Press releases
Victory on binding recycling targets
"The North East had the second lowest recycling rate of the regions, in
2006-7 with 26 per cent of household waste recycled (England average
31 per cent)", says Stephen Hughes MEP.
Every year in the EU we throw away about 1000 lbs of waste per person and less than a third of this waste is recycled. Most of the waste generated ends up in landfills or is incinerated causing environmental damage. The amount of waste produced is growing at an alarming rate and by 2020 the EU could be producing 45% more waste than in 1995. The UK produces more than 434 million tonnes of waste every year. This rate of rubbish generation would fill the Albert Hall in London in less than two hours.
Today the European Parliament will vote on the Waste Framework Directive (WFD), one of the EU's key regulatory instruments for tackling waste, which will set the ground rules for all other EU legislation in this area.
Labour MEPs are claiming victory in their fight for binding recycling and re-use targets by 2020 of 50% for household waste, such as paper, metal and glass, and 70% for construction and demolition waste. MEPs have also secured a strong commitment from Member States to make real progress on waste prevention.
Stephen Hughes MEP for the North East Region said: "The UK is currently only recycling 31% of our municipal waste and in the North East it's only 26% that's being recycled. Labour MEPs are backing the target of recycling half of all household waste."
"The new recycling targets will also contribute to our climate change objectives. It is estimated that the waste produced by an average household per week represents 38.2kg of CO2. If we can reduce, or at least recycle this waste, significant amounts of greenhouse gas emissions can be prevented."
A central element proposed in the Waste Framework Directive is a waste hierarchy which requires national waste management policies to follow a strict 5-stage hierarchy that priorities waste prevention and recycling.
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For more information, please contact Stephen Hughes on 07770914526 or Cyndi Beaver (Researcher) on 07764198400.
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For further comment/ detail, please contact Stephen Hughes on: 07770914526 or Cyndi Beaver on: 07764198400