EU states will have just 18 months to set up leather and textile recycling
Members of the European Parliament have voted overwhelmingly in favour of tougher rules for recovering leather and other materials from discarded shoes, accessories, clothing and household products.
At a plenary session in Strasbourg on March 13, members of the parliament approved a revision to Waste Framework proposals that the European Commission is preparing to adopt.
This revision suggests an extension to producer responsibility (EPR) schemes. Through these, manufacturers that sell shoes, accessories, clothing and other products in the European Union are going to have to cover the cost of collecting and sorting items when consumers have finished with them.
Manufacturers will also have to cover the cost of separately recycling the materials that these products are made from.
After the new rules come into force (the parliament will only be able to decide when this will be after the European elections in June this year) member states will now have only 18 months in which to establish these schemes. Under the original proposals, they would have had 30 months to carry this work out.
Footwear, clothing and accessories are among the products listed and leather is among the materials specifically named.
On March 13, votes in favour of the new, stricter proposals were 514. Only 20 members of the European Parliament voted against. There were 91 abstentions.
