Under new Parliament proposal, in 7 years 55% of municipal waste should be recycled
Greece must make great strides in recycling and managing municipal waste in order to implement the new proposals voted by the European Parliament on Recycling.
According to Parliament’s new proposal, in 7 years from now 55% of municipal waste should be recycled.
In Greece today only 20% of waste is recycled and most garbage ends up in landfill.
The European Parliament’s proposals include the use of food waste up to 50% in the coming years.
The share of recycled municipal waste will increase from 44% today to 55% by 2025 and 65% by 2035
• Reduce the share of municipal waste to landfill to 10% by 2035
• Separate collection of textiles and hazardous waste
The EP supported the ambitious targets for recycling, in favor of legislative proposals on waste and the circular economy.
Improved waste management can bring great benefits to the environment, climate and human health. The four pieces of legislation are part of a shift in European policy towards a circular economy, namely a system where the value of products, materials and resources is maintained within the economy for as long as possible.
By 2025, at least 55% of municipal waste (from households and businesses) will have to be recycled. The target will be 60% by 2030 and 65% by 2035.
65% of packaging materials should be recycled by 2025, and 70% by 2030. Separate targets will be set for specific packaging materials such as paper and cardboard, plastic, glass, metal and wood.
Greece and Cyprus recycle less than 20% of their waste. Here are the percentages for all Member States and the corresponding figures in tonnes of waste (source: Eurostat)
Landfill
The legislative proposal limits the share of municipal waste to landfill to 10% by 2035. In 2014, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden sent virtually no municipal waste to landfills. landfills, while Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, Latvia and Malta still drive more than three-quarters of their municipal waste to landfills.
Textiles and hazardous household waste should be collected separately from 2025. By 2024, biodegradable waste will also have to be collected separately or recycled at home through composting.
50% reduction in food waste
In line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Member States should seek to reduce food waste by 30% by 2025 and by 50% by 2030. To do this, they should provide incentives to collection of food that remains unsold and for safe redistribution. There is also a need to improve the awareness of consumers about the importance of the expiry dates used on the various food labels: ‘consumption before’ and ‘consumption before’.
Record
A cyclical economy entails reducing waste to the minimum, as well as reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products. Moving to a more circular economy will reduce environmental pressures, enhance the security of raw materials supply, increase competitiveness, innovation and growth and create jobs.
Source: skai.gr