I believe that the extremely busy working start of this year, almost immediately after the holidays, will mark the whole 2016. After the publication of the Circular Economy Package in December 2015 by the EC, the focus now is on the European Parliament and the Council, which will finally define the legal framework to govern our activities in the next 15 years.
The work in both EU institutions has already started in full speed. Member States already discussed within the Environment and the Competitiveness Councils the Circular Economy Action Plan and the CE Package was presented by EC representatives in the EP ENVI and ITTRE Committees, which already had announced the names of the rapporteurs and shadow-rapporteurs for legislative proposals on waste.
Of course we in EXPRA, like all major stakeholders are preparing and fine tuning our positions regarding the new Circular Economy package and especially, of course on the revised Waste Directives. Again like all stakeholders we believe that transition to a circular economy is needed and it is needed very soon. We further truly believe that EPR is a major tool in this process and we are happy to share our vast experience of over 20 years and to partner with the EU institutions and other stakeholders in a bid to enable a genuine circular economy and best performing EPR systems.
I am happy to state that now EXPRA is positioned as the thought leader in EPR matters and the hub for know-how and information around all technical matters like statistics, measuring and reporting. We had again a prominent role in one of the most important forums for the packaging waste sector – Packaging Waste & Sustainability Forum 2016, 1-3 March, where I had the honor to chair the special seminar dedicated to the Extended Producer Responsibility, The EPR Toolkit Seminar. We were well represented during the two days of the forum as well: our President and members of the Board of Directors participated in the different panels. The broad spread of participants from across the packaging value chain, the European Commission and NGO community, the engaging presentations and debates all contributed to making the event a success.
Enjoy your reading!