MEPs on the European Parliament Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety have voted to veto paper end of waste criteria.
At a meeting of the committee, they cited environmental concerns as the reason for voting against the proposal from the European Commission.
It will now propose to a European Parliament plenary session likely to be in December that the proposal for end of waste criteria from the Commission should be vetoed.
A spokesperson for the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) said it was “very happy” with the decision and “we hope that the plenary will vote the same”.
In a press release issued prior to the vote, CEPI warned that the end of waste criteria as proposed would benefit exporters of paper to Asia.
CEPI director general Teresa Presas said: “It is obvious from past behaviour and from current communications by the Dutch traders and speculators of waste that their interests are contrasting the European paper industries’ interests. We are buyers of recovered paper on the market, they want to sell.
“As users of recovered waste paper we want to be able to set the quality specifications for our raw material. We hope the European Parliament and the European Commission will keep in mind that the original purpose of end of waste criteria is to facilitate recycling, not to obstruct it nor to burden the global environment.”
CEPI said it is not opposed to end of waste criteria, but wants the proposals to reflect resource efficient recycling of paper in Europe.
Picture: CEPI recently held a protest outside of the European Parliament against the end of waste criteria
