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Circular economy

Decoupling economic growth from resource use and shifting to circular systems in production and consumption is key to achieving EU climate neutrality by 2050.

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In June 2024, the Council adopted its position (‘general approach’) on the green claims directive, which aims to address greenwashing and help consumers make better-informed decisions when buying a product or using a service.

The directive sets minimum requirements for the substantiation, communication and verification of explicit environmental claims.

Circular economy action plan

In March 2020 the Commission presented a circular economy action plan featuring over 30 action points on:

  • ensuring the development of sustainable products and circularity in production processes
  • empowering consumers
  • targeting key sectors
  • reducing waste

Designing sustainable products

A number of measures aim to ensure that products become more durable and repairable, and that consumers are empowered to make more sustainable choices.

Ecodesign

Since 2009, the ecodesign directive has established energy efficiency requirements covering various product groups (e.g. computers, fridges, water pumps).

On 27 May 2024, the Council adopted new ecodesign requirements for sustainable products.  

The new rules aim to:

  • set environmental sustainability requirements for almost all kinds of goods placed on the EU market
  • establish a digital product passport that will provide information about a product’s environmental sustainability
  • prohibit the destruction of certain unsold consumer goods (textiles and footwear)

‘Right to repair’

The EU wishes to ensure that consumers are able to seek repair instead of replacement when a product is broken or defective.

That is why the Commission proposed new common rules to counteract the premature disposal of repairable goods in March 2023.

On 30 May 2024, the Council adopted the right-to-repair (or R2R) directive. The main elements of which are:

  • a right for consumers to request that manufacturers repair products that are technically repairable under EU law (for instance, washing machines, vacuum cleaners or mobile phones)
  • a free-of-charge European repair information form
  • an online repair platform to connect consumers with repairers 
  • the extension by 12 months of the seller's liability period after the repair of a product

By creating incentives for producers and consumers to prolong lifecycles of products, the new legislation will also reduce waste and promote more sustainable business models. 

Circularity in production processes

The industrial emissions directive is the main piece of EU legislation addressing industrial pollution.

The EU has recently updated the directive to support industries in their efforts towards the EU’s 2050 zero pollution ambition, notably by supporting circular economy techniques and investments.

In November 2023 the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement at trilogues on the revision of the directive. The new rules were adopted by the Council in April 2024.

Empowering consumers

The EU wants to prevent companies from making misleading claims about the environmental merits of their products and services.

On 20 February 2024, the Council adopted a directive to empower consumers for the green transition.

Thanks to the new measures, EU consumers will:

  • have access to reliable information to make the right green choices, including on early obsolescence
  • be better protected against unfair green claims
  • be better informed about the repairability of products before purchase

The directive also introduces a harmonised label with information on the commercial guarantee of durability that producers offer.

Green claims

The Council has reached agreement ('general approach') on the green claims directive, which aims to define criteria on substantiating environmental claims made by companies to sell their products and services.

The rules address greenwashing and help consumers make truly greener decisions when buying a product or using a service.

Examples of environmental claims that would need to be backed up by evidence:

  • “Shoes made of 50% recycled plastic”
  • “Climate-neutral delivery”
  • “Bee-friendly skincare product”

Targeting key sectors

The action plan focuses on specific sectors that use most resources and where there is a high potential for circularity.

Electronics and ICT

Electrical and electronic equipment is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the EU. This is why the circular economy action plan features measures to improve the durability and the recycling of electrical and electronic equipment.

In November 2022, the EU adopted the common charger directive, which will make the USB-C charging port mandatory for a range of electronic devices (mobile phones, video game consoles, wireless keyboards, laptops).

New EU rules will enable consumers to purchase more energy-efficient, durable and easier to repair mobile phones and tablets on the EU market as:

  • the ecodesign regulation sets minimum requirements regarding the durability of batteries, the availability of spare parts, and operating system upgrades
  • the energy labelling regulation makes it mandatory to display information on energy efficiency and battery longevity, as well as a repairability score

EU institutions are in the process of updating rules on waste from electrical and electronic equipment, including a range of products such as computers, fridges and photovoltaic panels. The amendments aim to bring the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) directive into line with an EU Court of Justice judgment on the unjustified retroactive application of extended producer responsibility to waste from photovoltaic panels placed on the market between 13 August 2005 and 13 August 2012.

The Council and the European Parliament’s negotiators reached a provisional political agreement on the proposed changes in November 2023.

Batteries and waste batteries

The EU has adopted a regulation on batteries to create a circular economy for the sector by targeting all stages of the life cycle of batteries, from design to waste treatment. This initiative is of major importance, particularly in view of the massive development of electric mobility.

