What is the European ambition?
EU Green Deals
The European Green Deal, which is the EU's new growth strategy and a roadmap, is a set of policy initiatives for making their economy sustainable. The main ambition is to make Europe climate-neutral, and decouple economic growth from resource use while protecting their ecosystem by 2050.
It has been stated that this will happen by turning climate and environmental challenges into opportunities across all policy areas and ensuring a just and inclusive transition for all.
Below actions together with investments needed and financing tools available are provided with a roadmap by The European Green Deal;
boost the efficient use of resources through circular economy
restore biodiversity and cut pollution.
Along with the other net-zero ambitions, the EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy is one of the main blocks of the European Green Deal.
EU Circular Economy Action Plan
In recent years, the European Commission has stepped up to promote the transition to a circular economy with the Circular Economy Action Plan. As part of the European Green Deal , The first Circular Economy Action Plan was launched in 2015 and followed by the revisions the new Circular Economy Action Plan has recently been announced, in March 2020.[1]
The revised plan aims to identify required actions/adjustments on legislation, reporting, documentation and strategic support in order to facilitate adaptation of the circular economy in product value chains by taking measures covering the entire life cycle. In the context of the plan, 8 priority sectors with significant potentials have been identified in order to speed up the transition along the entire value chain.
Key actions that aim to keep resources as long as possible in the EU economy are summarized under the relevant topics as below;
A SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT POLICY FRAMEWORK | 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 | |
Integration of circular economy practices in upcoming Best Available Techniques reference documents | |
Launch of an industrial symbiosis reporting and certification system | |
KEY PRODUCT VALUE CHAINS | 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 | |
EU Strategy for Textiles | |
Strategy for a Sustainable Built Environment | |
Initiative to substitute single-use packaging, tableware and cutlery by reusable products in food services | |
LESS WASTE, MORE VALUE | 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 | |
Revision of the rules on waste shipments | |
CROSSCUTTING ACTIONS | 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 | |
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 | |
MONITORING THE PROGRESS | Updating the Circular Economy Monitoring Framework to reflect new policy priorities and develop further indicators on resource use, including consumption and material footprints |
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/circular-economy/pdf/new_circular_economy_action_plan.pdf
