On 2 December the European Commission (EC) adopted the Circular Economy Package that includes revised legislative proposals on waste to shift from a linear to a circular economy.
The EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy establishes key actions in the following areas:
- Product design: the EC will promote reparability, upgradability, durability and recyclability of products under the framework of the Ecodesign Directive. These aspects will also be reflected in the Ecodesign Working Plan for 2015-2017.
- Production process: guidance on best waste management and resource efficiency practices in industrial sectors will be included in BREFs.
- Consumption: the EC will include requirements on durability and availability of repair information and spare parts in its work on Ecodesign.
- Waste: For a well-functioning market for secondary raw materials, the EC will focus on the development of quality standards for secondary raw materials and high-quality statistics across the EU.
- Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste: various actions will be taken by the EC to ensure recovery of valuable resources and appropriate C&D waste management. The EC is also developing an EU framework of core indicators for the assessment of the environmental performance of buildings.
- Monitoring circular economy: the EC will use Eurostat data for monitoring purposes. Resource efficiency scoreboard and the Raw Materials Scoreboard have the indicators to assess the progress towards a more circular economy.
The revised legislative proposals on waste establish targets to reduce waste and set a long-term plan for waste management and recycling. This proposal includes the following key elements:
- Municipal waste: common EU target for recycling 65% by 2030.
- Packaging waste: common EU target for recycling 75% by 2030.
- C&D waste: EU target for recycling/reuse 70% by 2020.
- Landfill: Gradual limitation of the landfilling of municipal waste to 10% by 2030.
- Promote reuse and industrial symbiosis.
Further information about the Circular Economy Package is available on the DG Environment website.
