EU moves to cut food and textile waste: The EU has agreed to implement new rules that would charge producers for the costs of recycling food and textile waste and to set legally binding food waste reduction targets, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. The rules are still subject to final approval from the EU Parliament and Council, but adoption is highly likely.

The reasoning: The EU food industry is responsible for 60 mn tons of waste annually in the bloc, while the textile industry is responsible for 12.6 mn tons.

Extended responsibility: Textile producers based in the EU or that operate outside and sell into the bloc via online shopping will have to cover the costs of collecting, sorting, and recycling their products through extended producer responsibility schemes. The bloc set a deadline of 30 months from now for the rules to take effect, but smaller businesses will be given an extra year to adapt. The EU hopes to target fast fashion firms with its new rules.

Strict targets for food wasters: EU countries will have to cut down food waste by 10% in food manufacturing and processing and by 30% per capita in retail, restaurants, food services, and households — using 2021-2023 as a baseline — by the end of 2030. Larger food businesses will also have to put up unsold and still edible food for donation to further reduce waste.

The targets may still not be enough: Campaign group Zero Waste Europe argued that the 10% target should have been much higher to align with a UN pledge to reduce food waste across the supply chain by 50%.

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