No EU packaging waste mountain in view

Archiv – Packaging use is growing by less than 1% per annum while EU member states appear to be on track to achieve the 2008 Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive targets, according to an ASSURRE analysis of official packaging and packaging waste statistics from 2002.Packaging use is growing by less than 1% per annum while EU member states appear to be on track to achieve the 2008 Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive targets, according to an ASSURRE analysis of official packaging and packaging waste statistics from 2002.
ASSURRE’s latest report covers recovery and recycling rates in 12 member states which have to comply with the 2008 deadlines of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, as well as key performance trends for the period 1998-2002. While changing lifestyles, increases in single person households and a growing, more mobile population are influencing consumption patterns, and therefore packaging use, growth in packaging put into the marketplace was below 1% per annum in the period 2000-2002.
The results of the analysis show that, as an average, the 12 member states are achieving the 2008 overall recycling target of 55%, with the UK and Spain bringing up the rear on 44%. Slow-starting countries have made impressive progress since 1998 whereas the performance of high-achieving countries has levelled out over the same period, resulting in a narrowing of the gap between the highest and the lowest recyclers from 52% in 1998 to 30% in 2002.
Since 1998, the volumes of waste recovered (+21%) and of material recycled (+20%) have both grown faster than packaging use. These positive developments have meant reducing reliance
on landfill across the 12 states – from 45% of packaging put on the market in 1998 to 37% in 2002. ’This is a striking example of where producers, local authorities and the waste management industry are really delivering against the objectives of the Directive and have succeeded in decoupling the environmental impact of waste from economic growth and product use,’€™ observes ASSURRE’€™s Managing Director Bill Duncan.