'Design is crucial'

“In general, it is our ambition to harmonise regulation to a greater extent in order to fully close the chains. The design of things is a fairly crucial aspect of that. That is why the Ecodesign guideline lies at the heart of our new measures for the circular economy: designing products in such a way that they are easy to recycle and the resources can be reused.” 

“We have developed independent regulations for packaging materials. The Packaging directive is due to be renewed this year. Now is the time to do so. Once again, design is a crucial factor, although we do have to keep food-safety regulations in mind. These regulations consistently make it difficult to design a packaging that meets all requirements and is both fully and easily recyclable.”

“Everything is possible, however - although it may seem difficult. For starters, the collection structure must be harmonised to some extent. We will never achieve one hundred percent, because waste collection is a local concern. What we can do, however, is arrange things in such a way that we end up with large-scale streams and can process these. Next, we will have to develop a system that will allow us to actually reuse those streams.”

“On an international scale, yes. Ultimately, we will have to form a single market, although most have a tendency to not view the waste market as an actual market. That goes for me as well, because when you talk about a 'market,’ you are usually talking about the lowest point where everything ends up. Generally speaking, that is not optimal from an environmental perspective, so we have a tendency to rely on highly restrictive policies. The result of that approach is that there are no large-scale waste streams and therefore no large-scale processing opportunities. That is the dilemma we have to solve.”

“As long as there are still lowest points, it will be difficult. As long as waste is still being brought to the nearest landfill, that is where the trucks will go and we will not make any progress at all. The only way to do so is by implementing a harmonised and rigidly enforced system which ensures waste is not simply disposed of somewhere. Thus far, we have not managed to develop such a system - and the Netherlands is no exception - considering how much waste is exported abroad. Now, those countries are speaking up and China no longer wants our waste. The wheels are in motion all of a sudden, but the EU was not the instigator here. It happened because China told us to take care of our problems from now on. I am happy with this development, but I also think it is kind of embarrassing for us.”

Ultimately, we will have to form a single market, although most have a tendency to not view the waste market as an actual market"

“At the moment, we are looking for the lowest point in Europe. Ideally, that point is nowhere to be found. The lowest point is still the point where things cost the least amount of money. What we need is a level playing field, so the rules are the same everywhere and the same things can and may be done everywhere. The easiest way to achieve that is by assigning a value to our waste. The thing is: as soon as you introduce a system in which waste has a monetary value, that becomes the lowest point. So far, we have not been able to come up with anything yet. One way or another, money still has to be pumped into the system and no one stands to earn anything from it. Throughout the entire cycle, money has to be put in.”

“If we had to choose one system, which would be the best - or the least bad? Here in Brussels, I have four or five options to separate my waste. I try to follow the rules, but it can be quite difficult at times to remember everything. I am tempted sometimes, even though I know better. I also have a strong urge to educate people in some small way. I guess that is the social-democratic paternalism in me. A carton of milk or a bottle of milk? If you calculate their environmental impact all the way, neither option is necessarily better than the other. I do prefer having to return a bottle to the store. Along the way, you cannot help but think about what you are doing and why. However, If I were to cut out the romanticism and only think about what the best technique is, I am increasingly tempted to use subsequent separation. It is important to remember that the development of that technique is ongoing as well.”

“It is about what system offers the highest quality when you use the recycled material to produce new products or packaging materials. Real progress is made with the best recycling. Our goal is therefore to include a ton of design requirements for packaging materials in the Packaging directive. Instead of scrambling to come up with measures at the end of the process, we should focus on implementing improvements at the start.”

This system lacks the necessary pressure"

“We talk about this issue with supermarkets. Let's say we introduce a ban on packaging materials that consist of more than one type of plastic. The supermarkets will tell us that this measure is impossible to implement overnight for food-safety reasons. Perhaps I am looking for a Holy Grail that does not exist, but can we really afford to say that we are willing to introduce laxer food-safety regulations for environmental reasons? Some supermarkets tell me they think those regulations are pointless. They are very casual about it. Would this only exacerbate the issue? I would love to introduce radical new measures to push everyone to take action, just like we managed to do in the automotive industry: simply reduce the emission standards and get every manufacturer - in a slight state of panic, but still - to work hard on a solution. This system lacks the necessary pressure.”

“There are always many questions, although I don't think there is a conclusive answer to each one. About source and/or subsequent separation. About plastics. About food safety. New questions are arising all the time. Surely it must be possible to find a solution that all of Europe can get behind? As politicians, there comes a time when we have to make a sensible choice and pick whichever system is indisputably the best. As a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy, that will become the largest system and outperform all the rest. Scale is an important factor in this, of course. We must avoid a situation in which each country tries to reinvent the wheel on its own. In that case, everyone will continue to do things their own way and no one will win. Ultimately, that will get us absolutely nowhere.”