Lidstaten moeten richtlijn voor recycling verpakkingsafval geïmplementeerd hebben (en)
By today, all EU Member States should have transposed into their national legislation an EU Directive setting higher recycling and recovery targets for packaging waste. This type of waste includes packaging made from paper, glass, metals, plastics and wood. The new Directive updates and strengthens an earlier Directive from 1994. It aims to further reduce the negative environmental impacts created by the landfilling and incineration of packaging waste and by the production of virgin materials. So far only Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom have informed the Commission that they have transposed the Directive.
Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: "The new recycling targets are a further step on our way towards a more sustainable society. They strengthen the recycling industry. They also enable consumers to actively participate in recycling schemes and to show their commitment to a more responsible management of packaging waste. I am confident that Member states will do their utmost to implement the new rules swiftly so they can have full effect throughout the EU."
Packaging waste
The new Packaging Directive[1] roughly doubles packaging recycling targets and strengthens the target for recovery[2]. It also clarifies the definition of packaging and allows certain provisions to be implemented by voluntary agreements if they deliver what is legally required. The new targets need to be achieved between 2008 and 2015, depending on the Member State (see table 1 in annex).
Currently, every European citizen is, directly or indirectly, responsible for the creation of close to half a kilogram of packaging waste per day (see table 2). Much of this packaging waste can be recycled. This avoids the environmental impacts related to the production of virgin materials and thus saves resources and avoids emissions to air and water during the production process. At the same time, less packaging waste is sent to final disposal. This does not only avoid further air and water emissions, but also reduces the need to create new landfills and incinerators.
Compared to a scenario of zero recycling, the recycling of packaging saved around 0.6% of total EU greenhouse gas emissions at an additional cost of around € 500 million in 2001 (see table 4). The average cost of reducing a ton of CO2 equivalent through packaging recycling increased from € 12/t in 1997 to € 23/t in 2001. This makes packaging a cost-effective option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and many other environmental impacts.
Progress in transposition
Although many Member States already achieve the new recycling and recovery targets (and none of the previous 15 Member States missed any of the old targets in 2002 - see table 3), only Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom have so far informed the Commission that they have incorporated into their national laws the new Directive. Once the Member States have sent their legislation to the Commission, it checks it for compliance and can, if necessary, take appropriate further action. The Commission can open infringement procedures against Member States that do not meet transposition deadlines.
Additional information at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/waste/index.htm
ANNEX
Table 1 : Overview of the new targets
| | 1994 Directive | Amended targets (new Directive) |
| Deadlines | EU 12: 2001 Greece, Ireland, Portugal: 2005 New Member States: varying transition periods (Accession Treaty) | EU 12: 2008 Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia: 2010 Greece, Ireland, Portugal:: 2011 Malta: 2013 Poland: 2014 Latvia: 2015 |
| Recovery and incineration at waste incinerators with energy recovery | 50-65% | minimum 60% |
| Recycling | 25-45% | 55-80% |
| Material recycling targets | All materials 15% | Glass 60% Paper 60% Metals 50% Plastics 22.5% Wood 15% |
Table 2 : Per capita packaging consumption[3]
[Graphic in PDF & Word format]
Table 3 : Costs of packaging waste management
[Graphic in PDF & Word format]
Table 4 : Compliance with recovery and recycling targets in 2002[4]
| | Overall recovery and incineration with energy recovery | Overall recycling | Glass | Paper | Metals | Plastics |
| Old target | 50%[5] | 25%[6] | 15%4 | 15%4 | 15%4 | 15%4 |
| New target | 60% | 55% | 60% | 60% | 50% | 22.5% |
| Austria | 75 | 66 | 86 | 80 | 67 | 30 |
| Belgium | 91 | 70 | 93 | 78 | 86 | 29 |
| Denmark | 94 | 57 | 90 | 61 | 44 | 16 |
| Finland | 61 | 49 | 49 | 61 | 50 | 15 |
| France | 62 | 45 | 52 | 64 | 53 | 15 |
| Germany | 78 | 74 | 86 | 88 | 80 | 49 |
| Greece | 33 | 33 | 24 | 68 | 10 | 3 |
| Ireland | 35 | 35 | 48 | 35 | 35 | 17 |
| Italy | 56 | 51 | 53 | 59 | 54 | 23 |
| Luxembourg | 62 | 57 | 83 | 60 | 79 | 28 |
| Netherlands | 61 | 57 | 79 | 69 | 80 | 16 |
| Portugal | 50 | 36 | 35 | 50 | 53 | 9 |
| Spain | 50 | 44 | 36 | 60 | 39 | 20 |
| Sweden | 67 | 65 | 88 | 70 | 68 | 20 |
| United Kingdom | 50 | 44 | 34 | 59 | 39 | 19 |
[1] Directive 2004/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 amending Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste
[2] Recovery mainly means getting energy from waste when it is burned in incinerators that produce energy
[3] The data relate to EU 15 as insufficient information is available for the new Member States.
[4] The data relate to EU 15 as insufficient information is available for the new Member States.