N. 18 | THE NEW EU DIRECTIVES FOR THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Finally the European Council, after a difficult process that lasted 3 years, approved the "circular economy package" containing new directives on waste, aimed at achieving a transition from a "linear" economy towards a circular model. The four directives, which will come into force on July 4th, concern waste, landfills, packaging and end-of-life vehicles, batteries and electric and electronic waste.

The objectives to be achieved are:

• recycling of urban waste to 55% by 2025, 60% and 65% by 2030 and 2035 respectively.
• waste disposal in landfills for a maximum of 10% by 2035.
• recycle packaging materials up to 65% over the next 7 years and up to 70% by 2030.
• improve separate collection through the separation of hazardous household waste by 2022, organic waste by 2023 and by 2025 of textile waste.

It must be said that during the course of the negotiations some objectives have been redefined, compared to the initial proposal of 2015, as described in the post N. 3. The margin has dropped by 5% for urban waste recycling and 10% for packaging waste. The reason could lie in the non-virtuous waste management by some Member States which give 70-80% of land filled waste.

And Italy? It is among the leaders of the green economy with a percentage of circularity of 18.5% against 26.7% of the first absolute, the Netherlands.

From this type of measures implemented by the EU, an increasingly central role of producers is expected through a reduction of waste, using resources efficiently, stimulating sustainable packaging, but above all by redesigning products with attention to environmental issues through a sustainable design.

A negotiation that has brought these goals down, true, but if they are not challenging and achievable for all member countries, will we reach the goal as European Community?