The European Parliament published its waste draft report
Following the publication of the European Commission’s proposal to revise the EU’s waste legislation, the European Parliament presents its draft report.
Ms Bonafe, the MEP responsible for the waste revision, presented her draft report to the Environment Committee of the European parliament on the 24th of May. The draft report consists of amendments to the Commission’s legislative proposal of last December to revise the Waste Framework Directive, which is the centrepiece of the EU’s waste legislation.
Building on the Commission’s version, Bonafe’s Report includes several important points for the anaerobic digestion sector and the recycling of waste in general. It strengthens the Directive’s definitions under article three, adding new terms for “organic recycling” and “commercial and industrial waste”. By-products are given a more prominent role, calling for quicker “industrial symbiosis” such as in the agroindustry. Related to this, the Bonafe Report requests the Commission to propose targets for commercial & industrial waste, as well as to give guidance on collection and treatment of biowaste, both by 2019. More importantly, it sets an unambiguous obligation to source separate biowaste, along with a specific EU wide recycling target of 65% for biowaste.
This draft report will be used as the basis for discussion in the European Parliament, where following the opportunity for MEPs to amend it, political groups will reach a compromise text that will then be voted by the assembly. In parallel, the Council of the EU representing all 28 states will draft its own common position. Following this, both Parliament and Council will start negotiations (most likely in early 2017), with the aim to reach an agreement on the revision of the Waste Framework Directive in the course of the year.
EBA will keep working with policy makers on the waste file, encouraging a revision which is ambitious and that supports organic recycling.
