Unilateral waste sorting instructions impede the free movement of packaged goods in the Single Market and work in opposition to recycling targets and circular economy objectives. In response to a rising number of national labelling initiatives, AmCham EU has signed a cross-industry statement calling for the harmonisation of frameworks across Member States. The statement outlines a comprehensive set of solutions to facilitate the establishment of an easy and understandable system for correct waste sorting at source.
Such a proposal would leverage the upcoming revision of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) to implement an EU-wide approach to waste sorting, thereby, enabling the achievement of recycling targets and addressing the proliferation of divergent national initiatives.
Read more about our work on environmental policy here.
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AmCham EU has joined over 30 industry associations in calling on EU co-legislators to confirm the repeal of the Substances of Concern In articles as such or in complex objects (Products) (SCIP) database, as proposed in the Environmental Omnibus. SCIP costs companies around €225 million a year, yet its intended users, recyclers, barely use it. The Commission itself acknowledges that waste operators find the data unusable and most companies lack the resources to maintain millions of notifications. Repeal would remove a disproportionate reporting layer while keeping obligations for suppliers to inform customers about substances of very high concern. Any future approach should build on existing obligations, not add new ones.
Europe has an opportunity to make its chemicals rules simpler without weakening the protection they provide. The Commission plans to simplify the Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) through secondary legislation. Rules that are proportionate, clearly scoped and grounded in evidence are easier to follow and easier to enforce. They also give companies the certainty they need to invest and keep producing in Europe. Read our recommendations for a REACH that is simpler to apply and better for competitiveness.
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After frying frites, bitterballen, churros or arancini, many people don’t think twice about disposing of used cooking oil. Yet one litre of waste oil can contaminate one million litres of water, according to the European Commission. At Cargill’s facility in the port of Ghent, Belgium, used cooking oil and other residual oils and fats are treated as raw materials, cleaned and converted into biodiesel for trucks and ships. This puts circularity into practice on an industrial scale at one of Europe’s largest facilities of its kind. Since production began, Ghent’s biodiesel is estimated to have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 1,188,000 tonnes compared with fossil diesel, equivalent to taking about 550,000 cars off the road for a year. Read the full story on Invested in Europe.
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