ESA calls on Commission to boost Recyclate Demand

The Environmental Services Association (ESA), has called on the European Commission to take measures that would help boost EU demand for recycled materials.

Jacob Hayler, ESA's economist, said: 'The ESA welcomes European Commission proposals that would help to boost resource efficiency in the EU. The Commission has just finished consulting on a range of indicators, which would help to measure European resource productivity and could be used to incentivise improved use of Europe's valuable resources.'

He continued: 'The ESA believes that the measures considered by the Commission don't take sufficient account of the important role of recycled materials in creating a circular economy. The EU has done tremendously well to raise recycling levels across the continent, but too little policy has focused on what to do with those recycled materials once they are collected. The ESA believes that the resource efficiency roadmap and its associated indicators could be better targeted at primary resource use and should be designed to encourage the use of recyclate as a substitute for environmentally damaging primary resource extraction.'