Are you interested in working in the heart of Brussels and being involved in the frontline policy action of the trade association representing the private waste management industry? Then look no further! FEAD is looking for Environment/Waste-related Issues Policy Trainee to start in April 2019. The internship is remunerated and would be for a period of 6 months? Interested? Read all about it here and send us your application to recruitment@fead.be by March 6!
FEAD issues Joint statement on the European Commission’s legislative proposal for a regulation establishing a framework to facilitate sustainable investment
The undersigning associations noticed with great concern that the Commission’s proposal for a regulation establishing a framework to facilitate sustainable investment (also known as “taxonomy”), lists activities like “avoiding incineration and disposal of waste” as sustainable (Art. 9.1.i), while activities that “[lead] to a significant increase in the generation, incineration or disposal of waste” (Art. 12.d) are considered as harming environmental objectives.
For waste that contains substances of concern and therefore cannot be recycled in an environmentally sound way, incineration is the only sustainable option. It destroys these substances, and avoids that pollutants are spread into the environment.
Sustainable investment should follow the integrated approach and respect the waste hierarchy. As indicated in Article 4 of the Waste Framework Directive, life-cycle thinking should be taken into consideration when applying the waste hierarchy, in order to choose the most environmentally sustainable waste management option.
We need an integrated waste management approach with an appropriate and sustainable interaction of quality recycling, efficient energy recovery and environmentally sound disposal of waste that cannot be recovered. In order to achieve high recycling rates with low landfill rates, the whole waste management system from communication and collection to treatment of the residual fraction must be carefully designed and executed. Only with such a holistic process, can effective waste management which prevents environmental degradation, protects human health and generates recovered raw materials and energy to feed a circular economy.
Read more about our proposed amendment and reasoning here.
The private waste management sector, represented by FEAD, the European Federation for Waste Management and Environmental Services, rejoices as the final trilogue on the Single-Use Plastic Directive yields a positive vote for a 30 % mandatory recycled content in all beverage bottles by 2030, with an intermediary target by 25% in 2025 for PET bottles. This percentage will be calculated as an average for each member state.
This is an essential component to ensure the success of the 90% collection target, to be achieved in 2029, as well as a huge step forward for stimulating the demand for secondary materials, and for driving the necessary investment in collection, sorting and recycling.
The private waste management industry has been in strong support of such a proposal to be given the green light. We will now start to plan the necessary investments that are needed in our sector to innovate and expand the separate collection, develop sorting and recycling capacity across Europe. We are ready to deliver the quality and quantity, and play our role in transforming the vision of a new plastics economy into reality.
FEAD’s president, Jean-Marc Boursier said:
“This crucial signal to the market will trigger investments in sorting and recycling facilities. A demand shock in the EU is truly needed to boost recycling and make Circular Economy a reality. This new Directive will show how a real demand policy will dramatically raise the uptake for recycled plastics in beverage bottles, by gathering all market actors along the production and waste value chain”.
Read our full press release here.
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