For immediate release: Brussels, 18/04/18

The Circular Economy Package is approved, now it is time to make it real

Press Contact: Ferran Rosa, Waste Policy Officer, Zero Waste Europe: [email protected] / +32 (0) 2 503 64 88

The European Parliament has given today the final green light to the Circular Economy Package, thus approving the Waste Framework Directive, the Landfill Directive and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, four years after the first Circular Economy Package was tabled. Despite the improvements on separate collection of waste, waste recycling and disposal reduction, the legislation still falls short on waste prevention and food waste reduction.

Ferran Rosa, Waste Policy Officer at Zero Waste Europe said: “We have a Circular Economy Package, now it is time to make the circular economy come true. The real work starts now, with the implementation of the approved legislation, which needs to become a priority for every national and local government in Europe.”

With the green light of the Parliament, the text is going back to the Council for its final approval – probably next week. After this, Member States will have 24 months to transpose the directives into their national legislation.

Ferran Rosa added: “the transposition is just a formality, the real test will be for Member States to change the way they deal with natural resources, to phase out landfilling and incineration while promoting better product design and the right economic incentives”.

Zero Waste Europe welcomes the directives as a necessary step towards a true circular economy in the EU. However, the new package will not be sufficient to revert the current throwaway society trends, and additional legislation is needed to curb food waste, drive waste prevention and reduce single use plastics.