The European Parliament believes that the EU countries should reduce food waste sooner and more and put an end to the disposal of textiles. By 2030, at least twenty percent less food must be wasted in food processing and households must waste forty percent less food.
MEPs voted in favor of the new Waste Framework Directive with 514 votes in favor, 20 against and 91 abstentions. This decision comes amid growing concerns about the impact of waste on the environment and the need to promote a circular economy.
The EU countries currently produce 60 million tons of food waste every year (131 kilograms per person). The Netherlands also believes that agreements should be made on combating food loss in agriculture, but there is still too little support for this in the other EU countries.
There will also be rules to prevent textile waste. In a few years, this will no longer be allowed to be exported to developing countries, but must be used as raw material for new production. Reducing food waste and textile waste can save valuable resources and reduce environmental pressure.
Dutch MEP Anja Haga (Christian Union) responded approvingly: 'No waste at all is of course the best thing. When you see how much food and clothing is wasted, it is high time for regulations to be introduced.' A recently published report showed that around 3.4 billion t-shirts are destroyed every year in the European Union. The reason for this is that textiles are still too often thrown away as residual waste.
The new rules mean that textiles must be collected separately as standard and that producers will be responsible for recycling. 'These regulations are an important step towards a circular economy. We have to get rid of it fast fashion and this is a start. Unfortunately, no hard targets have yet been set to reduce textile waste. The European Parliament really missed an opportunity there," said Haga.