mn t additional installed capacity when compared to 2021, and a total of EUR 4.9 bn of investments since 2017.
We look forward to the Council’s adopting its position under the Swedish Presidency so that the new WSR rules can be formally endorsed before the next European Commission’s term.”
07.02.2023 Plasteurope.com 1117 [252143-0]
Published on 07.02.2023