This product policy framework will be progressively rolled out, while key product value chains will be addressed as a matter of priority. all relevant stages of products’ lifecycle; further developing and harmonising methods for, measuring unintentionally released microplastics. strengthening consumer protection against green washing and premature obsolescence, In addition, the Commission will work towards, new horizontal material rights for consumers, for instance as regards availability of spare parts or access to repair and, in the case of ICT and electronics, to upgrading services. The European Commission has adopted a new Circular Economy Action Plan, one of the main building blocks of the European Green Deal, Europe’s new agenda for sustainable growth. To tap into this potential, the Commission will propose, minimum mandatory green public procurement (GPP) criteria and targets in sectoral legislation, compulsory reporting to monitor the uptake of Green Public Procurement, (GPP) without creating unjustified administrative burden for public buyers. incentivise the uptake of carbon removal and increased circularity of carbon, , in full respect of the biodiversity objectives, the Commission will explore the development of a, regulatory framework for certification of carbon removals. It will aim to ensure that labelling a product as ‘biodegradable’ or ‘compostable’ does not mislead consumers to dispose of it in a way that causes plastic littering or pollution due to unsuitable environmental conditions or insufficient time for degradation. proposed as part of the European Green Deal Investment Plan and InvestEU will be able to support projects focusing on the circular economy. Global consumption of materials such as biomass, fossil fuels, metals and minerals is expected to double in the next forty years, , while annual waste generation is projected to increase by 70% by 2050. . To do so, the plan suggested making better use of EMAS and the EU Ecolabel. The plan, says the Commission, focuses on the “design and production for a circular economy”, aiming to ensure that resources used are “kept in the EU economy for as long as possible.” It contains a list of 35 ‘actions’ acting as a checklist for the Commission in the coming years. Supporting the circular economy transition through the Skills Agenda, the forthcoming Action Plan for Social Economy, the Pact for Skills and the European Social Fund Plus. For a cleaner and more competitive Europe, Legislative proposal for a sustainable product policy initiative, Legislative proposal empowering consumers in the green transition, Legislative and non-legislative measures establishing a new “right to repair”, Legislative proposal on substantiating green claims, Mandatory Green Public Procurement (GPP) criteria and targets in sectoral legislation and phasing-in mandatory reporting on GPP, Review of the Industrial Emissions Directive, including the integration of circular economy practices in upcoming Best Available Techniques reference documents, Launch of an industry-led industrial symbiosis reporting and certification system, Circular Electronics Initiative, common charger solution, and reward systems to return old devices, Review of the Directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment and guidance to clarify its links with REACH and Ecodesign requirements, Proposal for a new regulatory framework for batteries, Review of the rules on end-of-life vehicles, Review of the rules on proper treatment of waste oils, Review to reinforce the essential requirements for packaging and reduce (over)packaging and packaging waste, Mandatory requirements on recycled plastic content and plastic waste reduction measures for key products such as packaging, construction materials and vehicles, Restriction of intentionally added microplastics and measures on unintentional release of microplastics, Policy framework for bio-based plastics and biodegradable or compostable plastics, Strategy for a Sustainable Built Environment, Initiative to substitute single-use packaging, tableware and cutlery by reusable products in food services, Waste reduction targets for specific streams and other measures on waste prevention, EU-wide harmonised model for separate collection of waste and labelling to facilitate separate collection, Methodologies to track and minimise the presence of substances of concern in recycled materials and articles made thereof, Harmonised information systems for the presence of substances of concern, Scoping the development of further EU-wide end-of-waste and by-product criteria, Making the circular economy work for people, regions and cities. step up outreach activities, including through the European Green Deal diplomacy and the Circular Economy missions, and work with EU Member States to enhance coordination and joint efforts for a global circular economy. Furthermore, to establish a well-functioning internal market for secondary raw materials the Commission will: EU-wide end-of-waste criteria for certain waste streams. including considering restrictions on the use of some packaging materials for certain applications, in particular where alternative reusable products or systems are possible or consumer goods can be handled safely without packaging; reducing the complexity of packaging materials. sourcing, labelling and use of bio-based plastics. It will require an alignment and cooperation of all stakeholders at all levels - EU, national, regional and local, and international. In December 2015, the EU adopted an ambitious Circular Economy Package, including an Action Plan, to stimulate Europe’s transition to a circular economy. . Many products break down too quickly, cannot be easily reused, repaired or recycled, and many are made for single use only. , especially from tyres and textiles, and delivering harmonised data on microplastics concentrations in seawater; scientific knowledge related to the risk and occurrence. EU delivers on Circular Economy Action Plan, still needs to step up action. While there is little yet to suggest that true “decoupling” works at the scale required, the European Commission has adopted circularity as the new economic paradigm for Europe, starting with the launch of its first EU Circular Economy Action Plan in 2015. Circularity can be expected to have a positive net effect on job creation provided that workers acquire the skills required by the green transition. make products fit for a climate-neutral, resource-efficient and circular economy, , reduce waste and ensure that the performance of front-runners in sustainability progressively becomes the norm, the Commission will propose. The built environment has a