DEAR READER,
It looks like this summer will be again quite busy for all of us packaging and waste professionals as the European Commission is actively working on the new Circular Economy Package.
After publishing an indicative Roadmap for the route to a new CEP the Commission has opened a public consultation to collect views on the main policy options for developing an ambitious new approach on the Circular Economy. Stakeholders’ input will help feed the preparation of the new action plan, to be presented by the end of 2015. The Commission also organized several bilateral meetings with leading stakeholders and I am very proud that EXPRA was amongst those leading associations. EXPRA was also invited to make a statement during the Stakeholder Conference “CLOSING THE LOOP: Circular Economy – boosting business, reducing waste”, organized on 25 June in Brussels.
The CEP was among the priorities of the other EU institutions: the Environment Committee of the European Parliament adopted the report of MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen (EPP, FI) on Resource Efficiency – Moving towards a Circular Economy. The report is scheduled for a vote in the EP Plenary on 7 July and contains several quite positive proposals among others concerning strengthening of EPR as a very important tool to implement the environmental goals of EU legislation.
Following the started consultations EXPRA will remain actively involved in shaping the developments around the new Circular Economy proposal. We strongly believe that EPR is a key tool to ensure both economically and environmentally sound waste management. This is why we will continue with our efforts to convince the stakeholders that EPR minimum requirements should explicitly be integrated into the proposal for amending both the Waste Framework and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directives, and be made even more ambitious by outlining clear roles and responsibilities for the actors across the waste management chain.
With EXPRA’s and our members’ thorough experience in end-of-life management of packaging, we will continue to actively share our knowledge with interested stakeholders on ways to deliver effective EPR and sound waste management.
Enjoy your reading!