Circular economy… worldwide changes

What changes worldwide could have the biggest impact on the circular economy? Read our selection for you here.

New consultation on EU’s waste shipment rules

The European Commission has opened up a new consultation on the revision of waste shipment rules in the European Union. It is hoped that a wider community of stakeholders will respond to the consultation, which is open until 30 July for all EU citizens. National authorities, experts, and private institutions involved in the shipment and management of waste are also invited to fill out the questionnaire.

The revision of the waste shipment rules is part of the European Commission’s Green Deal. It aims at restricting exports of waste, which can have a harmful impact in third countries or which can be treated domestically within the EU.

The revised framework is also designed to facilitate the preparation of waste for re-use and recycling in the EU and to boost the transition towards a circular economy.

Find more details on the public consultation here.

Public consultation in Spain

The Spanish Government has opened a public consultation on the transposition of part of the European Union’s Circular Economy Package to gain feedback on the amendments to the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and batteries regulations.

These amendments will partially transpose into Spanish national legislation the Directive (EU) 2018/849, amending the directives for end-of-life vehicles, WEEE and waste batteries, and include a number of changes which directly affect producers and compliance schemes.

The proposed amendments for batteries include new national hazardous waste codes for lithium- and nickel-based batteries.

The proposed amendments for WEEE cover a number of topics, including the introduction of a balancing mechanism for the calculation of collection targets for different categories or uses (household or professional) of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE).

At present, collection targets established by the European Union must be met for each EEE category. The proposed change would allow for more flexibility in collection targets depending on the category or uses.

In addition to this legal change, a new waste act has also been proposed, which Landbell Group company, ERP Spain, is currently analysing.

Netherlands to extend deposit-return scheme

The Dutch Government has announced plans to expand its deposit-return scheme to include bottles smaller than one litre in volume. A deposit of 0.15 euro will be added to all bottles under one litre when the scheme goes into effect on 1 July 2021. The higher deposit of 0.25 euro on one-litre bottles and above will not be affected by the new plan and will remain in place.

At present, it is believed that up to 100 million of the 900 million small plastic bottles sold in the Netherlands every year make their way into the natural environment. The Dutch government hopes that the new deposit-return scheme will result in 90% of all small and large plastic bottles being returned for recycling at the country’s 12,000 collection points.