Will new legally binding targets turn the fight against waste around?

euronews (in English)

Every year, millions of tonnes of food and textile waste are generated in the EU. The mantra of reduce, reuse and recycle to promote the circular economy does not seem to be enough to drive change.

Transcript

00:00Every year, millions of tons of food and textile waste are generated in the European Union.

00:20But the mantra of reduce, reuse and recycle to promote the circle economy, like we see

00:25in this center, does not seem enough to drive real change.

00:31There was a recent agreement to revise the Waste Framework Directive, but critics say

00:36that is not ambitious enough.

00:38The fight against waste is at the heart of this week's EU decoders.

00:42Around 60 million tons of food waste are generated in the EU every year, causing economic losses

00:49of 132 billion euro.

00:51Annually, the bloc also generates almost 13 million tons of textile waste, of which 5.2

00:58million tons are clothing and footwear, equivalent to 12 kilograms per person.

01:04The European Council and the European Parliament have just reached a provisional agreement

01:08on the Waste Framework Directive, setting new reduction targets to be met by 2030.

01:15The new legally binding targets will oblige governments to better promote the circle economy,

01:21to retail and industry.

01:23Let's hear what people have to say about more sustainable production and consumption.

01:28Food that is often discarded could be made cheaper, so people would buy it, eat it, instead

01:34of just throwing it away.

01:36As a society, I think it's a shame that we waste so much.

01:40For textile, I think that we have to change our lifestyle about it and we have to buy

01:50less textile, but better quality.

01:53Yes, but there is a lot of food that has been given to associations.

01:57I don't think there is really food that is thrown away.

02:00We have become a society, a fast-throwing society.

02:04Everything is not repaired when something is broken, but it is replaced and re-purchased

02:10and not reused.

02:14I think we really have to bring together more education and political influence on the other side.

02:21With us is Robert Hodgson to explain the target revision of the Waste Framework Directive.

02:28In the food sector, what targets do member states need to hit by 2030?

02:33So there are two targets they have to hit by the end of 2030.

02:36There is a 30% target for reduction of food waste in retail, supermarkets and so on,

02:42in restaurants and catering and households.

02:46There is a separate target of 10% which applies to the manufacture of foods

02:50and the processing of foods, so before it reaches supermarket shelves.

02:55On the other side, about 11% of food waste occurs in the farmers' sector,

03:01but there is no specific target for farmers.

03:05This was criticized by the European Consumer Organization.

03:09Why were they exempted from this?

03:12One of the problems is that farming has become a very hot political potato in recent months.

03:16The European Parliament originally wanted to have a review by the end of this year

03:21with a possible target for what they call primary production, which is farming, to be put in place.

03:27In the end, when the negotiations are finished, we are left with a review clause

03:31which means by the end of 2027 they will review the way the whole system is working

03:36and then decide if there is any scope to extend it to the farming sector.

03:41In the textile sector, there are no specific targets to be met.

03:46Instead, they will be covered for the so-called extended producer responsibility regime.

03:53What is this about?

03:55It basically means that if you want to sell clothes, you have to pay a certain fee as well,

04:01which is theoretically then channeled into the collection and sorting and recycling of clothes

04:06once they get to the waste stage after use.

04:09Individual countries will have leeway to increase those fees in the case of fast fashion

04:15based on ideas about how clothes are marketed and how long they are intended to be worn.

04:21If they meet certain requirements, then they can increase the fees for companies that produce

04:27what are sometimes regarded as disposable clothes or throw-away clothes.

04:32Some member states are performing better at reducing waste.

04:36Some of the best mechanisms for donating food that is still safe to eat

04:40can be found in Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal.

04:47There is also a proposal for textiles to be classed alongside plastics and electronics in an international treaty

04:54aimed at preventing transfer of hazardous waste to less developed countries.

04:58This is supported by Austria, Denmark, Finland, France and Sweden.

05:03With us is Green Danish lawmaker Rasmus Nordqvist, shadow rapporteur on this directive.

05:10How confident are you that these new targets for food waste are going to make a real change

05:16when there seem to be less ambitions than what the UN and activists are demanding?

05:22I mean, you can always go in and say, yes, we could have done more,

05:25but I think with these targets we're going to see concrete action in the member states.

05:29And food waste is a huge problem when you look globally at the need for food.

05:34Everybody can see it makes no sense to throw out good food.

05:38We need to keep it, we need to eat it and we need to make this transition.

05:43But a lot of food that is still good for consumption, like you say, ends up in the trash and bin,

05:50especially in the so-called high-end environments like casinos, hotels, cruises.

05:56Should this be more monitored?

05:59It should be monitored in a way that this demands a change of how people are working with food.

06:05How do we use all the ingredients?

06:08How do we also not make up too much for these oversized buffets that nobody is eating?

06:14So when I talk to chefs and when I talk to restaurants, they're actually very keen to do this

06:18because also nobody likes to throw out good food.

06:21Now let's talk about textiles.

06:24Will these new rules make a real change considering that a lot of the fast and cheap fashion

06:32is coming from outside the EU via the online platforms, namely from China?

06:38There is a big problem with the ultra-fast fashion coming from China.

06:42But let's remember as well, fast fashion is not a new thing.

06:45We have big European corporations working within the fast fashion industry and they have to change as well.

06:51So with the new producer responsibility, we are actually demanding of them to take responsibility

06:57all the way through the value chain.

06:59And finally, the EU is somehow also part of this illegal textile waste export circuit to less developed countries.

07:09Do you think that the directive will curb this somehow?

07:13It's important for me to say we're not going to change the whole industry just with this directive.

07:18But it's an important step because we need to first of all look at how are we consuming textiles,

07:24but also what do we do with them after.

07:26And we need circularity.

07:28That's the next step is also to make demands on how much circular economy is within fashion industry.

07:34But that's for the next step.

07:35Foods and textiles are two European industries that need to adapt the most to the Green Deal.

07:41But it's not just about the production methods to reduce natural resources and polluting gas emissions.

07:47Developing new approaches to the waste culture like we see here in this neighbourhood compost is a big part of the challenge.

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