The European Council presidency and European Parliament representatives reached a provisional agreement on the targeted revision of the waste framework directive, setting EU targets for food waste reduction by 2030 and measures towards a more sustainable and less waste-producing textile sector.
The agreement still needs to be confirmed by both institutions before going through the formal adoption procedure.
Paulina Hennig-Kloska, Polish Minister for Climate and Environment, said: “Today’s agreement on waste textile marks a significant step towards a robust, circular, and competitive EU economy, while upholding the polluter pays principle. Additionally, the EU is for the first time setting ambitious food waste reduction targets, for more sustainable food systems in the EU.”
Less food waste by 2030
The two co-legislators agreed on ambitious yet realistic targets on food waste by 2030: reduction by 10% in processing and manufacturing waste compared to the average amount of food waste generated in these sectors in 2021-2023; and reduction by 30% per capita in waste from retail, restaurants, food services and households compared to the average amount of food waste generated in these sectors in 2021-2023.
Those targets are the first-ever to be established at EU level. The agreement also provides for the voluntary donation of unsold food that is safe for human consumption as an important aspect of reducing food waste.
Next steps
The provisional agreement was reached by the Council’s Presidency and the representatives of the European Parliament, based on mandates from their respective institutions. The provisional agreement will now have to be endorsed by the Council and the Parliament before undergoing legal linguistic revision. Once formally adopted, EU member states will have up to 20 months to update their national laws to follow the new rules.
The Commission will be tasked with reviewing and assessing several aspects of the waste framework directive. Those include the financing of the extended producer responsibility schemes and possible targets concerning waste textile (by 2029) as well as the role of primary production in food waste, the impact of changes in production levels and possible updated targets on food waste reduction for 2030 and 2035 (by 2027).
More than 59m tonnes of food waste are generated in the EU each year, representing an estimated loss of €132bn.
