1. Circular Economy
Closing the loop – An EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy
Peter Czaga, DG Environment

2. From a Linear Economy…
NATURAL RESOURCES
TAKE
MAKE
DISPOSE
WASTE

3. … to a Circular Economy

4. What are the limitations of a Linear Economy?
Lost value of materials and products
Scarcity of resources
Volatile prices of resources
Waste generated
Unstable supply of raw materials
Environmental degradation & climate change
Lost value of materials and products
Depletion of scarce resources Volatile resource prices
Waste Generation
The average plastic packaging recycling rate achieved in Europe is around 25% on average. More worryingly, 50% of all plastic still goes to landfill.
Security and stability of raw materials supply
Environmental degradation & climate change

5. What are the benefits of a Circular Economy?
The value of products, materials and resources is maintained in the economy for as long as possible
Waste generation is minimised
Boost to the economy and competitiveness by creating new business opportunities, and introducing innovative products and services
Brings economic, social and environmental gains

6. Circular Economy: looking to the future
Growth and job creation – Up to +7 % GDP
Up to 600 billion in savings – 8 % of annual turnover for business in the EU
Estimated direct jobs in waste management sectors created by 2035
Boosting competitiveness and ensuring security of supply
Building economic and environmental resilience
Encouraging innovation
Reducing total annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2-4 %
Growth and job creation – Up to +7 % GDP: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, (2015) “Growth within: A circular Economy vision for a competitive Europe"
Up to 600 billion in savings – 8 % of annual turnover for business in the EU
: COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Towards a circular economy: A zero waste programme for Europe /* COM/2014/0398 final/2 */
Estimated direct jobs in waste management sectors created by 2035: retrieved
Reducing total annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2-4 %: COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Towards a circular economy: A zero waste programme for Europe /* COM/2014/0398 final/2 */

7. Circular Economy Package
Adopted by the Commission 2 December 2015
Action Plan
Communication
List of Follow-up
Initiatives (Annex)
4 Legislative
proposals on waste

8. Secondary raw materials Innovation, Investment & Monitoring
Key action areas
Production
Consumption
Waste Management
Secondary raw materials
Innovation, Investment & Monitoring
New or revised legislation: waste proposals, fertilisers, water reuse
Strengthened and more coherent implementation: support to compliance in waste policy, products policy, guidance on industrial emissions, consumers protection against unfair practices, interface between waste, products and chemicals legislations
Voluntary approaches: Green Public Procurement, EMAS, EU Eco-label, standards on secondary raw materials and on recovery of materials from electronic waste, sustainable sourcing, certification of waste facilities
Better use of information: Environmental Footprint, Raw Materials Information Systems, platforms on food waste, on financing
Combination of EU funding (Horizon 2020, EFSI) and private financing

9. Production Objectives Key actions
Provide incentives to boost circular product design
Innovative and efficient production processes
Reparability, durability, and recyclability in eco-design (e.g. TV screens)
Best practices for waste management and resource efficiency in industrial sectors
Industrial symbiosis
Promote reparability, durability, and recyclability in future Ecodesign requirements (first steps: requirements on electronic displays e.g. TV screens)
Promotion of best practices for waste management and resource efficiency in industrial sectors.
Facilitate industrial symbiosis (waste or by-products of one industry becomes inputs for another).

10. Consumption Objectives Key actions
Repair and reuse of products to avoid waste generation
Provide consumers with reliable information on environmental impact of products
Encourage reuse activities (e.g. waste proposal)
Ecodesign: availability of spare parts
Guarantees and action on false green claims
Circular Economy criteria in Green Public Procurement
Independent testing programme to assess possible planned obsolescence
Better labelling: EU Eco-label, Environmental Footprint
New rules which will encourage reuse activities (waste proposal), link with Ecodesign (reparability)
Better enforcement of the guarantees on tangible products and action on false green claims
Emphasise circular economy aspects in Green Public Procurement criteria.
Independent testing programme to identify issues related to possible planned obsolescence.
Better labelling: EU Eco-label, Environmental Footprint.

11. Waste management Objectives Key actions
Improve waste management in line with the EU waste hierarchy
Address existing implementation gaps
Provide long-term vision and targets to guide investments
Legislative proposals on waste
Work with Member States to improve waste management plans, including to avoid overcapacity in residual waste treatment (incineration and mechanical-biological treatment)
Ensure coherence between waste investments under EU Cohesion Policy and the waste hierarchy
Revised legislative package on waste
Work with Member States to improve waste management on the ground, including to avoid overcapacities in residual waste treatment (e.g. incineration and MBT)
Ensure that Cohesion Policy contributes to EU waste legislation, guided by the EU waste hierarchy.

12. Market for secondary raw materials
Objectives
Key actions
Increase the use of secondary raw materials
Increase the use of recycled nutrients and the reuse of treated wastewater
Safely manage risks of chemicals of concern
Improve knowledge of material stocks and flows
Quality standards for secondary raw materials
EU regulation on fertilisers
Legislative proposal on minimum requirements for reused water
Analysis on the interface between chemicals, product, and waste legislation
EU-wide electronic system for cross-border transfers of waste

13. Waste management aspects

14. Common EU target for recycling 65% of municipal waste by 2030

15. New targets: municipal waste recycling
one calculation method based on effective recycling
possible 5-year extension for 7 MS recycling less than 20% in 2013
review clause (2025) to consider more stringent targets
Note: Data for 2014 is not based on ‘effective’ recycling.
Exemptions: Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Latvia, Malta, Romania and Slovakia

