Ten recommendations for the new circular economy action plan of the European Commission

The European Commission just launched a green deal with a specific consultation on circular economy.This new action plan will speed up the EU’s transition towards a circular economy by strengthening the European industry while helping to fight against climate change and preserving the EU’s natural environment.

In this perspective, the new action plan will analyse the lifecycle of products and materials to ensure a sustainable use of resources and tackle resource-intensive sectors (e.g. textiles, construction, electronics and plastics).

In a context of increasing uncertainties cause by climate disruption it becomes necessary to effectively address emerging and environmental issues. Among those priorities, the development of circular consumption and production models are key factors to combat the effects of climate change and should be pushed forward in the new Circular Economy Action Plan.

Europe is a world leader in manufacturing excellency. The Circular Economy Strategy is a pillar for industrial competitiveness in the Single Market today, promoting a paradigm shift from a linear to a circular production and consumption model, ensuring a consistent approach on EU environment, climate & energy and industry policies and promoting an ambitious resource-efficient production and consumption model to modernize EU industry and set high standards.

In this context, ten recommendations have to be adressed for the redaction of the new circular economy action plan at the EU level :

Promoting the cross-sectoral dimension of the circular economy; 

Waste prevention and recycling policies help reduce greenhouse gas emissions at every stage of a product’s life, from its design up until the waste’s combustion. It is essential to recognize the complementarity of climate change and circular economy policies. To make this complementarity a reality we advocate for the creation of a “material” content into customs policy, like the “carbon” content. Furthermore, all the regulations on eco-design, reuse and processing of materials which aim to develop new production and consumption methods should be aligned with climate policies.

Ensuring eco-design norms;

As a pillar for eco-conception, design criteria should be developed by the packaging value chain, as it is already the case for flexible packaging, with a view to optimise the environmental impacts of the packaging over its life cycle while being addressed in a differenced eco-modulation regarding the maturity and the value chain of the materials.Furthermore, eco-design norms must reflect the very multidimension nature of product design where a large variety of parameters must be considered across different sectors. These include product safety, product performance and functionalities, total cost of ownership, compliance to standards, connectivity, recycled materials vs. waste classification, etc.With regards to the circularity of products, features such as expected lifecycle, serviceability/reparability, upgradability, down to end of product life dismantlability, must be factored in.Focusing on recyclability and regarding the variations of consumption from one country to another, recyclability should be defined at a national level and not on an effective recycling rate. Recyclability must be defined based on existing (in practice and at scale) national collection system(s), sorting capacities, recycling streams and design for recycling guidelines.

Promoting transparency and harmonised standards regarding the environmental footprint and material content of product and packaging;

Specific measures on the communication of the environmental footprint of products have recently been discussed in France, in the context of the analysis of the circular economy bill in the Parliament. This discussion should be held at European level ! Consumers need transparency on the environmental footprint and material content of products and need to be provided with sufficient and easily accessible information on the environmental profile of a product and its packaging (from simplified form to extensive lifecycle assessment, depending upon product category and target customer segments). Environmental data may be required for business to consumers audience and that provided standard definitions, boundaries and calculation methods do exist. However, standards relating to consumer information on the environmental footprint of products and packaging should be harmonized at the EU level.

Promoting affordable Secondary Raw Materials (SRM) in Europe with a coherent circular fiscal system

While market forces should be allowed to shape business decisions and as we recognize that regulation should be the least burdensome, market forces alone have not been sufficient to create incentives for decarbonisation or foster the circular economy in Europe: a long-term ambitious framework (with a 2030 and 2050 horizon) is needed to provide legal certainty, pave the way to make Europe’s circular transition a success for all stakeholders, and drive investments. A striking example of this lack of sufficiency of market forces in promoting a circular economy is the prices of products/packaging made from virgin materials which are in some cases equivalent to those of products made from recycled materials (they are sometimes much lower in fact, for example rPET prices are 1400€ and virgin 900€ at the moment). This can be explained by the fact that the price does not consider externalities and environmental impacts of products/packaging made from virgin materials. In order to answer this challenge of competitivity between Primary and Secondary Raw Materials, it is essential to move towards a more circular and ecological tax system within the Member states and at the EU level. The Commission should work on the introduction of economic incentives, such as a new taxonomy, in favor of recycled materials. This taxonomy should take into consideration negative externalities related to the extraction of virgin materials and must provide possible ways to offset market losses related to commodity price fluctuations.

Promoting an effective transition through targeted investments from the European Investment Bank.

In order to effectively promote a transition towards a circular economy, the public investments should be targeted in the field of circular economy. Those investments should especially be focused on packaging and papers through the funds of the European Investments Bank.

