The European Parliament voted (24 May) in support of proposals from the recent “Report on a Resource-efficient Europe” to phase-out the use of landfill and significantly restrict the amount of recyclable and compostable waste being sent for energy recovery via incineration. No dates have been specified for member states to stop using landfill but it has been suggested that dates will be arranged country-by-country dependent on the ease of compliance.

At the EP Strasbourg Plenary session, agreements were put in place for proposals for the phase-out of landfill to be made by the end of 2014 and for the 2020 recycling targets to be revised. The UK will launch a consultation on banning certain materials from landfill in the near future.