European Parliament votes in favour of a single calculation method for recycling rates

The European Parliament has opted to follow the lead set by its Environment Committee’s vote on the Circular Economy package in January 2017.

According to the Brussels-based Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), the most important outcome from today’s vote is that members of Parliament (MEPs) moved in favour of one single calculation method that enshrines real and comparable recycling rates both in and for Europe.

“Today, the European Parliament has fully grasped the opportunity to make the Circular Economy work for Europe by enabling industry and local authorities to better target where investment needs to take place,” says CEPI Director General Sylvain Lhôte.

CEPI says it recognises that the new recycling targets are ambitious while providing new opportunities in terms of improving quality.

“For an industry where over half of our feedstock comes from paper for recycling, the Parliament’s approach means greater use of raw materials whilst putting the emphasis on quality,” CEPI Raw Materials Director Ulrich Leberle says.

The vote to encourage the use of biobased packaging also demonstrates the importance of a Circular Economy that builds upon Europe’s wealth of renewable resources while accelerating the transition towards a low-carbon economy, the organization says.

Finally, the continued assertion of the separate collection of paper is viewed by the European paper and board industry as a means to bridge ambitious targets with higher quality recycling.

CEPI together with other partners in the European paper value chain will publish its updated “European Declaration on Paper Recycling” to address its commitment to the new targets.

The Circular Economy is one of the core elements necessary to achieving industry transformation in Europe as outlined in CEPI’s “Investment Roadmap” towards a low-carbon bioeconomy, the organization says. More information is available in CEPI’s alignment matrix.