The report, released today, analyses the utilisation of EU waste management funding in nine central and eastern European countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, and Poland. It finds that many of these countries are lagging far behind optimal waste management practices, especially in biowaste separation and recycling. This is largely due to a lack of targeted funding for higher-tier waste management solutions, such as waste prevention, reduction, and recycling.
While the 2014–2020 investment period saw improvements in recycling and landfill reduction, progress in reducing methane emissions from landfills has been slow and remains a challenge due to inefficient diversion of biowaste from mixed waste streams [1]. In 2020, 27 per cent of the EU’s total methane emissions came from the waste management sector, with landfills being a major contributor. Decarbonising the waste sector will require more targeted investment in biowaste treatment, methane-capture technologies and the circular economy, including targeted support for local authorities for improving biowaste collection and recycling systems, including funding for local communication and human resources.
The 2021–2027 budget for waste management and the circular economy is 39 per cent higher than in the 2014–2020 period and more progressive, prioritising prevention, minimisation, sorting, reuse and recycling. Notably, 60 per cent of the total allocation is dedicated to household and industrial waste management, primarily in recycling. This shift towards more sustainable and resource-efficient practices is reinforced by the new cohesion policy funding rules and the ‘do no significant harm’ principle under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which restrict funding for incineration and landfill projects, steering investments towards higher-tier waste management solutions.
