EU Agrees on Food and Textile Waste Reduction Targets

The EU Council and the European Parliament reach an agreement on new targets for the reduction of food and textile waste.

The provisional agreement between the European Parliament and the Council concerns the revision of the Waste Framework Directive. The aim is to promote the circular economy, innovation and the shift towards more sustainable industrial and consumer practices across the European Union.

One of the key points of the EU agreement is the fight against food waste

The EU aims to halve global food waste per capita and reduce losses along production and supply chains by 2030, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. To this end, Member States will have to reduce waste in food processing and production by 10% and in the retail and consumer sectors, including restaurants, food services and households, by 30%.

The European Commission will support Member States through sharing best practices, the EU Platform on Food Losses and Waste, research funding and dedicated grants.

Another new aspect of the directive concerns the textile and footwear sector. Each Member State will have to establish an extended producer responsibility system, obliging companies to contribute to the management of used and waste textile products. This mechanism will encourage the production of more durable fabrics that are easy to reuse, repair and recycle, encouraging investments in separate collection, sorting, reuse and recycling, and promoting a circular economy in the textile sector.

The new rules also strengthen the fight against illegal exports of textile waste. A clear distinction is established between “waste” and “reusable” textile products, requiring sorting before shipping. Furthermore, textile waste can only be exported if the destination country is able to manage it in an environmentally sustainable way.

The new rules will apply to all manufacturers, including those operating through e-commerce, regardless of whether they are based inside or outside the EU. The products affected will include clothing, accessories, footwear, bed linen, kitchen linen, blankets, curtains and hats . At the initiative of the European Parliament, Member States will be able to extend the same scheme to mattress manufacturers.

For the directive to enter into force, the European Parliament and the Council will have to formally adopt it. Once published in the Official Journal of the EU, it will enter into force after 20 days. Member States will then have 20 months to transpose it into national law.

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(Featured image by Guillaume Périgois via Unsplash)

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First published in ESG NEWS. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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