Sorting rubbish and recycling
At the first reading of a co-decision procedure on sorting rubbish and recycling, on 22 February 1999, the European Parliament voted by a simple majority to adopt amendments on a European Commission-approved marking and labelling system. The legislation is proposed as a means to achieve figures agreed in a 1994 Directive, which set the Member States a target to reduce waste packaging to 50-65%. This should be achieved by June 2001, although Greece, Portugal and Ireland have been granted exemptions. The idea behind this legislation is that packages should be marked with a symbol indicating whether it is 'reusable' or 'recyclable' in order to help people to sort their rubbish. This would be a voluntary arrangement agreed by manufacturers.