EU plans to make waste exports to poorer countries more difficult

The European Commission on Wednesday proposed a revamp of EU rules on waste shipments to make it harder for member states to offload their trash onto poorer countries. “The aim is for the EU to take greater responsibility for the waste it produces,” EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius said in Brussels on Wednesday, explaining the move. “That has not been the case so far and this must change.” The EU exported around 33 million tonnes of waste last year. About half of that ended up in poorer countries with low environmental standards.