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Recycling Markets: European Governments Must Boost Green Public Procurement
27.02.2009
Europe’s Environment Ministers meet on 2 March and will discuss a paper (6918/09) on global recycling markets. Commenting on this forthcoming meeting of the Council, ESA Chief Executive Dirk Hazell said:
“We welcome the Czech Presidency’s paper noting the importance of robust recycling markets but it is much too timid on green public procurement. The public sector accounts for nearly half of GDP: green public sector procurement is not, as asserted in the paper, a ‘possible long-term solution’ to boosting demand for recycling materials but is the most obvious and rapid route to permanently increasing local demand for recycled materials.”
“We welcome the proposal to accelerate work, provided this is transparent, on the end-of-waste criteria in the new Waste Framework Directive in view of the obvious scope to provide a single European market in more recycled materials.”
“The British Government could also provide a helpful stimulus to investment in new British recycling infrastructure to replace landfill by giving a clear signal on its long term intentions for the level of the Landfill Tax in its forthcoming Budget,” he concluded.
ENDS
Embargo: None
Contact: ESA Press Office (Rebecca Messiter)
(020) 7591-3219
press@esauk.org
Notes to Editors
ESA is the UK’s sectoral trade association for waste and secondary resource management, an industry accounting for 0.8% GDP. For further details please visit www.esauk.org
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