On 11 December, amid speculations that the European Commission would eventually withdraw its proposal, the ENVE commission adopted its opinion on the Circular Economy package, which aims at boosting recycling and preventing the loss of valuable materials by virtually eliminating waste, reducing greenhouse emissions and environmental impacts as well as creating jobs.
The European Commission's original proposals review recycling and other waste-related targets in the EU Waste Framework Directive (WFD), the Landfill Directive and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive adding key provisions on the instruments to achieve and to monitor them. The CoR calls for binding waste prevention targets, accompanied by financial incentives, and the full implementation of the "polluter pays" principle while reiterating that landfilling of recyclable and biodegradable waste should be banned by 1 January 2025.
European Alliance group coordinator, and rapporteur on the reduction of light weight plastic bags, Cllr. Linda Gillham underlined the importance of this package and lamented that the European Commission would start off with the wrong foot if the legislative proposal were withdrawn. "Better regulation should be about reducing administration burden for LRAs, rather than diluting proposals which would enable the EU to achieve its climate change objectives".
