Yesterday, the European Commission updated the EU Industrial Strategy. FEAD, the European Waste Management Association, representing the private waste management industry across Europe, welcomes the strategy which has been revised to reflect the post-covid era. FEAD states “we now have great expectations this Industrial Strategy will be working towards facilitating and strengthening a fair and open EU single market”.
The Industrial Strategy reiterates that enhancing circular economy and increasing the collection and recycling of raw materials, as well as strengthening the market for secondary raw materials are crucial instruments in boosting the green transition and accomplishing the European Green Deal targets and objectives.
FEAD consider it a positive sign that the EC identifies the strategic dependencies in the areas of raw materials, batteries, and energy, as they share the same concerns, and also bring solutions. The EU Industrial Strategy should encompass a holistic approach towards closing the loop in energy, by recognising the beneficial role of the recovery of energy from waste, which is partially a renewable source.
These tools are all indispensable when dealing with challenging sectors in the whole value chain and will help achieve the ambitious targets for a green transition
The EU industrial Strategy also needs a smoother functioning of waste shipments rules, as intra-EU waste movements are essential to the whole waste management chain which is largely cross-border.
FEAD supports the need to accelerate both the green and the digital transitions. Under the fit-for-55 package, the EU ETS should prioritise large emissions caused by the material and energy content of products/energy processes. They believe it should not include, however, Waste-to-Energy activities which are integral to the circular economy, and account for only 1,5% of the total EU CO2 emissions, while having the capacity to avoid yearly 120 Mt in 2030 with energy generated from waste.
Ambitious policies including mandatory recycled contents in packaging and in a series of other products are crucial to trigger more investments along the recycling chain, transforming the manufacturing sector into a circular model. The SUP Directive and the recently proposed Regulation on Batteries are very positive examples of such decisive evolutions by the EU legislator, and to which FEAD is a proponent.
FEAD claim that “these tools are all indispensable when dealing with challenging sectors in the whole value chain and will help achieve the ambitious targets for a green transition”.