Joint letter on amendments to RED II by CEPI, EURIC, Plastic Recyclers Europe and ZWE

On the 4th of September, Zero Waste Europe sent a joint letter with representatives of the recycling industry calling for key amendments to be made to the RED II proposal. These amendments, to be voted on by the ENVI Committee on October 11-12 would bring the treatment of waste into line with the EU waste hierarchy. 

Dear Members of the ENVI Committee,

We the undersigned organisations urge you to support the following key proposals for amendments due to be voted October 11-12 by the ENVI committee:

• Introduce new sustainability criteria for renewable energy from waste, to ensure any extraction of energy from waste is done in line with the EU waste hierarchy.
• Remove the subsidies for energy from mixed municipal and industrial waste, to support separate collection and recycling targets.
• Exclude waste-based fossil fuels from the scope of the legislative proposal: the use of renewable energy funding for these is a massive step backward for the deployment of renewable energy sources, and should therefore be explicitly excluded from the Directive.

These amendments are key to ensure the treatment of waste is done in line with the principle of the EU waste hierarchy. In addition, voting in favour of these amendments is pivotal to ensure the alignment of the RED II with the circular economy package, as well as with the recent Commission’s communication on the role of waste–to-energy in the circular economy.

We therefore recommed you to support the above amendments and guarantee a coherent and forward-looking approach to renewable energy, waste management and the circular economy.

Kindest regards,

Joan Marc Simon, Executive Director, Zero Waste Europe

Ulrich Leberle, Raw Materials Director, Confederation of European Paper Industries

Emmanuel Katrakis, Secretary General, The European Recycling Industries’ Confederation

Antonino Furfari, Managing Director, Managing Director, Plastics Recyclers Europe