On December 11, 2019, the European Commission introduced a plan that was announced as ‘Europe’s man on the moon moment.’ Different wordings were for example ‘the biggest challenge of our time’ or ‘the biggest opportunity of our time.’ It is called the Green Deal. But what is it exactly?

What is the EU Green Deal?

The European Green Deal is a package of climate plans proposed by the President of the European Commission, Ursula van der Leyen, and climate commissioner Frans Timmermans. It is extremely ambitious, radical, and it will affect all sectors of the European Economy. The plans entail all sort of legislative proposals, strategies and plans in order to reach the goal of becoming the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050.

Ursula van der Leyen about the ambitions of the European Commission:

“The European Green Deal is our new growth strategy. It will help us cut emissions while creating jobs.”

Goals of Green Deal

The European Commission has set a lot of goals in order to become the first climate-neutral continent in 2050. For example, targets are: decarbonizing the energy sector, renovating buildings to help people cut their energy bills and use, develop cleaner, cheaper and healthier forms of private and public transport and supporting the industry to innovate and become global leaders in a green economy.

Recycling

Especially the last mentioned goal is interesting. In the current situation, the European industry only uses 12% recycled materials. From 2030 and onwards, packaging must consist of recycled material, the market for recycled batteries must be boosted (read aslo my previous article 'Recycling batteries: the start of Project ReLieVe') and reuse of electric and electrical appliances like mobile telephones and chargers must be improved a lot.

Environmental Compliance

The above mentioned areas are areas of Pincvision’s expertise. The legal draft will be released around March 2020 and the expectations are that companies will face more environmental obligations then they face now. The Commission already acknowledged that Extended Producer Responsibility will be strengthened. Combine that with the focus on, for example, recycling of packaging and batteries of the plans and one might expect that new legal obligations for those waste streams will be made.

Do you wonder if your company has to register for environmental compliance, within the EU or elsewhere? Or do you want to be ready for expected new obligations on grounds of the European Green Deal? Do not hesitate to give us a call! Call +31(0)88-4321800 or send an e-mail to info@pincvision.com and we are happy to answer all of your questions.

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Source: EC - Green Deal

20 Dec 2019 at 9:42 am

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4 min