EU

Food & Environment / Recycling

Up to 60% of the rubbish that ends up in the dustbin could be recycled. The unreleased energy contained in the average dustbin each year could power a television for 5,000 hours.

The EU is striving to increase the level of recycling in the UK., which still landfills above the EU average – 259kg per head compared with an average of 192kg per head. In other words, 50% of all municipal waste generated in the UK in 2009 was landfilled, compared to an EU average of  

The European Commission has defined several specific ‘waste streams’ for priority attention, the aim being to reduce their overall environmental impact. This includes packaging waste, end-of-life vehicles, batteries, electrical and electronic waste.

EU directives now require Member States to introduce legislation on waste collection, reuse, recycling and disposal of these waste streams. Many EU countries are already managing to recycle over 50% of packaging waste. The current EU target for recycling is a minimum of 55% of packaging waste and of that a recovery rate of at least 60%. In 2009 the UK achieved rates of 62% and 67% respectively.