European Parliament, Council and Commission to start negotiations on the EU Waste Framework Directive
FEBA has written a position paper, with six recommendations, to further enhance the focus of food donation in the EU Waste Framework Directive. Read the full position paper here.
On March 14Th, the European Parliament adopted MEP Simona Bonafé’s report on the EU waste framework directive. It includes a new target in terms of food waste reduction “Member States should aim to achieve a Union-wide food waste reduction target of 30 % by 2025 and of 50 % by 2030 and also measure progress made in the reduction of food waste and food losses” The report also recommends a uniform methodology of the levels of food waste as well as measurements, which FEBA advocated for long times such as:
· A food waste hierarchy should be established.
· Member States should provide incentives for the collection of unsold food products in food retail and food establishments and for their redistribution to charitable organizations, such as […] facilitation of food donation.
· Consumer awareness of the meaning of ‘use-by’ dates should also be improved in order to reduce food waste.
Trilogue negotiations are expected to start by the end of May.
On April 11th, the European Parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee (ENVI) unanimously adopted the MEP Biljana Borzan’s report, “Initiative on resource efficiency: reducing food waste, improving food safety”. The report also supports the proposal of a 50% food waste reduction by 2030 and a lifting of restrictions on food donations among all EU member states. Although the report is not legally binding, it can strengthen the incentive for the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council to adopt the suggested amendments to the final version of the EU Waste Framework Directive.
