The Ministers of Environment adopted today a general approach on the Commission’s Proposal for the revision of the Directive on waste. Copa and Cogeca welcome the compromise reached, which builds on the ambition to prevent food waste and to achieve a more circular economy, as proportionate to the challenges and attentive to national specificities.
As an active member of the EU platform on Food Loss and Food Waste since its creation, Copa and Cogeca support the EU ambition to deliver on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of halving food waste at retail and consumption stages by 2030 and reducing food losses along the rest of the food supply chain.
Copa and Cogeca positively view the fact that the proposed food waste reduction targets are ambitious but realistic, as shown by the Commission’s impact assessment, and follow a stepwise approach through a review clause. By proposing mandatory targets that include not only the consumption and retail stages but also the processing and manufacturing, the EU is already going beyond the United Nations SDG and consequently is on track for honouring its domestic and international commitments by 2030.
Beyond the level and scope of the binding targets, the General Approach sets to improve data collection while focusing on clarifying the text for legal certainty. A common methodology and minimum quality requirements for the uniform measurement of food waste levels are absolutely necessary for comparison and prevention.
We look forward to the trilogue expected to start in Autumn and hope that the outcome will mirror the compromise found today.
Fonte: Copa Cogeca
