Green Pak, the recycling co-operative, has joined 10 European waste-recycling schemes in launching a joint manifesto which explains the extended producer responsibility concept and how best to achieve improved recycling results at a national level.

The manifesto speaks about the division between multiple operators within the same country – this division hinders the country’s ability to achieve designated recycling quotas.

“Though we have made some progress in our ability to recycle waste, we are still behind when compared to other EU countries,” Green Pak chief executive Mario Schembri said.

“To truly achieve results we need to accept that the fragmentation of the national effort is causing the country to fall short of its EU quotas.”

The EPR manifesto, which is endorsed by Green Pak and operators from Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belgium, Cyprus, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, highlights that such schemes should be viewed not as a business venture, but rather as a cooperation of businesses coming together to fulfill a social and environmental need.