A person dumping waste into a compost on the yard of a detached house in Helsinki in September 2021. The European Commission on Thursday launched the infringement proceeding against all 27 member states for failing to meet their waste collection and recycling targets. (Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva)
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THE EUROPEAN UNION has rebuked Finland and other member states for falling short of their waste collection and recycling targets.
The European Commission on Thursday announced it has initiated an infringement procedure against all 27 member states for failure to comply with waste-related legislation. Finland, along with 17 member states, was rebuked for failing to meet the 50-per-cent target for preparing for the re-use and recycling of municipal waste such as paper, metal, plastic and glass by 2020.
The target is set forth in the waste framework directive.
Only 21 per cent of plastic waste was recycled and 77 per cent was incinerated in Finland in 2022. The country performed the worst in terms of plastic recycling in the entire European Economic Area (EEA), according to Helsingin Sanomat.
YLE reported last week that the country is set to fall short of its target for reducing the consumption of plastic bags to no more than 40 bags a year per capita by late 2025. The consumption decreased between 2016 and 2020 but rebounded in both 2021 and 2022 to an average of 55 bags per capita, a gap that was deemed too large to overcome by the deadline by an expert.
The directive on electrical and electronic equipment, meanwhile, dictates that a member state must annually collect at least 65 per cent of the average weight of the electrical and electronic equipment waste placed on its market in the three preceding years or 85 per cent of such waste generated on its territory.
Finland was on Thursday one of a large group of member states that were ruled not to have achieved the targets.
The infringement procedure enables the commission to issue letters of formal notice to member states. Member states have two months to respond with further information and measures to address the shortcomings highlighted in the notice. If the commission is not satisfied by the response, it may decide to issue a statement urging the member to comply with EU law.
Ultimately, the European Commission can submit a claim against a member state to the Court of Justice of the EU.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
