The Belgian EU Presidency wants to clean up industrial processes in Europe by promoting a "cradle-to-cradle" approach to resource management in the manufacturing sector, EurActiv has learned.

Meeting in Ghent on 12-13 July, EU environment ministers will debate a study by the Belgian EU Presidency on "sustainable materials management" (SMM).

The study, obtained by EurActiv, advocates "a fully integrated way of addressing materials use" in manufacturing in order to limit resource depletion and air, soil and water pollution.

"If we carry on using materials the way we are now, this will ultimately result in the depletion of raw materials and harm the environment," the Belgian EU Presidency said.

The objective is to move from waste policies to "materials policies," which cover the full life-cycle of products and manufactured goods, from the extraction of raw materials to product design, manufacture, consumption and disposal.

"A policy that is limited to waste prevention and recycling is insufficient to significantly reduce Europe's [ecological] footprint and avoid a further depletion of natural capital," the study argues.

As an alternative, the Belgian EU Presidency wants to promote the concept of "sustainable materials management," a broader notion which covers the whole life-cycle of products in a so-called "cradle-to-cradle" approach.

"SMM, as the Belgian Presidency wants to promote it, aims at the efficient and environmentally responsible use of materials, independent of whether they are raw materials, products or waste," reads an introduction to the study.

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