Work to amend the Waste Framework Directive continues

Since the publication of the Commission proposal for the revision of the Waste Framework Directive on 5 July 2023, work on the file in the European Parliament and Council continues.

In the European Parliament, the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) is responsible for the file, and MEP Anna Zalewska (ECR, Poland) was appointed to lead the work. MEP Zalewska issued her report (proposed amendments) on the proposal on 6 October 2023.

The Committees on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON), and on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) have decided not to give an opinion on the text. The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI), however, will do. Its rapporteur is MEP Clara Aguilera (S&D, Spain).

In the latest developments on the file, on 26 October 2023, members of the Parliament’s ENVI Committee tabled more than 380 amendments to the text. Although the European Commission limited its proposed revision of the Directive to measures aiming to tackle food and textile waste, members of the ENVI Committee have tabled amendments on additional aspects, including reuse and recycling, and Member States’ obligations. Those amendments include, for example:

Amendment 156 (proposal’s recital 5a) suggests that wood is added to the list of materials subject to separate collection (AM 156, Recital 5a). Amendment 296 (Article 11, paragraph 1, point 5) further adds that wood should be added to the list of materials for which Member States must set up separate collection (along with paper, metal, plastic, and glass).
Amendments 291 and 292 (proposal’s Article 10 – paragraph 2) introduce a proposed obligation for Member States to ensure that municipal mixed waste undergo sorting prior to disposal in landfills and incineration operations to remove materials designed for recycling.
Amendment 294 (proposal’s Article 11 – paragraph 1 – fourth subparagraph) proposes that Member States undertake the necessary measures to ensure sufficient infrastructure is in place for separate collection of waste and is made easily accessible for all kinds of waste, and to increase the number of points of separated waste collection.

Last but not least, some positive amendments recognising the role of packaging to tackle food waste have been tabled, including:

Amendment 239 (proposal’s Article 9 a – paragraph 1, point c a (new)) suggests that amongst the measures to be taken by Member States to prevent generation of food waste, one can be to support “innovation in packaging, taking into account the important role of food packaging in the food value chain to prevent the generation of food waste and ensure food safety”;
Further to the above, amendment 241 (proposal’s Article 9 a – paragraph 1, point d a (new)) suggests that Member States encourage “the development and deployment of more efficient and sustainable packaging solutions to reduce food spoilage, especially during transportation and storage”.

Members of the European Parliament AGRI Committee have made similar proposals, underlining the key role of packaging in preventing food waste in amendments 70, 79 and 83, tabled on 29 November 2023.

The AGRI and ENVI Committees are now finalising their reports, which will be adopted respectively on 24 January and 14 February 2024.

Although we had hoped for this review to be another cornerstone of the Commission’s work under this mandate, the overall timeline of the file, as it stands, could suggest that the file will be transferred to the next mandate for interinstitutional negotiations. Indeed, it is unlikely there will be sufficient time for those to happen before the cutoff date for any file to be finalised, translated and published still under this mandate.

It remains to see if the European Parliament will adopt its final negotiating position on the file before the European elections, as the last plenary session of this mandate will take place the week of 22 April 2024.

On the Council side, the Environment Council was briefed by the European Commission on the proposal on 16 October. The Agriculture and Fisheries Council was briefed by the Spanish Council Presidency and the Commission during its meeting on 23 October. The Council has not determined a date for adopting its general approach.

Stay tuned for more updates!

WHAT DID YOU MISS?

05 July 2023: Publication of the European Commission proposal for the revision of the WFD
07 July – 22 November 2023: Ex-post consultation on the Commission's proposal
06 October 2023: Publication of ENVI Committee Rapporteur’s report on the Commission proposal
23 October 2023: ENVI Committee debate on the file
26 October 2023: ENVI Committee deadline for amendments
28 November 2023: AGRI Committee debate on the file
29 November 2023: AGRI Committee deadline for amendments

WHAT’S NEXT?

24 January 2024: European Parliament’s AGRI Committee vote on its WFD opinion
14 February 2024: European Parliament’s ENVI Committee vote on its WFD report
22 – 25 April 2024: Last European Parliament plenary session before the European elections
06 – 09 June 2024: European elections