Brussels, 19 Febriary 2025
The EU Commission welcomes the provisional agreement reached last night between the European Parliament and the Council on the targeted revision of the Waste Framework Directive. This Directive will promote a circular economy throughout the EU, notably by fostering innovation and moving towards more sustainable industrial and consumer practices. This is a significant step forward in addressing textile and food waste, while reinforcing the EU’s competitiveness.
The European Parliament and the Council will now formally have to adopt the revised Directive before it can enter into force, 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU. Member States will then need to transpose the Directive into national legislation within 20 months of the entry into force.
More information on the provisional agreement on the targeted revision of the Waste Framework Directive is available in our press release.
EU Council background on food waste and new rules on waste textile
Brussels, 19 February 2025
Today, the Council presidency and European Parliament representatives reached a provisional agreement on the targeted revision of the waste framework directive, setting EU targets for food waste reduction by 2030 and measures towards a more sustainable and less waste-producing textile sector.
The agreement still needs to be confirmed by both institutions before going through the formal adoption procedure.
Today’s agreement on waste textile marks a significant step towards a robust, circular, and competitive EU economy, while upholding the polluter pays principle. Additionally, the EU is for the first time setting ambitious food waste reduction targets, for more sustainable food systems in the EU.
Paulina Hennig-Kloska, Polish Minister for Climate and Environment
Less food waste by 2030
The two co-legislators agreed on ambitious yet realistic targets on food waste by 2030:
- reduction by 10% in processing and manufacturing waste compared to the average amount of food waste generated in these sectors in 2021-2023
- reduction by 30% per capita in waste from retail, restaurants, food services and households compared to the average amount of food waste generated in these sectors in 2021-2023
Those targets are the first-ever to be established at EU level. The agreement also provides for the voluntary donation of unsold food that is safe for human consumption as an important aspect of reducing food waste.
Infographic: Food waste
New rules on waste textile
The provisional agreement establishes harmonised rules on the extended producer responsibility of textile producers and fashion brands: they will be made responsible for their waste and will be required to pay a fee to help fund waste collection and treatment, which will be dependent on how circular and sustainable the design of their product is.
Co-legislators agreed to address overgeneration of waste textile and ultra-fast and fast fashion practices, to prevent discarding of textile products before they reach their potential lifetime. Member states may adapt fees paid by producers according to the length of use of textile products and their durability.
The provisional agreement provides for a level playing field, including all companies in the scope of extended producer responsibility schemes. Under this harmonised framework, all companies, including smaller ones, would have access to necessary resources and infrastructure for proper waste textile treatment.
To reduce administrative burden, microenterprises will have one additional year to comply with these obligations after the extended producer responsibility schemes are established (in total, 3.5 years after the entry into force of the new rules).
Infographic: Waste
Next steps
The provisional agreement was reached by the Council’s Presidency and the representatives of the European Parliament, based on mandates from their respective institutions. The provisional agreement will now have to be endorsed by the Council and the Parliament before undergoing legal linguistic revision. Once formally adopted, EU member states will have up to 20 months to update their national laws to follow the new rules.
The Commission will be tasked with reviewing and assessing several aspects of the waste framework directive. Those include the financing of the extended producer responsibility schemes and possible targets concerning waste textile (by 2029) as well as the role of primary production in food waste, the impact of changes in production levels and possible updated targets on food waste reduction for 2030 and 2035 (by 2027).
Background
Over 59 million tonnes of food waste are generated in the EU each year, representing an estimated loss of €132 billion. The EU also generates 12.6 million tonnes of waste textile per year. Clothing and footwear alone account for 5.2 million tonnes of waste, equivalent to 12 kg of waste per person every year.
Source – EU Council
EU Parliament on deal for new EU rules to reduce textile and food waste
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2030 targets to reduce food waste
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Producers to cover costs for collecting, sorting and recycling waste textiles
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60 million tonnes of food waste and 12.6 million tonnes of textile waste are generated annually in the EU
On Tuesday night, Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement on new measures to prevent and reduce waste from food and textiles across the EU.
Cutting down food waste
Negotiators agreed to introduce binding food waste reduction targets to be met at national level by 31 December 2030: 10% in food processing and manufacturing and 30% per capita in retail, restaurants, food services and households. These targets would be calculated in comparison to the amount generated as an annual average between 2021 and 2023. Following Parliament’s request, EU countries would have to take measures to ensure that economic operators having a significant role in the prevention and generation of food waste (to be identified in each country) facilitate the donation of unsold food that is safe for human consumption.
Producers to cover costs for collecting, sorting and recycling waste textiles
According to the deal, EU countries would have to establish producer responsibility (EPR) schemes, through which producers that make textiles available in an EU country would have to cover the costs for their collection, sorting and recycling, 30 months after the entry into force of the directive. These provisions would apply to all producers, including those using e-commerce tools and irrespective of whether they are established in an EU country or outside the EU. Micro-enterprises would need to comply with the EPR requirements 12 months later.
The new rules would cover products such as clothing and accessories, footwear, blankets, bed and kitchen linen, curtains, hats. At Parliament’s initiative, EU countries may also set up EPR schemes for the producers of mattresses.
Negotiators also agreed that member states should address ultra-fast fashion and fast fashion practices when setting out the financial contributions to the EPR schemes.
Quote
Rapporteur Anna Zalewska (ECR, PL) said:
“During the final negotiations round, Parliament succeeded to secure provisions making sure that food waste and textiles waste as part of the municipal waste will be further reduced. We succeeded in ensuring feasible and realistic provisions for member states to implement food waste reduction policies and we managed to ensure that the agriculture sector will not be negatively impacted. We also set up the legal framework to ensure that producers contribute to the effective separate collection of textiles they produce. We managed to lower the administrative burden both for member states and economic operators.”
Next steps
Parliament and Council have concluded an “early second reading agreement” (negotiations took place after the EP’s first reading was adopted in plenary). The Council is now expected to formally adopt its position, which can then be endorsed by the EP in second reading.
Background
Every year, almost 60 million tonnes of food waste (132 kg per person) and 12.6 million tonnes of textile waste are generated in the EU. Clothing and footwear alone account for 5.2 million tonnes of waste, equivalent to 12 kg of waste per person every year. It is estimated that less than 1% of all textiles worldwide are recycled into new products.
In July 2023, the Commission proposed a revision of the EU rules on waste, targeted at food and textile waste. Under the existing rules, EU countries were already required to set up separate collection of textiles by 1 January 2025.
Further information
Source – EU Parliament