FEFCO president calls for Schengen area for material trade

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A Schengen area for material trade has been backed by FEFCO president Roberto Villaquiran.

The idea of this trading area in Europe had been suggested by MEP Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, but this was rejected by the European Parliament in April.

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Speaking to the EurActiv publication, the corrugated board manufacturing trade body FEFCO president Roberto Villaquiran said: “I like MEP Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy’s idea of creating a Schengen area for waste. He is right when saying transport of specific types of waste across borders should be eased to where the proper recycling facilities exist.

“This is a problem which does not raise any concern to us. Corrugated boxes are made out of paper which is 100 per cent recyclable. Due to the long history of paper recycling, the infrastructure is good. In Europe, you can find paper recycling facilities almost everywhere in your neighbourhood. I see that this could eventually be a problem for other products such as electronic equipment.

“MEP Gerbrandy’s main objective is to increase even more the re-use and recycling of all materials. He wants to give a sense of urgency to the scarcity of materials which is indeed urgent. But we feel the paper packaging industry is an excellent example to achieving this goal, having already now the highest recycling rate of all materials in Europe.”