The European Parliament has adopted by a large majority a new directive on packaging and packaging waste. The text includes measures to prevent the production of waste, but also to promote the reuse and recycling of certain types of packaging.
The European Parliament approved on Tuesday (23 April) new rules to make products sold in the EU more reusable, repairable, upgradeable, and recyclable.
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted in favour of the Right to Repair Directive on Tuesday (23 April), aimed at improving consumer access to repair services in order to reduce waste.
On Monday, the Council of the EU unanimously voted to adopt the revised Waste Shipment Regulation. This text, which now becomes EU law, aims to encourage more local waste management and greater recycling of raw materials, while exports of waste to non-EU countries will be reduced.
Europe must accelerate efforts to transform its economy into a circular one focused on reusing or repurposing materials to cut waste, a necessity if it is meet climate targets, the European Environment Agency warned Thursday (21 March).
The Council of the EU gave its final approval on Monday (18 March) for a strategy to secure a sustainable supply of raw materials critical for the green transition, digital industries, and defence sectors, it said in a press release.
The European Parliament on Wednesday (13 March) backed targets for the prevention and reduction of food and textile waste across the bloc. However, environmental NGOs have criticised the proposal's lack of ambition.
The European Parliament's environment committee voted on Wednesday (14 February) in favour of EU targets to reduce food waste as well as an obligation on the textile industry to pay for the trash it generates.
Romania received a warning on Wednesday for failing to fully comply with the Landfill and Waste Framework Directives despite having already been fined by the European Court of Justice in December.
The industry sells itself on producing clothes from 'recycled materials', but these are mostly made from recycled plastics that cannot be recycled a second time. NGOs explain that the only solution is to buy less clothing.
Germany’s TÜV Nord Group is launching the world’s "first and only comprehensive certification" scheme for critical raw materials along the entire value chain – from exploration to extraction and processing, up to the final product.
A leaked European Commission paper on “industrial carbon management”, to be published on 6 February, lays the groundwork for captured carbon dioxide to be “recycled” in chemical processes or used as maritime and jet fuel, while accounting for non-emitted CO2 in the bloc’s carbon market.
A recent spill of plastic pellets on the Spanish coast has highlighted the need for regulation at EU level, with environmental groups pushing for a zero tolerance approach to plastic pollution.
The European Union’s decision to ban exports of plastic waste in and outside Europe is threatening to collapse the market for the collection and recycling of plastic packaging, Belgian industry association Valipac has warned.
Norwegian lawmakers gave the go-ahead for deep-sea mining exploration around the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard on Tuesday (9 January), a world first that has raised concerns among environmental groups.
A proposed mandatory deposit return scheme for plastic bottles should be scrapped altogether, French local representatives say, rejecting suggestions by EU member states to exempt countries that already achieve a high collection rate for plastic packaging.
Environmental groups have applauded a landmark political agreement reached at EU level last month to ban the export of waste for disposal both inside and outside of Europe, saying it puts an end to “waste colonialism” from rich nations.
To reduce household waste, a growing number of local authorities in Europe have started putting microchips on waste bins and charging people for the amount of trash they throw away.
While the European Commission is in the process of updating the EU's new bioeconomy strategy, Eastern European countries are calling for more deployment of this technology on their territory to close the gap with Western Europe.
The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act, adopted on Thursday (7 December), aims to reduce permitting times for domestic mining and recycling projects, but fails to create the broader conditions necessary for companies to make those investments, the industry says – a warning echoed by green activists.
The European Parliament and the Council of EU member states reached a provisional deal on Monday (4 December) on new ‘ecodesign’ rules to make products easier to repair and recycle while fighting planned obsolescence and banning the destruction of unsold textiles.
Romania’s guarantee return system for plastic, glass and metal packaging went live on Thursday, with an ambitious target to recycle around 7 billion pieces of reusable PET plastic each year to massively increase the country’s current separate collection rate of about 12-13%.
In the run-up to this week's vote in the European Parliament on the draft packaging waste regulation, a Euractiv event looked at the impact of packaging on Europe's forests. Here are the key points.
The European Parliament adopted its position Wednesday (22 November) on legislation to reduce packaging waste, after a tense debate on the role of reuse, recycling and bans.