significant impact on many sectors of the economy, on local jobs and quality of life. Regarding the role that, can play in providing more circular products, the Commission will explore possible changes also in the context of the review of Directive 2019/771, companies substantiate their environmental claims. At the same time, instruments such as the EU Ecolabel, or the EU green public procurement (GPP) criteria, are broader in scope but have reduced impact due to the limitations of voluntary approaches. Supporting the circular economy transition through Cohesion policy funds, the Just Transition Mechanism and urban initiatives, Improving measurement, modelling and policy tools to capture synergies between the circular economy and climate change mitigation and adaptation at EU and national level, Regulatory framework for the certification of carbon removals, Reflecting circular economy objectives in the revision of the guidelines on state aid in the field of environment and energy, Mainstreaming circular economy objectives in the context of the rules on non-financial reporting, and initiatives on sustainable corporate governance and on environmental accounting, Leading efforts towards reaching a global agreement on plastics, Proposing a Global Circular Economy Alliance and initiating discussions on an international agreement on the management of natural resources, Mainstreaming circular economy objectives in free trade agreements, in other bilateral, regional and multilateral processes and agreements, and in EU external policy funding instruments, Updating the Circular Economy Monitoring Framework to reflect new policy priorities and develop further indicators on resource use, including consumption and material footprints, Use quotation marks to search for an "exact phrase". improve the coherence with existing instruments regulating products along various phases of their life cycle. Scaling up the circular economy from front-runners to the mainstream economic players, will make a decisive contribution to achieving, decoupling economic growth from resource use. The aim of the Action Plan is to reduce the EU's consumption footprint and double the EU's circular material use rate in the coming decade, while boosting economic growth. , the Commission will reinforce the monitoring of national plans and measures to accelerate the transition to a circular economy as part of refocusing the European Semester process to integrate a stronger sustainability dimension. EU needs to accelerate the transition towards a regenerative growth model that gives back to the planet more than it takes, keeping its resource consumption within planetary boundaries, double its circular material use rate in the coming decade, working together on creating the framework for sustainable products, will provide new opportunities in the EU and beyond. There is a clear business case for individual companies too: since manufacturing firms in the EU spend on average about 40% on materials, closed loop models can increase their profitability, while sheltering them from resource price fluctuations. While up to 80% of products’ environmental impacts are determined at the design phase, the linear pattern of “take-make-use-dispose” does not provide producers with sufficient incentives to make their products more circular. Monitoring Framework for the Circular Economy. 47 Applying ambitious circular economy measures in Europe can increase EU… It is clear from different pieces of research – applying different methodological approaches – that Europe is not living within the boundaries of the planet. On 11th of March 2020, the European Commission has published the Circular Economy Action Plan. industry-led reporting and certification system. Digital technologies can track the journeys of products, components. The Commission will also support measures at multilateral, regional and bilateral levels to. such as extended producer responsibility. Keeping track of consumption footprints globally, which requires good supply chain data and accounting, is increasingly recognised as critical to an inclusive transition to sustainability, including in the UN Sustainable Development Goals where material footprint is included as an indicator. A recent study estimates that applying circular economy principles across the EU economy has the potential to increase EU GDP by an additional 0.5% by 2030 creating around 700 000 new jobs. ’ mobilising existing and new instruments. On 11 March 2020, the EC unveiled its plan for the circular economy. , including the integration of circular economy practices in upcoming Best Available Techniques reference documents; facilitating industrial symbiosis by developing an. Furthermore, the Commission will address emerging sustainability challenges by developing. A circular economy happens “when everything is healthy food for something else” (Sustainability Illustrated). based on an assessment of the applications where such use can be beneficial to the environment, and of the criteria for such applications. All this shall serve the objective to significantly reduce total waste generation and halve, the amount of residual (non-recycled) municipal waste by 2030, High quality recycling relies on effective separate collection of waste. Moreover, the Commission will consider the most effective measures to ensure the collection and the environmentally sound treatment of, From a broader perspective, the forthcoming. Furthermore, the Commission will recommend including the circular economy among the topics for discussion on the … A number of actions foreseen in this Plan, notably introducing requirements for. , including those resulting from incidental contamination; methodologies to minimise the presence of substances, that pose problems to heatlh or the environment, in recycled materials and articles made thereof, co-operate with industry to progressively develop, harmonised systems to track and manage information on substances, identified as being of very high concern and other relevant substances, in particular those with chronic effects, and substances posing technical problems for recovery operations present along supply chains, and. The Commission will also update the Monitoring Framework for the Circular Economy Drivers of product design and usage are discussed in the context of emerging consumption trends and business models. EU Strategy for Plastics in the Circular Economy. The EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan aimed to cover the full economic cycle — from production to consumption, repair and remanufacturing, to waste management and secondary raw materials. . This Circular Economy Action Plan provides