Europe needs legally binding targets to drive progress in bio-waste collection and recycling
Brussels, 6 February, 2025 – Europe’s bio-waste management systems are falling short due to a host of reasons, which includes the lack of binding targets, according to a new guidance document released today by the LIFE BIOBEST consortium.
The document, entitled, “Comprehensive Guidance for effective bio-waste management in the EU” points towards the need to realign economic incentives, monitor bio-waste quality and quantity, and promote a reliable market for compost and digestate. Integral to the success of these issues are the pending performance targets for the quality and quantity of bio-waste .
This supports the obligation as outlined in Article 22 of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD), which requires all EU Member States to either separately collect bio-waste or apply home composting solutions. However, the WFD does not specify any legally binding targets like those that exist for other waste streams,resulting in a weak incentive for local authorities to invest in efficient bio-waste solutions.
This has led to the adoption of under-performing bio-waste separate collection systems across and within Member States. Following the one-year anniversary of the EU’s mandatory bio-waste collection policy, data by Zero Waste Europe and Bio-based Industries Consortium revealed that 74% of kitchen waste in the EU still ends up in landfills or incinerators – amounting to 45 million tonnes of kitchen waste that is not being properly managed. While this has brought bio-waste management into the spotlight, it serves as a reminder of the urgent need for strong EU policies to improve the efficiency of bio-waste management and its recycling into high-quality compost and digestate.
This new guidance document proposes a set of policy recommendations to support legally binding targets that will boost the adoption and monitoring of effective models for bio-waste management and develop a reliable market for compost and digestate. Proposed targets include limiting bio-waste in residual waste, setting impurity thresholds to ensure high-quality recycling, and introducing residual waste reduction targets. The LIFE BIOBEST consortium urges the EU to incorporate these targets into future revisions of the WFD, in coordination with the proposed Circular Economy Act.
The document challenges existing reporting requirements for compositional assessments of bio-waste and bio-waste in residual waste and a standardised methodology. These recommended updates will cover a significant knowledge gap regarding the efficiency of schemes and the quality of collected bio-waste.
Manon Jourdan, Implementation Officer at Zero Waste Europe, states:
“We’re flying aimlessly when it comes to understanding how well bio-waste systems are working. Without detailed and up-to-date information – such as clear rules for checking what’s in our residual waste, or on the amount of impurities in separately collected bio-waste– we will not be able to effectively fix the issue. Stronger reporting requirements and regular annual updates are essential to ensure every country is on track and to improve bio-waste management across the EU.”
ENT Foundation, project coordinators, state:
“With effective economic instruments in place, bio-waste management will be more cost effective and will cover the costs of the monitoring and characterisation activities.”
Steffen Walk, Scientific Officer at ECN, states:
“Implementing unified monitoring methodologies to assess bio-waste management performance is crucial for effectively tracking progress towards achieving EU-wide bio-waste targets.”
This document is the final guidance in a series of publications from the LIFE BIOBEST consortium aimed at best practices around bio-waste management.