Investments should promote and develop:

• new recycling channels and technologies, especially for plastics packaging;
• new collections systems for packaging waste (reverse vending machines and deposit return systems);
• research and development for recyclable food contact materials;
• innovative business models such as the ones promoted by Citeo with its “Circular Challenge”

Promoting a coherent Secondary Raw Materials (SRM) market in Europe in line with existing regulations and legislations on chemicals;

There are many opportunities and benefits for the environment and consumers derived through the market for SRMs. However, risks associated with the presence of substances of concerns in goods produced from SRMs are relevant, especially when they are used for food packaging. In this regard the Commission should work on aligning existing regulations and legislations on chemicals (eg. REACH); waste and products in order to guarantee that products and packaging are exempted from substances of concerns.

Adopting an harmonize recyclability approach at the EU level while ensuring a consistent framework on bio-based and biodegradable packaging;

The Commission needs to define in the legislative framework the notion of “recyclability” which requires a national collection, sorting and recycling stream, and the notion of “compostability” which “only” requires a proof of concept based on well-established laboratory tests. It seems important to add into the “compostability” definition criteria the existence of effective collection and composting infrastructures, at scale and in practice. Furthermore, a coherent and consistent definition of recyclability constitutes a prerequisite in order to make Extender Producer Responsability (EPR) oganisations able to emit recyclability certificates. The “SUP directive” on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment is currently being transposed by member states, and since separate collection of bio-waste is set to be mandatory throughout Europe by 2023 as indicated by the Waste Framework Directive, EU needs to put in place a coherent framework and harmonized guidelines regarding bio-based and biodegradable products and packaging to promote a circular economy that really increases environmental performances. Indeed, some compostable packaging look like an interesting solution for biowaste collection (bags) and fight against biowaste loss (tea bags, coffee pods…). Then, by developing biodegradable, compostable and bio-based alternatives to plastic, the bioeconomy sector provides long-terms solutions to fight against waste littering. Finally, on this issue, the future Action Plan on Circular Economy should insist on the hierarchy between recyclability and composability while giving a clear signal on environmental and economic performances of packaging.

Implementing a coherent framework on waste reduction and for an ambitious reusable system of packaging;

The implementation of a system based on waste reduction and a reusable system of packaging should be a priority. However, finding a business model ensuring a net environmental improvement over product’s life should not prevent free movements of goods and lead to a single-market fragmentation. The right balance between environmental preservation and industrial requirements to preserve the freedom principles of the Single Market has to be found. Furthermore, a coherent European reusable system should be put in place, and standards on packaging in line with the national ambitions and the free-movement principles of the internal market.

Supporting a more virtuous E-commerce sector;

E-commerce in Europe is growing exponentially, with sales increasing by 13.6% compared to 2018. By the end of 2019, the sector reached around €621 billion. According to the Directive 2000/31/EC of 8 June 2000 and the Directive 2018/851 of 30 May 2018, online sales platforms are not considered as sellers but merely as intermediaries, and as such are not subject to the same obligations as traditional sellers. As E-commerce is growing exponentially, the problem of similarly growing waste packaging comes along. Thus, we underline the need to reinforce consumers information’s by raising awareness on avoiding the consumer’s habits to tear up their packaging before sorting them in order to save some space. This behavior is indeed a disruptor in the collection scheme. Another issue raised by online platforms and e-commerce regards the financing of the EPR schemes. Indeed, a phenomenon of “free riding” among EU has been observed. Member States have difficulties to ensure that online sellers correctly contribute to waste recycling by paying their eco-contributions in the countries they are operating. In order to correct this lack of information, to improve the financing of extended producer responsibility channels, and limit the environmental footprint of this sector of activity, it would relevant to subject e-commerce actors to the following obligations: extended producer responsibility with all related obligations (operational or financial management of the end of product life, prevention and reuse objectives according to national regulations, etc.), and environmental labelling and legal warranty.

Ensuring a circular public procurement;

Public procurement makes up a significant part of the European economy, accounting for 16% of GDP (1,800 billion euros). This economic weight must be used to develop innovations in favor of the circular economy and push economic actors to change their model. The European Directive 2014/24/EU of 26 February 2014 has already opened new possibilities for integrating environmental issues and circular economy into public procurement. However, public purchasers still lack simplified operational tools to effectively integrate circular economy aspects into their demands. It would, therefore, be desirable to develop harmonized tools at European level, in terms of circular economy criteria and life cycle analysis (the only harmonized method of calculating life cycle costs in Europe concerns road transport). In addition, it is necessary to introduce binding targets for buyers in terms of circular economies in the coming years. Thus, including those measures in the new action plan for a circular economy could help to close the loop of the circular economy at the national level while promoting competitivity in the industry at the european level. This will also strengthen EU industry, help to fight climate change and preserve the EU’s natural environment.