The German MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz has criticised Europe's environment ministers for their lack of ambition in the run-up to this year's final trilogue talks on the EU waste package which will take place this Sunday. "Ministers from all Member States were loud in their commitments to a Circular Economy, in which resources are kept in use as long as possible, then transformed and used again once they become waste. But they seem to have gone awkwardly silent now that it comes to concrete legislation that could deliver those benefits. Not only silent, but rolling backwards," said Mr Florenz, who serves as the EPP fraction's shadow rapporteur on the circular economy legislation.
The Environment Council proposed 2030 recycling targets for packaging waste that had already been achieved in Europe three years ago, said Mr Florenz. The MEP had criticism for his own member states as well. "The German government is not taking the lead that it could and should." With this approach it could "gamble away" 30,000 potential jobs and an economic potential of billions, he warned. Urgently needed resources, which will otherwise have to be imported, would also be lost, he said. "The Member States in Council need to wake up and take action to make sure these resources are used to boost our economies, not buried in landfills.”
There is only one more circular economy trilogue this year. Will agreement be reached on Sunday? Check back with us for the latest developments.