a future-oriented agenda for achieving a cleaner and more competitive Europe in co-creation with economic actors, consumers, citizens and civil society organisations, . Public authorities’ purchasing power represents 14% of EU GDP and can serve as a powerful driver of the demand for sustainable products. Building on the work done since 2015, the new Plan … More information are … As one example to illustrate this unbalance: the EU has an ecological “footprint” of 4.7 global hectares (gha) per person, to compare with the global biocapacity of 1.7 gha per person. The plan acknowledges the need to address the block’s resource consumption and to reduce environmental pressures driven by consumption. Directive (EU) 2019/771/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2019 on certain aspects concerning contracts for the sale of goods, OJ L 136, 22.5.2019, p. 28. The strategy will aim at strengthening industrial competitiveness and innovation in the sector, boosting the EU market for sustainable and circular textiles, including the market for textile reuse, addressing fast fashion and driving new business models. Facilitating preparing for re-use and recycling of waste in the EU will be enhanced by a thorough review of, restricting exports of waste that have harmful environmental and health impacts in third countries or can be treated domestically within the EU, by focusing on countries of destination, problematic waste streams, types of waste operations that are source of concern, and enforcement to counteract illegal shipments. Global Material Resources Outlook to 2060, What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050. to maximise the benefits of the green transition and the circular economy; reflect the enhanced objectives of the circular economy; continue promoting the circular economy in the, accession process with the Western Balkans, bilateral, regional and multilateral policy dialogues, fora and. It is estimated that less than 1% of all textiles worldwide are recycled into new textiles. climate, human health and the economy. As part of the revision of the recovery targets for construction and demolition waste, the Commission will pay special attention to insulation materials, which generate a growing waste stream. incentives and support to product-as-service models, circular materials and production processes, high levels of separate collection of textile waste. As explained in section 3, revision of EU, legislation on batteries, packaging, end-of-life vehicles, and hazardous substances in electronic equipment. view our Privacy Policy page process to integrate a stronger sustainability dimension. © 2021 Institute for European Environmental Policy - high-quality, functional and safe products, which are efficient and affordable, , last longer and are designed for reuse, repair, and high-quality recycling. The transition to the circular economy will be systemic, deep and transformative, in the EU and beyond. taking account of, for instance, the carbon footprint of battery manufacturing, ethical sourcing of raw materials and security of supply, and facilitating reuse, repurposing and recycling. It aims at accelerating the transformational change required by the European Green Deal, while building on circular economy actions implemented since 2015. . This legislative proposal will build on the evaluation of the Batteries Directive. The Commission will also consider, reviewing directives on wastewater treatment and sewage sludge, natural means of nutrient removal such as algae, EU waste laws have driven major improvements in waste management since the 1970s, supported by EU funds. The EU plans to finance the policies set out in the Green Deal through an investment plan – InvestEU, which forecasts at least €1 trillion in investment. in making the best use of EU funds. “The CEAP is a nice patchwork of initiatives pointing in the right direction. The feedback period runs until 9 June 2021 (midnight CET). and tackling pellets taking into account the opinion of the European Chemicals Agency; labelling, standardisation, certification and regulatory measures, on unintentional release of microplastics, including measures to increase the. In order to ensure that all packaging on the EU market is reusable or recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030, the Commission will review Directive 94/62/EC, reinforce the mandatory essential requirements for packaging. Unfortunately, defining the CE has been a difficult task; recently, there have been two summary papers by Ghisellini, Cialani and Ulgiati, (2016) and Geisendorf (2017, submitted paper) The possibility to introduce requirements linked to environmental and social aspects along the value chain, from production through use to end of life, will also be carefully assessed, including in the context of WTO rules. The Commission will also propose to revise the rules on, with a view to promoting more circular business models by, linking design issues to end-of-life treatment, rules on mandatory recycled content for certain materials, . 730378 1 Introduction The “Circular Economy” (CE) is one of the central policy platforms of the European Union Horizon 2020 strategy. The review of the Ecodesign Directive as well as further work on specific product groups, under the Ecodesign framework or in the context of other instruments, will build, where appropriate, on criteria and rules established under the EU Ecolabel Regulation, the Product Environmental Footprint approach, . This will be done in full cooperation with stakeholders and business. an EU-wide take back scheme to return or sell back old mobile phones, tablets and chargers; restrictions of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment, and provide guidance to improve coherence with relevant legislation, including REACH, Sustainable batteries and vehicles underpin the mobility of the future. With measures along the entire life cycle of products and building on the work done since 2015, the new Plan focuses on the design and production for a circular economy, with the aim to ensure that the resources used are kept in the EU economy … , including a right to update obsolete software; chargers for mobile phones and similar devices. Further product groups will be identified based on their environmental impact and circularity potential. To help citizens, businesses and public authorities better separate waste, the Commission will, propose to harmonise separate waste collection systems. The EU has unveiled its master plan to move beyond the ‘throwaway economy’ today. In fact, there is. Printers and consumables such as cartridges. an EU Action Plan for a circular economy.