Press Release: CSOs call for allocation of Recovery and Resilience Facility funds to a transition towards an economy that prevents products from becoming waste

Published

09 Dec 2020

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Brussels, 9th December 2020

Updated on 15/12/2020 at 18:35 CET to reflect the growing number of signatory organisations

In a joint statement published today, 20 civil society organisations urge the EU institutions and member states to dedicate the NextGenerationEU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) to achieving a transition towards a circular, carbon neutral, zero pollution economy, with waste prevention and reuse at its core.

In particular, the signatories call for:

  • A full alignment of RRF funds with, and their contribution to, EU environmental policies and instruments, particularly the EU Taxonomy Regulation
  • Using the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) to guide policy dialogue in the preparation of national recovery and resilience plans.
  • Investment in infrastructure and systems for waste prevention, product reuse, and preparing for reuse
  • Priority access to funding for circular SMEs and social economy actors with business models focusing on waste prevention and reuse

Nathan Dufour, Consumption & Production Programme Coordinator at Zero Waste Europe, said:

“There is an obvious temptation to use the RRF funds to protect and rebuild the same polluting infrastructures and technologies that have led us to the edge of the climate cliff. We want to remind the EU and its member states that they will not be able to deliver on their climate, pollution, and economic recovery objectives altogether without fundamentally and quickly changing their economic model.  Our joint statement is a positive and solution-oriented call: the RRF funds can be a game changer if they are used by the member states to invest in upstream solutions that design out waste, and, therefore, GHG emissions and pollution at the source.”

Read the full statement.

– ENDS –

Notes to Editors:

Full list of statement signatories: Zero Waste Europe, Recycling Netwerk Benelux, ECOS, ZERO- Associação Sistema Terrestre Sustentável, Zelena akcija / Friends of the Earth Croatia, No Plastic In My Sea, Gallifrey Foundation, Health Care Without Harm Europe, Društvo Ekologi brez meja, European Environmental Bureau, Polish Zero Waste Association, Circular Economy Institute, Ecology Recycling Society, Hnutí DUHA – Friends of the Earth Czech Republic, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, WECF – Women Engage for a Common Future, Surfrider Foundation Europe, Let’s Do It Foundation, Break Free From Plastic, and the Rethink Plastic alliance.

Press contacts:
Nathan Dufour, Consumption and Production Coordinator at Zero Waste Europe
[email protected] | +32 468 098 379
Ana Oliveira, Communications Coordinator at Zero Waste Europe
[email protected] | +32 485 986 111

About Zero Waste Europe

Zero Waste Europe is the European network of communities, local leaders, experts, and change agents working towards the elimination of waste in our society. We advocate for sustainable systems and the redesign of our relationship with resources, to accelerate a just transition towards zero waste for the benefit of people and planet. www.zerowasteeurope.eu