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Full implementation of EU waste legislation would save €72
billion a year, increase the annual turnover of the EU waste
management and recycling sector by €42 billion and create
over 400,000 jobs by 2020 according to a European Commission
study just published.
Illegal waste operations in Member States are causing missed
opportunities for economic growth, but stronger national inspections
and better knowledge about waste management would bring major
improvements.
Environment Commissioner Janez
Potocnik said - "We need to see waste
as a resource - and to bury that resource in the ground is
worse than short-sighted. This report shows that waste management
and recycling can make a big contribution to economic growth
and job creation.
"If the
existing legislation was implemented properly, we could avoid
costly clean-up operations, pollution and health problems
- and let's not forget that recycled materials are cheaper
than virgin ones and that they reduce greenhouse gas emissions
and our dependence on imports."
The study gives an indepth analysis
of the effects of better implementation and enforcement and
shows that benefits would be significant. It analysed a number
of case studies in Cyprus, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the
Netherlands to demonstrate economic, financial and social
benefits to Member States.
The
EU's waste management and recycling sector is very dynamic,
but still offers economic opportunities with vast potential
for expansion. In 2008, its €145 billion turnover represented
around 1% of the EU's GDP and 2 million jobs. Compliance with
EU policy would help create a sector with 2.4 million jobs
and a total annual turnover of €187 billion.
The underlying problem is that
too many prices do not reflect the true cost of disposal of
goods - if they did, this would help prevent waste in the
first place. In addition, many Member States still lack adequate
infrastructure for separate collection, recycling and recovery.
An absence of systematic control and enforcement mechanisms
is another hindrance, coupled with a lack of reliable data
on waste management.
Four key conclusions -
Next Steps
The study's conclusions will be discussed and analysed by
the Commission. They will serve as grounds for developing
a balanced mix of legal and economic instruments as suggested
in the Roadmap for a Resource Efficient Europe and the Thematic
Strategy on Waste Prevention. These strategies encourage economic
and legal incentives such as landfill taxes or bans, extending
'producer responsibility' schemes and introducing 'pay
as you throw' schemes.
Background
The EU's economy uses 16 tonnes of materials per person per
year, of which 6 tonnes becomes waste, half of it going to
landfill. Many Member States rely mainly on landfill as the
preferred waste management option. This situation persists
in spite of existing EU waste legislation and is unsustainable.
The Commission's Roadmap
for Resource Efficiency sets out milestones
for ensuring that waste is managed as a resource by 2020 including
through the revision of prevention, re-use, recycling, recovery
and landfill-diversion targets - and through the development
of markets for secondary and recycled materials.
Further information
Implementing EU waste legislation for green growth (study)
- Click
Here
Comparative statistics on waste management
operations in EU Member States - Click
Here
2011 Report on the Thematic Strategy on progress
in waste prevention and recycling - Click
Here
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