In May 2022, the European Commission published public consultation on the proposed changes to the key environmental regulations for the EU. The most recent in a series of initiatives the Commission is doing to enhance and modernize environmental legislation in the EU in response to the EU’s 2019 Green Deal is the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) consultations, which were launched in May 24.
The WFD, initially adopted in 2008, is intended by the EU to introduce “measures to protect the environment and human health by preventing or reducing the adverse impacts of the generation and management of waste and by reducing overall impacts of resource use and improving the efficiency of such use”.
The Commission has launched the consultation process on the Waste Framework Directive to address a number of specific issues, focusing on improving waste recycling and the increase in waste generation over the last ten years in the EU. To achieve these objectives, the Commission is considering the following regulatory actions: reducing waste generation and reinforcing the polluter pays principle, extending EPR schemes to other product categories (including textiles) and improving the application of EPR requirements, in particular for products sold through e-commerce.
The public consultation launched by the Commission on 24 May on the revision of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) also includes the setting of food waste reduction targets in the EU. The revision aims to improve the overall environmental outcome of waste management in line with the waste hierarchy and the implementation of the polluter pays principle. The public consultation is open for feedback until 16 August 2022. It will focus on the following policy areas: prevention (including reduction of food waste), separate collection, waste oils and textiles and the application of the waste hierarchy and the polluter pays principle. This revision considers several legislative review clauses referred to in the Directive as well as the policy objectives set in The European Green Deal, the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Circular Economy Action Plan.