The European Environment Bureau (EEB) has criticised the Maltese presidency of the European Union over the past six months for not being ambitious with recycling targets.
As the Maltese presidency comes to an end, EEB said that Malta had made progress to create greater progress on sustainable development and biodiversity across Europe.
But it noted that in negotiations on the revision of waste legislation, the Maltese presidency put forward proposals aimed at aligning the European Council position with that of the least ambitious Member States, leading to recycling targets being ignored with no mention at all of targets for food waste or marine litter.
EEB general secretary Jeremy Wates praised Malta for its actions on sustainable development and biodiversity, but added: “We were much less satisfied with the efforts and outcomes in the negotiations on the revision of the legislation on waste and energy efficiency, where we feel that opportunities were missed and that more could have been achieved.”
