In an article published on January 28, 2019 by news provider Euractiv, reporter Dave Keating interviews Maja Desgrées du Loû, policy officer for packaging waste at the European Commission (EC), about the new EU recycling targets and a potential change in calculation methodology.
“We’re working on essential requirements for packaging, and we will be looking at what is good or bad packaging in terms of circular economy, among other things,” the policy officer said. “The recyclability and the quality of this recyclability is one of the key criteria that we will be looking at, as well as the re-usability. And metal packaging will generally outperform plastic when it comes to these aspects.”
The EU is reported to be considering “the whole life-cycle perspective . . . not just recyclability” when developing their recycling targets and strategy. While targets for metal recycling “should not be a big challenge for most member states to meet,” Desgrées du Loû comments that “[w]e are working on new calculation rules to account for recycling, which may have an influence on how well countries will reach these figures in the future. Actual recycling could be lower than what has been reported until now.”
The EU has set new targets to recycle 70% of packaging by 2030 (FPF reported), and Euractiv has previously reported on how these targets could be met (FPF reported).
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Dave Keating (January 28, 2019). “EU official: ‘Actual recycling could be lower’ with new methodology.” Euractiv
Dave Keating (January 29, 2019). “Tough new EU recycling rules could be game-changer for packaging.” Euractiv
