MEPs reject waste paper proposal

Concerns over concerns about health and negative effect on recycling rates

MEPs in Strasbourg have voted overwhelmingly to reject a proposal from the European Commission to no longer define recovered paper as ‘waste’. Concerns had been raised that such a reclassification would inhibit recycling.

606 MEPs voted against the proposal, with only 77 voting for it. European paper industry association CEPI said that the new classification would mean that recovered paper exports would no longer be subject to waste shipment rules. The association predicted that recycling rates would drop to 37 million tonnes per year.

Following the vote, the European Commission acknowledged that the Parliament had killed the proposal and said it will reflect on the decision.

Under current rules, paper ceases to be waste when the raw material enters a reprocessing mill. The proposal would have made it cease to be paper at an earlier point. CEPI also warned that 20,000 jobs would have been affected by the change.