TAG calls for CEP pull mechanisms

Six industry bodies in the waste and resource management sector have called on the European Commission (EC) to implement effective ‘pull’ or demand-side mechanisms in the upcoming Circular Economy Package.

The heads of industry bodies in the Trade Association Group (TAG) sent an open letter addressed to the EC’s Vice-President Frans Timmermans, the Commissioner for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness Jyrki Katainen and the Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Karmenu Vella. In it, they expressed concern that the role of pull measures that would stimulate the demand for the increased supply of recycled materials are being overlooked in development the package.

According to recent reports, the package, which is set to be released on 2 December, is likely to contain measures such as higher landfill diversion and recycling targets, which will ‘push’ waste out of landfill and towards the top end of the waste hierarchy. But TAG’s letter suggests that to stimulate stronger and more stable market demand for recycled materials, these need to be matched by strong pull measures.

The letter acknowledges that the commission is looking for a ‘lighter touch’ regulation, but states that this issue should be seen as an ‘exception’, as a long-term regulatory framework and market interventions are required to increase recycling and deliver the environmental and economic benefits of a circular economy.

TAG is made up of six bodies in the waste and resource management sector: the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA), the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM), the Environmental Services Association (ESA), the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the Renewable Energy Association (REA) and the Resource Association (RA).

The organisations represented in the TAG bodies cover the entire waste and resource supply chain, from local authorities and private-sector collection and treatment companies to material processors and the renewable energy sector.

‘Pull measures insufficient for the challenges ahead’

The letter reads: ‘We wish to emphasise to you the importance of the role of pull measures as a central plank of the revised Package. Supply side actions have served us well in many respects to date, but they will be insufficient for the challenges ahead. We all share the ambition for a more circular economy, but we do not see the delivery of a circular economy coming purely from the operation of the market.

‘The Commission is urged to appreciate that in this important area of public policy on the environment and economy, the application of intelligent and proportionate regulation to boost demand for recycled materials should not be seen as contrary to the Commission’s clear strategy to deregulate and operate a “lighter touch” approach to European legislation.

‘It should be seen as a noble exception to the Commission’s general rule, because to deliver the strong environmental and economic benefits of a circular economy requires a long term regulatory framework and market interventions that will stabilise and enhance the viability of increasing recycling.’

TAG calls support FEAD letter

These calls echo a letter sent to the Commission by the European Federation of Waste Management and Environmental Services (FEAD) in October, which questioned where the demand for additional materials would come from once their supply had been ‘pushed’ by proposed landfill bans and recycling targets.

The FEAD letter recommended four ‘pull’ measures to increase demand for recycled materials:

• minimum recycled content requirements for selected outputs;
• minimum green public procurement requirements at the EU level to boost purchase of recycled products and materials;
• eco-labelling rules to incorporate indications of recycled content and recyclability; and
• lower or zero rate of VAT on secondhand goods and products with recycled content.

Circular Economy Package background

The EC’s Circular Economy Package is to be published in early December following a year of development.

A package with new waste targets was to be released at the end of last year, but the commission decided to withdraw its plans in order to develop a ‘broader, more ambitious’ approach.

Public consultation of stakeholders took place between May and August this year to collect views on measures and issues that should be considered in the package’s development. Among the responses made public was that of the RA, a TAG member, which called for renewed emphasis on ‘demand pull’ measures to stimulate eco-design and investment in reuse and recycling infrastructure and a clear approach to the banning of recyclables to landfill and incineration.

RA Chief Executive Ray Georgeson said at the time: “We know that the circular economy is about much more than recycling, but getting the collection and processing of secondary raw materials in the best order possible to underpin the emergence of a more circular economy has to be a paramount priority for the commission’s revised waste legislation.”

Read the  full letter from the Trade Association Group to the European Commission.