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Circular Economy Package Trilogue negotiations are ongoing On Tuesday 26 September, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission reached an agreement on technical provisions in the first articles of the core waste law proposals. The compromises have been reached on the following matters:
The agreed provisions open the door for possible future restrictions for certain types of disposal operations, such as release into the seas or permanent underground storage. They also lay out how EU countries should implement the waste hierarchy - ensuring that waste is first reused, then recycled and only as a last resort disposed of, as well as rules on the treatment of hazardous waste mixed with other kind of waste. At this meeting bio-waste definition, organic recycling definition and mandatory bio-waste collection were expected to be discussed.
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Fertilisers Regulation Internal Market Committee adopts the Fertilisers Regulation report On 13 July, the European Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) adopted its report amending the European Commission’s proposal for a revision of the Fertilisers Regulation. In its report, the IMCO Committee acknowledges the potential of biodegradable mulch films. In the meantime, the Estonian Presidency, which took over the file at the beginning of July, presented the first compromise proposals and hold a discussion in the Council Working Party on Technical Harmonisation in September. The European Parliament’s position will be finalised in the plenary vote in October 2017. Coming next
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Strategy on plastics European Commission’s Conference on the Strategy on Plastics On Tuesday 26 September, the European Commission organised the conference "Reinventing plastics - Closing the circle". The conference marked the end of a series of stakeholder workshops organised by the Commission to gather input on several issues that might be mentioned in the strategy, such as the role of bioplastics and concerns over the microplastics use. In the morning session, an opening keynote speech by Commission Vice-President Timmermans was followed by a series of presentations by, among others, Xavier Bontemps, Senior Vice President, Total. He stressed that bioplastics have to be a part of the plastics industry constant innovation. In addition, Commissioner Bieńkowska, responsible for Internal Market and Industry, mentioned that the EU should look into the use of alternative feedstocks for plastics productions. She highlighted that better LCAs are need to fully understand bioplastics impact. Last, but not lest, Kristy-Barbara Lange, Deputy Managing Director Regulatory Affairs, European Bioplastics, was a speaker at the session “Bio-based plastics and biodegradable plastics: sustainable solutions?”. The recordings of panel discussions and presentations should be available on the conference website. Coming next
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Bioeconomy Strategy European Commission confirms its commitment to the Bioeconomy Strategy revision in 2018 On 13 September, the European Commission presented a renewed EU Industrial Policy Strategy. It outlines the Commission’s vision to make the EU a world leading industry in innovation, digitisation and decarbonisation. The strategy mentions bio-based materials. The Commission states that the development of the bio-economy can “help the EU to accelerate progress towards a circular and low-carbon economy”. In this context, the Commission would like to further foster innovation and investments to make plastics more circular. Of crucial importance, the Commission confirms its commitment to present the revised Bioeconomy Strategy next year. The communication is available here. Coming next
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Sustainability of biomass / Energy Union Promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (recast) The debates within both institutions evolve around the most controversial provisions of the Commission proposal, namely the partial phase out of conventional biofuels or the increasing obligation to supply advanced biofuels for transport. The Parliament should adopt its position by the end of November. Once all positions are adopted the Parliament, the Council and the Commission would initiate the trialogues by January 2018. Coming next
Proposal on the inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry into the 2030 climate and energy framework On 13 September, the European Parliament at a plenary session in Strasbourg adopted their position on a new Regulation on land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF), largely following a report endorsed by the environment committee in July. Under the new law, the sector will, for the first time, participate in meeting the EU’s emissions reduction target for 2030. MEPs backed the European Commission’s approach to establishing net emissions from forests by comparing CO2 emissions and removals to a reference period. The adopted position will serve as the Parliament’s negotiating mandate in informal talks to agree the final legislative text with member states in the EU Council once they adopt their position. |
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Study on oxo-degradable plastics Coming next
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For more information contact policy@european-bioplastics.org |
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