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NEW REPORT: Half a million new jobs could be created in Europe by recycling more
Read the report 'More Jobs, Less Waste' at:
http://www.foeeurope.org/publications/2010/More_Jobs_Less_Waste_Sep2010.pdf
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Brussels, September 14 - At least 500,000 new jobs would be created in
Europe if countries recycled 70% of their waste finds a new study, 'More
Jobs, Less Waste', launched by Friends of the Earth today. [1] This is the recycling rate already achieved by
Flanders in Belgium.
President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso has called for
the creation of 3 million new green jobs by 2020 in his ‘State of the
Union’ [2] speech to the European Parliament; this study shows that a
significant portion of this target could be achieved through increased
recycling across Europe.
The EU’s current recycling target of 50% by 2020 [3] will mean no
overall increase in jobs, according to the research, as a reduction in
waste levels is predicted by 2020.
The report also shows that recycling creates around ten times more jobs
per tonne than sending rubbish to landfill or incineration.
Previous research for Friends of the Earth [4] showed that the EU
currently buries or burns at least €5.25billion of recyclable materials
every year. Recycling that waste would save the equivalent of 148
million tonnes of climate changing emissions, equivalent to taking 47
million cars off the road.
Friends of the Earth Europe’s resources campaigner, Dr Michael Warhurst
said: “Our research shows that a 70% recycling target would create more
than half a million new jobs by 2020, a significant contribution towards
the 3 million green jobs that President Barroso has called for by 2020.
“Despite the economic, environmental and employment benefits of
recycling more, the European Commission has up until now failed to set
high enough recycling targets for Europe.
“European Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik has stated that
resource efficiency is one of his priorities, now he must not waste the
opportunity to make it a reality.
“Europe must stop throwing valuable resources - and the potential jobs
that come with them - in holes in the ground or sending them up in smoke
in expensive incinerators.”
The report comes as the European Commission is reviewing its approach to
waste and recycling. [5] Friends of the Earth Europe is proposing that
the EU adopts higher recycling targets, and stops landfilling and
incinerating materials that can be recycled. [6]
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For more information please contact:
Michael Warhurst, Waste and Resources Campaign, Friends of the Earth
Europe,
michael.warhurst@foe.co.uk, +44 7980 742 037
Julian Kirby Waste and Resources Campaign, Friends of the Earth Europe,
julian.kirby@foe.co.uk, +44 7970 118 434
Sam Fleet, Communications Officer, Friends of the Earth Europe,
samuel.fleet@foeeurope.org, +32 2 893 1012
***
Notes to Editors:
For more information on Friends of the Earth Europe’s work on waste see:
http://www.foeeurope.org/activities/waste_management/index.htm
[1] The report is 'More Jobs, Less Waste' is available from the Friends
of the Earth Europe website at:
http://www.foeeurope.org/publications/2010/More_Jobs_Less_Waste_Sep2010.pdf
Using very conservative assumptions, the report finds at least 563,000
new jobs would be created if the EU moved to 70% recycling of key
streams of municipal, commercial and industrial (C&I) and construction,
demolition and excavation (CD&E) waste. Using less conservative
multipliers for jobs created as a result of the increase in employment
in recycling (e.g. suppliers& through spending of salaries), at least
750,000 new jobs are predicted.
‘More Jobs, Less Waste’ was written for Friends of the Earth by
economist Anna MacGillivray from URSUS Consulting, with additional data
analysis and peer review provided by Dr Julian Parfitt of Resource Futures.
The authors produced 50% and 70% recycling scenarios within a context of
an expected reduction and then stabilisation of the rate of generation
of waste. They analysed a range of datasets to create conservative
projections for the number of jobs created within the UK (compared to
2006) and across the EU (compared to 2008) by recycling either 50% or
70% of various waste streams. For details see the full report.
[2] “State of the Union 2010”, 7th September 2010: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/10/411
[3] The revised Waste Framework Directive, to be transposed into Member
State law by 12th December 2010, sets a 50% target for the recycling of
municipal waste by 2020.
[4] Friends of the Earth (2009). “Gone to Waste: The Valuable Resources
that European Countries Bury and Burn”.
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/gone_to_waste.pdf
[5]http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/strategy.htm
[6] “Creating an EU recycling society: It’s not (just) implementation”,
talk given in June 2010
http://www.foeeurope.org/activities/waste_management/Warhurst-IGBE-Jun10.ppt
Friends of the Earth Europe campaigns for sustainable and fair societies and for the protection of the environment,
unites more than 30 national organisations with thousands of local groups
and is part of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, Friends of the Earth International.
