News

Upcoming Conferences:

Organic Waste in Urban Environments - New European Challenges
20-21 November 2008 - Brussels, Belgium  
EN -  FR - NL - ES

Evolution of local authorities’ partnerships for sustainable urban development in the Mediterranean region 
17-18 October 2008 - Mahdia, Tunisia
EN -  FR   

 Identiplast 2009 - CALL FOR PAPER open until 31 October 2008

Organized by PlasticsEurope in partnership with ACR+, ACC, PMWI, EPIC, EuPC, EuPR, EPRO and the European Commission, the seventh edition of IdentiPlast will gather leading international experts to cover a wide range of topics related to the sorting, identification, recovery and recycling of end-of-life plastics.
Find out more

 FOCUS ON EU WASTE LEGISLATION -  Agreement reached on a new Waste Framework Directive

Although the gap between the opinions of the Council and the European Parliament’s Environment Committee regarding the revision of the Waste Framework Directive almost seemed impossible to reconcile, on 17 June 2008 the European Parliament finally gave its green light to a second-reading agreement with the Council. The European institutions found a compromise, including on the most pending topic of the debate: the inclusion of targets.

Read more in English - French - Spanish

PRESS RELEASE - MEPs should stand firm on waste recycling and prevention targets:
ACR+ studies confirm that proposed targets are achievable, or even underestimated

Recent studies from ACR+ confirm the achievability of the recycling and prevention targets for municipal waste proposed by the Environmental Committee of the European Parliament in April 2008, in the framework of the review of the Waste Framework Directive

 PRESS RELEASE - Revision of WEEE Directive - WEEE-PIN submits its opinion

In the framework of the review of the WEEE directive (Directive 2002/96/EC), stakeholders have been invited by European authorities to comment on some proposed policy options concerning the targets and the scope of the directive, the producer responsibility provisions and the WEEE treatment requirements. The stakeholder consultation will be running until 5 June 2008.

In this context, the WEEE-Public Interest Network (WEEE-PIN) has just submitted its position and formulated a list of recommendations.

PRESS RELEASE - The Environment Committee of the European Parliament votes for waste prevention and recycling targets... What’s next?

The Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and sustainable Resource management (ACR+) welcomes favorably the positions voted by the Environment Committee of the European Parliament on 8 April 2008. The vote is in keeping with the position advocated by ACR+ in favour of waste prevention and recycling targets, which are vital to ensure the implementation of a multi-level waste management hierarchy.

However, this vote is not a final decision and one may fear that the requirements be weakened in the next steps of the procedure.

  • Read the full Press Release (17 April 2008) EN FR
Plastic Bags: ACR+ publishes 2008 Update of its report "Plastic Bags - Policies and Practices to reduce consumption"

The report, first issued in January 2006, looks at existing national initiatives around the world aimed at controlling the use of plastic bags. As such, it has proven to be a useful source of information for policymakers as well as other actors interested in practical and legal aspects of waste management.

London: Conference on Waste and Climate Change (31 Jan. & 1 Feb. 2008)

The conference explored the vital role that waste management has to play in climate change. High profile expert speakers from Europe and Canada led debate on energy recovery, waste prevention, recycling and organic waste.

Brussels: 2nd Conference on Better Regulation Waste

The conference in Brussels on 9th October 2007 analysed European waste regulation and how to improve it,  focusing on areas such as reuse, recycling, organic waste and incineration.Liege: Conference on Producer Responsibility and the liberalisation of services. Click here for more info.

During the conference held in Liège, Belgium, on 10-11 October 2007, presentations were made examining producer responsibility for waste flows such as electric and electronic equipment, packaging and batteries. Representatives from LRAs and producers provided close analysis of case-studies from individual countries such as Germany, Belgium, Hungary and Bulgaria. Click here for more info.

Latest publications

A review of waste plastic bag management policies which considers the problems associated with the use of lightweight plastic bags. Read more...  

  • European Campaign for Waste Reduction

- ACR+ Press release: read now !

  • ACR+ study on Prevention in Regional Waste Management Plans

The new proposal for a Waste Framework Directive introduces waste prevention programmes to be drawn up at the optimum geographical level. The ACR+ study is based on the analysis of waste planning documents from 7 regional authorities members of the ACR+. Read more...

  • Municipal waste management: an image from local and regional authorities in Europe - Available now !!!

In 2005, ACR+ re-launched a major survey among members to gauge their practices and performance in the field of waste management. Read more ...

Latest groups and campaigns

  • WEEE Public Interest Network

The WEEE Public Interest Network (WEEE-PIN) is a group of local and regional authorities who draw on their experience in waste collection and recycling in order to help the European Authorities clarify the WEEE Directive. Read more...

  • - kg European Campaign for Waste Reduction

This initiative aims to bring about commitments in favour of waste prevention both at the local and the European scale. Read more...