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Proposed Recycling Laws Slammed
3 March 1997
Proposed new laws debated by Parliament today could ensure that 26% of packaging is recycled. However, although Friends of the Earth welcomes the principle of legally-binding recycling targets, the environmental group has slammed the new UK Regulations[1]because:
. They do not fully implement the European'Waste Packaging' Directive. For example,the Regulations do not deal with reducing the amount of packaging waste produced in the first place, they do not fully deal with recycling of wood packaging, and they do not set out how polluting heavy metal content of packaging will be reduced.
. The targets are very weak - close to the minimum permitted under European law.The UK is aiming to recycle just over a quarter of all packaging; in contrast,Germany is already recycling three quarters.
. The Regulations have appeared eight months late, following protracted negotiations with the packaging industry. The Government refused to release the minutes of these meetings.
Dr Anna Thomas, Waste Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said,
"These kinds of weak regulations are what you get when you allow industry to write its own rules behind closed doors, which is effectively what has happened here. We need tougher targets for packaging recycling, we need targets for reducing packaging, and at the very least we need to implement European law properly."
NOTES TO EDITORS:
[1] The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations implement European Directive 94/62/EC on Packaging and Packaging Waste. The UK is aiming to recycle 15% of each material (the minimum specified in the Directive) and 26%overall (the Directive says that states must recycle 25% to 45%.)
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Dec 2008
