In the Waste Framework Directive at present recycling is defined as "any recovery operation by which waste materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances whether for the original or other purposes".
Although sounding simple, it elicits many questions:
- Would processes that produce both a product and a fuel be considered recycling?
- How do you measure the amount of recycled material: based on input or output?
- How can you make a distinction between low quality and high quality recycling?
There is a clear gap between the recycling claims on products and the actual amount of recycled materials that find their way into new products. At the same time, new technologies such as chemical processing of plastics, are able to produce useful new building blocks for material production and not only fuels or energy. Hence, we need an improved definition for recycling.
With the input by academic experts and stakeholders from the entire recycling sector, JRC research focuses on a critical evaluation of mass balances from various recycling processes and the many ways in which ‘quality recycling’ is defined in practice. Assessing the possible economic and environmental impacts from changes to existing legal definitions, JRC is proposing corrections to the existing calculation methodology for recycling.
JRC’s work relies on intensive collaborations with Commission department for Environment (DG ENV) while involving also Eurostat.