16. New binding target to reduce landfill to a maximum of 10% of total waste by 2030

17. New targets: municipal waste landfilling
by 2030: maximum 10% landfilling
possible 5-year extension for the same 7 Member States suggested for the recycling rate
review clause (2025) to consider more stringent targets
7 Member States: Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Latvia, Malta, Romania and Slovakia

18. Common EU target for recycling 75% of packaging waste by 2030

19. New targets: recycling packaging waste
clarification on measuring (same as for municipal waste)
repeal of the recovery and maximum recycling targets
new target for aluminium

20. Thank you. http://ec. europa. eu/environment/circular-economy/index_en
Thank you!

21. BACKGROUND SLIDES

22. Priority sectors Plastics Food waste Critical Raw Materials
Construction & Demolition
Biomass & bio-based products
Plastics
Objectives
Increase efficiency in recycling - less than 25% of plastic waste collected is recycled, and about 50% goes to landfill
Actions
New strategy on plastics including marine litter.
A more ambitious target for the recycling of plastic packaging in the legislative proposal on waste.
Food Waste
Reach Sustainable Development Goal to halve food waste by 2030 – today around 100 million tonnes of food are wasted annually in the EU.
Develop an EU methodology to measure food waste.
Create a platform for the SDG on food waste and to share best practice and results achieved.
Clarify EU legislation relating to waste, food and feed, and facilitate food donation.
Improve the use and understanding of date marking along the food chain (e.g."best before" label).
Critical Raw Materials
Increasing efficient use and recovery of CRMs.
Prepare a report on best practices and options for further action at the EU level.
Incentives/requirements in the waste directives.
Construction & Demolition
Identify and increase recovery of valuable materials
Ensure recovery of valuable resources and adequate waste management in the construction and demolition sector, as well as facilitate assessing the environmental performance of buildings
Develop pre-demolition guidelines to boost high-value recycling as well as voluntary recycling protocols aimed to improve quality of and build confidence
Biomass & bio-based products
Support an efficient use of wood and bio-based products
Increase recycling of bio-waste
Promote an efficient use of bio-based resources through a series of measures, such as the promotion of the cascading use of biomass and support to innovation in the bio-economy
New target for recycling wood packaging and a provision to ensure the separate collection of bio-waste

23. Plastics Objectives Key actions
Increase recycling efficiency - less than 25 % of plastic waste collected is recycled, and about 50 % is landfilled
Adopt a specific strategy to reduce plastic waste, including marine litter
Set a more ambitious target for the recycling of plastic packaging in the framework of a new legislative proposal on waste

24. Food waste Objectives Key actions
Reach Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to halve food waste by 2030 – today around 100 million tonnes of food are wasted every year in the EU
Develop an EU methodology to measure food waste
Create a platform for the SDG on food waste and share best practices and results achieved
Clarify EU legislation on waste, food and feed, and encourage food donation
Improve the use and understanding of date marking along the food chain (e.g. ‘best before’ label)

25. Critical Raw Materials (CRMs)
Objectives
Key actions
Increase efficient use and recovery of CRMs
Encourage recovery of CRMs, and draft a report on best practices and options for further action at EU level
Encourage action by Member States

26. Construction & Demolition
Objectives
Key actions
Identify and increase recovery of valuable materials
Ensure recovery of valuable resources and adequate waste management in the construction and demolition sector, as well as facilitate assessing the environmental performance of buildings
Put in place pre-demolition guidelines to promote high-value recycling, and voluntary recycling protocols

27. Biomass & bio-based products
Objectives
Key actions
Support an efficient use of wood and bio-based products
Increase recycling of bio-waste
Promote an efficient use of bio-based resources through a series of measures, including promoting the cascading use of biomass and support bio-economy innovation
Set a new target for recycling wood packaging and a provision to ensure the separate collection of bio-waste

28. Horizontal action

29. How will progress be monitored?
Build on existing indicators from the Resource Efficiency Scoreboard and the Raw Materials Scoreboard
Develop a monitoring framework for the Circular Economy in close cooperation with the European Environment Agency (EEA)
The two scoreboards have different frameworks:
- the Resource Efficiency scoreboard (prepared by ENV), to monitor progress on Resource efficient Europe, was adopted by the Commission in December Regularly updated by Eurostat and disseminated by DG ENV publications.
- the Raw Materials scoreboard (prepared by DG GROW), to monitor progress on the raw materials initiative and in the context of the European Innovation Partneship, is work in progress as not officially adopted by the Commission. Next Sherpa meeting scheduled in December was postponed to to It is planned for adoption in June 2016.

30. Why is action needed? loss of valuable materials
negative impacts on land, water and climate
low levels of recycling-High levels of landfilling
incineration of recyclable waste
no long-term targets

31. EU imports x6 more materials and natural resources than it exports
European Union (EU-28)
Rest of the world (ROW)
EU-28 exports (2014)
159
237
434
EU-28 imports (2014)
181
195
Lost value of materials and products
Depletion of scarce resources Volatile resource prices
Waste Generation
Security and stability of raw materials supply
Environmental degradation & climate change
1300
Total trade EU-28 to ROW
In 2004: 455 million tonnes
In 2014: 640 million tonnes
Total trade ROW to EU-28
In 2004: 1664 million tonnes
In 2014: 1534 million tonnes
Biomass
Manufactures
Fuel/mining products

32. Innovation & Investment
Objectives
Key actions
Create the right environment for innovation and investment
Horizon 2020 initiative launched on ‘Industry 2020 in the Circular Economy’ (EUR 650 million)
Pilot ‘innovation deals’ to address potential regulatory obstacles for innovators
Targeted outreach of EU funding, as Cohesion Policy Funds and for SMEs
New platform for financing Circular Economy with European Investment Bank and national promotional banks