The UN recently stated that one
billion meals worldwide get thrown out daily and just one
percent of rare earth element demand is met by e-waste
recycling, according to the International Telecommunications
Union and the United Nations Institute for Training and
Research. While the EU is working hard to cut waste, up
recycling and double the Union's circularity rate by 2030,
experts are unsure whether these efforts are enough.
Every year, all economic activities and households in the EU
generate more than two billion tonnes of waste. That is
equivalent to 4.8 tonnes of waste per capita.
According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), the overall
recycling rate in 2020 stood at 46 percent. This figure includes
three waste streams: municipal, packaging as well as electrical
and electronic waste. In 2021, 64 percent of packaging waste, 49
percent of municipal waste and 39 percent percent of so-called
e-waste was recycled. However, the majority of waste in 2021 was
still disposed of through landfill operations and incineration.
"We are still far from the ambition to double the Union's
circularity rate by 2030," the EEA said, adding that there was a
"low or moderate likelihood" that EU's ambitions would be
"achieved in the coming years".
The EU's plan for a circular economy aims to lessen the strain
on natural resources by doubling its circular material use rate
(CMUR) between 2020-2030. CMUR reflects how much recycled waste
contributes to the total material used in the economy.
At the heart of the problem, according to the EEA, are business
models in which products have a very short lifespan - if they
are even used at all. At the same time, with its circularity
rate of 11.5 percent in 2022, Europe still uses more recycled
materials than any other region in the world.
EU legislation on waste, including more than 30 binding targets
for the 2015-2030 period, is a key driver in increasing the
levels of recycling in the Union. In March, the Union made
further progress in waste regulation in a bid to meet the bloc's
climate goals, aiming at increased recycling and cutting of
plastic.
On March 25, the Council of the EU adopted a revision of the
Waste Shipment Regulation. According to this EU states are to
export less waste to third countries and recycle more
themselves.
Under the new rule, waste may only be exported to countries
outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) if the destination country explicitly agrees
and can prove that the waste is processed in an environmentally
friendly manner to try to reach the goals of circular economy
and climate neutrality.
According to figures from the statistics office Eurostat, the EU
exported over 32 million tonnes of waste to non-EU countries in
2022. Of this, 39 percent went to Turkey (12.4 million tonnes),
followed by India (3.5 million tonnes), the United Kingdom (2.0
million tonnes), Switzerland (1.6 million tonnes) and Norway
(1.6 million tonnes).
What are recent developments in the EU?
On March 13, the European Parliament approved a proposal to curb
food and textile waste. EU lawmakers voted to slash 40 percent
of the food waste generated by households, retailers and
restaurants by 2030, while toughening rules on textile waste
linked to so-called "fast-fashion". Brussels estimates that the
27-nation bloc generates 60 million tonnes of food waste a year
- or 131 kilograms per person.
On March 4, EU negotiators agreed on the Packaging and Packaging
Waste Regulation (PPWR), to cut back on packaging waste by five
percent by 2030, compared to the amount in 2018. The aim is to
reduce this further by ten percent in 2035 and 15 percent by
2040. Single-use plastics in cafés and restaurants will be
banned from 2030.
The text is a key element of the EU's environmental goals under
the Green Deal. "This regulation aims to reduce waste caused by
packaging, making it more sustainable, while ensuring the
highest waste management standards," the government of Belgium,
which holds the rotating EU presidency, said on X.
Still, according to a new report the OECD anticipates that the
amount of plastic packaging will triple by 2060. Some
environmentalists argue that increased recycling does not
address the root problem.
Looking at waste across the bloc: give-and-take?
While some EU countries focus on expanding their recycling
capabilities, import - or export - of waste is an important part
of other nations' economies.
Sweden
In Sweden, a massive high-tech sorting plant dubbed "Site Zero"
has been in operation since late 2023, described by the
organisation as "the world's largest and most modern facility
for plastic recycling".
Mattias Philipsson, CEO of Swedish Plastic Recycling, a
non-profit organisation owned by the plastic industry, said the
site has "the capacity to handle the equivalent of all of
Sweden's plastic waste".
In 2022, only 35 percent of plastic waste was recycled,
according to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, less
than the EU average of 40 percent. The incineration of plastic
waste, which is used to produce both heat and electricity,
accounts for about seven percent of Sweden's greenhouse gas
emissions.
Portugal
In 2021, according to the most recent official data, 71,182
tonnes of hazardous waste left Portugal for recovery and 1,385
for disposal. Usually, that type of waste requires special
disposal treatment. 1,066 million tonnes of non-hazardous waste
were shipped or exported.
According to data from the Portuguese Environment Agency, Spain
is the main country of destination, receiving 80 per cent of the
total non-hazardous waste while Belgian incinerators received 90
per cent of the hazardous waste. Regarding exports outside the
EU, Portugal only exports non-hazardous waste to Morocco (597
tonnes for recovery).
The country also imports waste: 264,874 tonnes of hazardous
waste came in, most of it for recovery (244,959) and disposal
(almost 20,000 tonnes). The country also received 1.817 million
tonnes of non-hazardous waste.
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