The 13th of April presented a great opportunity for RREUSE to join the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sincevicius’s to the Kringwinkel re-use sorting centre for textiles in Aalst, Belgium, along with several actors active in the sector of re-use, repair, and recycling,.
To complement the extension of the scope of the Ecodesign Directive, which should in the future apply to other types of products than electronics and pay particular attention to making products more durable and repairable, the Commission has recently launched a public consultation on the “Sustainable consumption of goods – promoting the right to repair and reuse”.
The “New proposals to make sustainable products the norm and boost Europe’s resource independence”, stemming from the European Green Deal and presented by the European Commission today, contain a set of promising initiatives to save resources, advance the implementation of the waste hierarchy whilst taking into account social impacts.
Re-use and preparation for re-use targets are essential to implement the principles of the waste hierarchy and promote job creation. The current practice of combining preparing for re-use and recycling targets undermines the waste hierarchy, as countries without separate re-use or preparing for re-use objectives usually favour recycling.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, most social enterprises active in the circular economy faced significant challenges. However, RREUSE members stayed proactive in contributing to a fair and green recovery where possible, and offered all kinds of social and environmental services to help those most in need, with a strong focus on re-use, repair and recycling.