65% of EU packaging materials will have to be recycled by 2025

Pollution concept. Garbage pile in trash dump or landfill.

The European Parliament adopted legislation on waste and the circular economy setting ambitious recycling targets.

According to the announcement, by 2025, at least 55% of municipal waste (from households and businesses) should be recycled, says the text, as agreed with Council of Ministers. The target will rise to 60% by 2030 and 65% by 2035. 65% of packaging materials will have to be recycled by 2025, and 70% by 2030.

Separate targets are set for specific packaging materials, such as paper and cardboard, plastics, glass, metal and wood.

Simona Bonafè (S&D, IT), lead MEP, commented: “With this package, Europe is firmly committed to sustainable economic and social development, which will at last integrate industrial policies and environmental protection. The circular economy is not only a waste management policy, but is a way to recover raw materials and not to overstretch the already scarce resources of our planet, also by profoundly innovating our production system. This package also contains important measures on waste management, but at the same time goes further, by defining rules taking into account the entire life cycle of a product and aims to change the behaviour of businesses and consumers. For the first time, Member States will be obliged to follow a single, shared legislative framework.”

The text now goes back to Council for formal approval before publication in the Official Journal of the EU, the official record of all EU legal acts.

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