Threat to recycling rates posed by EU’s plans for circular economy
Wednesday, March 9, 2016 - 11:16:12
Although the idea of creating a circular economy is one that should, ideally, lead to greater sustainability, some experts believe that the proposals made by the European Commission to promote this could actually do damage to recycling rates in certain member states, according to LetsRecycle.
The EC embraced the proposals late last year, among which are schemes to unify the way in which countries measure recycling rates. And, at the moment, countries are committed to hitting a target of recycling 65 per cent of all waste by 2030.
The issue taken by some experts is that the calculation of recycling rates will be carried out based on the weight of the material which is ultimately capable of being recycled in full. At the moment, rates are based on weights of all material collected for recycling, whether or not it is actually eligible for processing.
Waste which is collected for recycling has to be sorted, both in order to separate out non-recyclable materials and also to divide the compatible items into different categories, including plastic, glass, metal and paper.
Industry representatives have taken umbrage with the proposed changes because they fear that even the EU’s leading recycling nation of Germany, which recycles almost 64 per cent of waste at the moment, might see its performance slip once the goalposts are moved when the proposed changes come into effect.
The debate about how to measure recycling rates is one which comes down to the juggling of numbers, with the EC attempting to paint a more accurate picture of how much waste is recycled. For people across the EU, the message remains the same - recycle as much waste as possible, whether it be a drink can or an old mobile phone.
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