00:00Every year, millions of tons of food and textile waste are generated in the European Union.
00:20But the mantra of reduce, reuse and recycle to promote the circle economy, like we see
00:25in this center, does not seem enough to drive real change.
00:31There was a recent agreement to revise the Waste Framework Directive, but critics say
00:36that is not ambitious enough.
00:38The fight against waste is at the heart of this week's EU decoders.
00:42Around 60 million tons of food waste are generated in the EU every year, causing economic losses
00:49of 132 billion euro.
00:51Annually, the bloc also generates almost 13 million tons of textile waste, of which 5.2
00:58million tons are clothing and footwear, equivalent to 12 kilograms per person.
01:04The European Council and the European Parliament have just reached a provisional agreement
01:08on the Waste Framework Directive, setting new reduction targets to be met by 2030.
01:15The new legally binding targets will oblige governments to better promote the circle economy,
01:21to retail and industry.
01:23Let's hear what people have to say about more sustainable production and consumption.
01:28Food that is often discarded could be made cheaper, so people would buy it, eat it, instead
01:34of just throwing it away.
01:36As a society, I think it's a shame that we waste so much.
01:40For textile, I think that we have to change our lifestyle about it and we have to buy
01:50less textile, but better quality.
01:53Yes, but there is a lot of food that has been given to associations.
01:57I don't think there is really food that is thrown away.
02:00We have become a society, a fast-throwing society.
02:04Everything is not repaired when something is broken, but it is replaced and re-purchased
02:10and not reused.
02:14I think we really have to bring together more education and political influence on the other side.
02:21With us is Robert Hodgson to explain the target revision of the Waste Framework Directive.
02:28In the food sector, what targets do member states need to hit by 2030?
02:33So there are two targets they have to hit by the end of 2030.
02:36There is a 30% target for reduction of food waste in retail, supermarkets and so on,
02:42in restaurants and catering and households.
02:46There is a separate target of 10% which applies to the manufacture of foods
02:50and the processing of foods, so before it reaches supermarket shelves.
02:55On the other side, about 11% of food waste occurs in the farmers' sector,
03:01but there is no specific target for farmers.
03:05This was criticized by the European Consumer Organization.
03:09Why were they exempted from this?
03:12One of the problems is that farming has become a very hot political potato in recent months.
03:16The European Parliament originally wanted to have a review by the end of this year
03:21with a possible target for what they call primary production, which is farming, to be put in place.
03:27In the end, when the negotiations are finished, we are left with a review clause
03:31which means by the end of 2027 they will review the way the whole system is working
03:36and then decide if there is any scope to extend it to the farming sector.
03:41In the textile sector, there are no specific targets to be met.
03:46Instead, they will be covered for the so-called extended producer responsibility regime.
03:53What is this about?
03:55It basically means that if you want to sell clothes, you have to pay a certain fee as well,
04:01which is theoretically then channeled into the collection and sorting and recycling of clothes
04:06once they get to the waste stage after use.
04:09Individual countries will have leeway to increase those fees in the case of fast fashion
04:15based on ideas about how clothes are marketed and how long they are intended to be worn.
04:21If they meet certain requirements, then they can increase the fees for companies that produce
04:27what are sometimes regarded as disposable clothes or throw-away clothes.
04:32Some member states are performing better at reducing waste.
04:36Some of the best mechanisms for donating food that is still safe to eat
04:40can be found in Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal.
04:47There is also a proposal for textiles to be classed alongside plastics and electronics in an international treaty
04:54aimed at preventing transfer of hazardous waste to less developed countries.
04:58This is supported by Austria, Denmark, Finland, France and Sweden.
05:03With us is Green Danish lawmaker Rasmus Nordqvist, shadow rapporteur on this directive.
05:10How confident are you that these new targets for food waste are going to make a real change
05:16when there seem to be less ambitions than what the UN and activists are demanding?
05:22I mean, you can always go in and say, yes, we could have done more,
05:25but I think with these targets we're going to see concrete action in the member states.
05:29And food waste is a huge problem when you look globally at the need for food.
05:34Everybody can see it makes no sense to throw out good food.
05:38We need to keep it, we need to eat it and we need to make this transition.
05:43But a lot of food that is still good for consumption, like you say, ends up in the trash and bin,
05:50especially in the so-called high-end environments like casinos, hotels, cruises.
05:56Should this be more monitored?
05:59It should be monitored in a way that this demands a change of how people are working with food.
06:05How do we use all the ingredients?
06:08How do we also not make up too much for these oversized buffets that nobody is eating?
06:14So when I talk to chefs and when I talk to restaurants, they're actually very keen to do this
06:18because also nobody likes to throw out good food.
06:21Now let's talk about textiles.
06:24Will these new rules make a real change considering that a lot of the fast and cheap fashion
06:32is coming from outside the EU via the online platforms, namely from China?
06:38There is a big problem with the ultra-fast fashion coming from China.
06:42But let's remember as well, fast fashion is not a new thing.
06:45We have big European corporations working within the fast fashion industry and they have to change as well.
06:51So with the new producer responsibility, we are actually demanding of them to take responsibility
06:57all the way through the value chain.
06:59And finally, the EU is somehow also part of this illegal textile waste export circuit to less developed countries.
07:09Do you think that the directive will curb this somehow?
07:13It's important for me to say we're not going to change the whole industry just with this directive.
07:18But it's an important step because we need to first of all look at how are we consuming textiles,
07:24but also what do we do with them after.
07:26And we need circularity.
07:28That's the next step is also to make demands on how much circular economy is within fashion industry.
07:34But that's for the next step.
07:35Foods and textiles are two European industries that need to adapt the most to the Green Deal.
07:41But it's not just about the production methods to reduce natural resources and polluting gas emissions.
07:47Developing new approaches to the waste culture like we see here in this neighbourhood compost is a big part of the challenge.
Comments