The Commission welcomes the provisional agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council on revising the Waste Framework Directive. This amendment aims to promote a circular economy across the EU by encouraging innovation and sustainable practices. This step is crucial for reducing textile and food waste while enhancing EU competitiveness.
Unified rules: The new Directive introduces harmonized rules to boost sustainability for businesses and consumers, streamlining the single market for used textiles.
Food waste targets: The agreement addresses food waste, showing a strong commitment from Member States to tackle waste across the supply chain, including households. The Directive supports the Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 to cut global food waste per capita by 2030. Member States are tasked to reduce food processing waste by 10% and retail/household waste by 30% by 2030.
The Commission will aid Member States through best practice sharing and funding research initiatives.
Textile waste reduction: Member States will establish Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles. Producers will manage the lifecycle of their products, encouraging designs that are easier to reuse and recycle. This fosters investments in collection and recycling facilities, promoting a textile circular economy.
New measures tackle illegal textile waste exports, ensuring sorting before shipping and managing waste sustainably.
Next steps: The European Parliament and Council will formally adopt the revised Directive, which becomes effective 20 days after publication. Member States must integrate it into national law within 20 months.
Background: In 2020, the EU produced 6.95 million tonnes of textile waste, with only 1.95 million tonnes properly collected. Increased recycling is crucial to prevent waste disposal through incineration or landfilling.
The EU faces 59 million tonnes of annual food waste, causing 252 Mt CO2 emissions. Economically, food waste costs €132 billion yearly, including resource loss and unnecessary consumer spending, with an additional €9.3 billion in waste management costs.
The Waste Framework Directive, revised in July 2023, focuses on reducing food and textile waste, aligning with the EU Strategy for Sustainable Textiles.
For More Information:
Press release on the targeted revision of the Waste Framework Directive from 05 July 2023
Webpage on Waste Framework Directive
Webpage on EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles
Factsheet on Extended Producer Responsibility for Textiles