The Targets Review Project has been commissioned by DG Environment at the European Commission.* The project seeks to review key targets under the Waste Framework Directive, the Landfill Directive and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. The basis for the review of the targets is twofold. On the one hand it is to respond to the review clauses set out in the Directives and, on the other, to bring these targets in line with the Commission's ambitions of promoting resource efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In recent years the Commission has published a number of Communications which give a clear orientation for this exercise:
- The Resource Efficiency Roadmap including 2020 aspirational targets;
- The Raw Material Initiative highlighting the importance of recycling to ensure safe access to raw materials; and
- The Report on the Thematic Strategy on Waste Prevention and Recycling summarising progress thus far, remaining challenges and proposals for the future.
The Resource Efficiency Roadmap, for example, sets an aspirational target that by 2020 waste generation per capita will be in absolute decline; reuse and recycling will be at their "maximum level"; European waste policy will have been fully implemented, energy recovery will be limited to wastes which could not otherwise be recycled and the use of landfill will have been "virtually eliminated". In light of these and other aspirations in the above Communications, there is a need to review waste targets and some of the supporting measures to ensure that they are aligned with broader European objectives in this area.
This project will consist of two phases. The first phase includes stakeholder consultation and will review the various issues arising from the existing targets, and options for changing them in line with the Commission's aspirations. The second will assess the impacts of a small range of preferred options that emerge from the first phase. These impacts will be assessed using the waste model that is being developed in parallel to this project (please click here to find out more about this project).
If you would like to register your interest in the project and/or wish to take part in the consultation process, please register your interest here and we will notify you as soon as the consultation is open with details of how to have your say.
* Click here to see the Commission's introduction to the project
Source: http://www.wastetargetsreview.eu/
July 4th, 2013
