WRITTEN QUESTION E-1743/00 by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission. Recycling.
Date: 2000-05-31
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: environmental policy, market, packaging, plastics, recycled product, waste recycling

13.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 81 E/85

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(11 July 2000)

As regards the issue of minimising job losses among employees at the Ford Dagenham plant in London,
no special or additional funding is made available in the light of the recent announcements. However, it is
important to point out that a considerable amount of European social fund (ESF) support will be available
to London through objective 3 which can be used to address, amongst other issues, the potential
unemployment problems resulting from announced job losses at the Ford Dagenham plant. The London
Region will receive a considerable share-out of the United Kingdom objective 3 programme worth € 4 500
million.

The objective 3 plan is structured according to the five policy fields contained in the ESF Regulation. In
relation to the Ford case, two policy fields are particularly relevant. Under policy field a), active labour
market policies, one of the strategic objectives is precisely to reduce the flows into (long-term) unemploy-
ment through the use of active labour market measures targeted at those recently unemployed or
threatened by unemployment. Possible types of intervention vary from advice and guidance to providing
support through integrated approaches including the provision of vocational and social skills. Under policy
field d), adaptability, one of the strategic objectives is to improve the skills base and adaptability of the
employed work force.

In addition, further structural funds of € 259,9 million will be available under the objective 2 programme
for London for the programming period 2000-2006 to counterbalance job losses in the area. The draft
proposal to be negotiated this summer aims at tackling barriers to economic opportunity in key areas
suffering industrial decline. Priorities proposed include community and neighbourhood economic develop-
ment, business development and competitiveness, innovation and technology as well as skills and access
to jobs.

(2001/C 81 E/103)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1743/00

by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission

(31 May 2000)

Subject: Recycling

Would the Commission provide the following information concerning the recycling policies of EU Member
States:

1. What facilities have Member States put in place for the recycling of plastic?

2. Do Member States have a market for their recycled goods? If not, what does each Member State do

with its recycled goods?

RØponse donnØe par Mme Wallstr(cid:246)m au nom de la Commission

(14 July 2000)

The Commission does not yet have exhaustive information concerning facilities in the Community for the
recycling of plastics nor a complete picture of the market for the recycled plastics material. The main
reasons for this are the large variety of plastic materials and the fact that recycling plastics is a very recent
industrial activity compared to the recycling of other more traditional materials.

However, this information should be made available by December 2000 after completion of a study (1)
with special emphasis on the description of the different recycling processes for plastics. The study will
consider as far as possible the different plastic materials namely PE (polyethylene), LDPE (low density
polyethylene), HDPE (high density polyethylene), LLDPE (linear low density polyethylene), PET (polyethy-
lene terephthalate), PP (polypropylene), PS (polystyrene), and PVC (polyvinylchloride).

C 81 E/86

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.3.2001

In addition, it is worth noting that the promotion of recycling is one of the main objectives of Community
waste policy. The preference for recycling over disposal is stated in the Community waste management
strategy (2) and in Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 as amended by Directive 91/156/EEC of
18 March 1991 on waste (3).

Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste (4)
sets targets for the recycling of packaging waste. Pursuant to Article 6 a minimum of 50 % and a
maximum of 65 % of the packaging waste must be recovered. Within this target between 25 % and 45 %
must be recycled, with a minimum of 15 % for each packaging material, including plastics.

Member States must comply with these targets. They are, however, not obliged to carry out the recycling
on their own territory. Recycling is an industrial activity. Wastes destined for recovery are subject to the
principle of free circulation of goods. Domestic markets must not necessarily exist for the whole amount
of recycled waste.

According to the interim report (5) under Article 6.3(a) of Directive 94/62/EEC and the data submitted by
Member States in the framework of the Commission Decision 97/138/EC of 3 February 1997 establishing
the formats relating to the database system pursuant to Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC on
packaging and packaging waste (6), recycling rate for plastics packaging waste was still in 1997 in several
Member States below the target of 15 % set by this Directive. It was exceeded by Belgium (25 %), Germany
(45 %), and Austria (20 %), while Italy, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden are not far from this rate. It is
not clear, though, to what extent these figures include the so-called feedstock-recycling.

These incentive provisions have produced an increase of the recycling of plastics. Accordingly, the
recycling of plastics has been doubled between 1994 and 1999 (7) in the Community to reach a recycling
rate around 9 % (8).

Following the communication on (cid:145)the competitiveness of the recycling industries(cid:146) (9) the Commission
organised the (cid:145)recycling forum(cid:146) with the participation of all major parties. These discussions have produced
a number of recommendations with a view to improving the framework conditions and the competitive-
ness of the recycling industry (10).

(1) Study on the evaluation of costs and benefits for the achievement of reuse and recycling targets for the different

packaging materials in the frame of the packaging and packaging waste Directive 94/61/EC.

(2) COM(96) 399 final.
(3) OJ L 78, 26.3.1991.
(4) OJ L 365, 31.12.1994.
(5) COM(1999) 596 final.
(6) OJ L 52, 22.2.1997.
(7)

according to industrial organisation data, APME report spring 1999 (cid:129) Association of plastics manufacturers in
Europe.

(8) APME, Plastics (cid:129) An analysis of plastics consumption and recovery in Western Europe 1998.
(9) COM(98) 463 final.
(10) http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/events/recycling/recycling.htm.

(2001/C 81 E/104)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1748/00

by Marco Cappato (TDI) to the Council

(5 June 2000)

Subject: Assessment of the application of the Joint Action concerning action to combat trafficking and

sexual exploitation of children

On 24 February 1997 the Council adopted a Joint Action designed to improve judicial cooperation in
combating trafficking in human beings and sexual exploitation of children.