Circular Economy: Study on separate waste collection shows Estonia, Finland and Slovenia as top performers

Separate waste collection is central to the transition to the circular economy. The European Commission today presented a study assessing the current separate collection schemes in the 28 Member States. Particular emphasis was given to the best performers which included the Slovenian capital Ljublijana and the Estonian capital Tallinn. Separate collection of glass, paper, metal and plastic has become obligatory since 2015. In addition, the Commission has proposed, in its ambitious circular economy package, the separate collection of bio-waste and a ban of landfilling separately collected waste. EU Commissioner for Environment Karmenu Vella welcomed the study in Brussels today at the “Conference on separate waste collection in the context of circular economy“. He stated that “Only 19% of municipal waste is collected separately in our capitals. 80% of waste still ends up in the bin. This means a huge loss of raw materials. New Member States’ performance, with Ljublijana and Tallinn, (in addition to Helsinki) scoring the highest, is proof that where there is political will, things can move fast”. More information and Commissioner Vella’s speech are available online.