Commission looks to balance aspiration with practicality

Europe – ‘There is nothing more difficult than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things,’ Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for Environment, told delegates at Green Week 2014 in Brussels. Quoting the words of Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli, he urged that recycling and resource efficiency targets should be set at an ‘achievable but aspirational level – and we should not be scared of that’.

Optimising the circular economy will be ′the great innovation challenge of the next decades′, Poto?nik said. A new European policy package, set to be adopted by the European Commission on 18 June, is seen as a potential catalyst for change. It will require EU member states to recycle 50% of their municipal solid waste and 70% of construction waste.

The ′wide-ranging and comprehensive′ package will be based on life-cycle approaches and set out the instruments needed to ′induce changes in design, in investments, in business models, and in markets,′ Poto?nik said. ′Aspirational′, rather than legally binding, targets were best achieved by considering raw material consumption in relation to GDP, he stressed.

These future targets will be based on ′actual recycling′, added Karl Falkenberg, EC director-general for the environment. A landfill ban for states that still rely heavily on dumping waste, as well as a non-mandatory target on resource efficiency, are seen as the appropriate mechanisms to encourage more sustainable practices.

Poto?nik was wary of the response he might receive from the industry. ′I can guarantee you that any proposal for a target for resource efficiency will meet the usual cries of ′′Not now, not yet, wait until we have more data′′,′ he said. ′But after four years of analysis, consultation and modelling, I can assure you that there is really no legitimate reason to delay.′

For more information, visit: www.europa.eu