COMBATTING WASTE CRIME

The European Green Deal (2020) aims to promote growth by transitioning to a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy. As part of this transition, several EU waste laws are reviewed here

The 8th EU Environmental Action Programme (2021-), as part of the European Green Deal adopted the objective of a “climate-neutral, resource-efficient and regenerative economy (which gives back to the planet more than it takes).” To achieve this goal, it has been identified that coordination among sectoral policies should be enhanced. Furthermore, environmental and climate concerns should underline a large amount of future European policymaking

On the same line of thought, and also part of the European Green Deal, the New Circular Economy Action Plan (nCEAP) adopted in March 2020 represents the new agenda for Europe's sustainable development

The nCEAP announces initiatives along the entire life cycle of products. It targets how products are designed, promotes circular economy processes, encourages sustainable consumption, and aims to ensure that waste is prevented, and the resources used are kept in the EU economy for as long as possible. It introduces legislative and non-legislative measures targeting areas where action at the EU level brings real added value

The objectives of the nCEAP are to:

• Make sustainable products the norm in the EU.
• Empower consumers and public buyers.
• Focus on the sectors that use most resources and where the potential for circularity is high such as: electronics and ICT, batteries and vehicles, packaging, plastics, textiles, construction and buildings, food, water and nutrients.
• Ensure less waste.
• Make circularity work for people, regions and cities.
• Lead global efforts on circular economy.

Many of the 35 actions under the nCEAP are delivered or implemented. In 2021, for example, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a new regulation on sustainable batteries, a proposal to update rules on persistent organic pollutants in waste and proposal for news rules on waste shipments. In 2022, the Commission adopted the Sustainable Products Initiative, EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles, proposal for a revised Construction products Regulation. Several initiatives have been adopted under the nCEAP, most notably a new policy framework on bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics, measures to reduce the impact of microplastic pollution on the environment, and a review of requirements on packaging and packaging waste in the EU.