Thanks to new safety, sustainability and labelling requirements, the new rules adopted in 2023 aim to:

  • promote a circular economy
  • improve the functioning of the internal market for batteries, ensuring fairer competition

Packaging

In November 2022 the Commission proposed to revise packaging and packaging waste rules. The Council agreed its negotiating position ('general approach') on the proposal in December 2023 and a provisional agreement with the European Parliament was reached in March 2024. 

Some key measures of the proposal include:

  • targets for packaging waste reduction at member state level
  • restricting over-packaging
  • supporting reuse and refill systems
  • mandatory deposit return systems for plastic bottles and aluminium cans

Plastics

Since 2018, the European strategy for plastics in a circular economy aims to enhance plastic packaging recyclability and contains a strong response to microplastics.

Under the 2020 circular economy action plan, the Commission is working on:

  • mandatory requirements for recycled content and waste reduction for key products
  • a new policy framework on biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics to clarify where these plastics can bring genuine environmental benefits
  • measures to address the presence of microplastics unintentionally released into the environment, with the aim of reducing plastic litter

Textiles

The Commission’s EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles aims to make textiles more durable, repairable, reusable and recyclable by 2030.

In July 2023, the Commission proposed to:

  • make producers responsible for the full lifecycle of textile products, through extended producer responsibility
  • accelerate the development of a separate collection, sorting, re-use and recycling sector for textiles, as member states are required to set up separate collections of textiles from households by 1 January 2025
  • address the issue of illegal exports of textile waste

In June 2024, the Council reached agreement ('general approach') on a revision of the waste framework directive, including on mesures to reduce textile waste. Fashion brands and textile producers would have to pay fees in order to help fund the textile waste collection and treatment costs. The fees would be based on the circularity and environmental performance of textile products.

The ecodesign for sustainable products regulation and the waste shipment regulation are also expected to help set sustainability requirements for textile products and restrict the export of textile waste.

Construction and buildings

Buildings are responsible for:

In December 2023, the Council and the Parliament reached a provisional deal on the revision of the construction products regulation proposed by the Commission.

The new rules set new requirements to ensure that the design and production of construction products make these more durable, repairable, recyclable and easier to re-manufacture.

Manufacturers will have to: 

  • provide environmental information about the life cycle of products  
  • design and manufacture products in a way that facilitates re-use, remanufacturing and recycling  
  • give preference to recyclable materials  
  • make available instructions on how to use and repair products 

Reducing waste

The EU is working on a series of measures to further strengthen and better implement EU waste laws.

Waste reduction targets

The waste framework directive, in force since July 2020, sets out rules for member states to:

  • increase the re-use and recycling of municipal waste by 55% by 2025
  • set up separate collections of textiles and hazardous waste from households by 1 January 2025
  • ensure bio-waste is either collected separately or recycled at source by 31 December 2023
  • reach material-specific recycling targets by 2025 and 2030 for packaging

In June 2024, the Council adopted its position (‘general approach’) on a targeted revision of the waste framework directive, with a focus on food and textile waste. 

For food, EU countries would have to cut down food waste by:

As to textile waste, the new rules would reinforce extended producer responsibility schemes by asking companies in the textile sector to pay fees for waste collection and management. 

Furthermore, new EU rules to encourage and facilitate water reuse in the EU entered into force on 26 June 2023.

The EU is updating rules on urban wastewater treatment. The goal of the revision is to extend the scope of the existing directive and align it with the European Green Deal's goals. Main objectives of the revision: 

  • extend rules to smaller towns
  • further improve treatment operations 
  • cut the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions
  • make polluters pay
  • help monitor and prevent pandemics
  • improve sanitation, particularly for the most vulnerable people

The Council reached a provisional agreement with the European Parliament on the updated rules in January 2024. The deal will have to be formally adopted by both institutions before becoming EU law.

A toxic-free environment

Since 2020, the EU chemicals strategy for sustainability aims to help ensure chemicals are safe for both human health and the environment.

On 24 October 2022, under the circular economy action plan, the EU adopted a revision of the regulation on persistent organic pollutants (PoPs), harmful chemicals that may be found in waste from consumer products (e.g. waterproof textiles, plastics, and electronic equipment).

The new rules aim to reduce concentration limit values for the presence of PoPs in waste, which is crucial to the circular economy, where waste will be increasingly used as a secondary raw material.

In June 2023, the Council adopted its negotiating position on the revision of the classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals regulation proposed by the Commission.

The measures proposed include specific rules for refillable chemical products which will help reduce packaging waste.

Secondary raw materials

The EU wants to create a well-functioning market for secondary raw materials.

The critical raw materials (CRM) act proposed by the Commission aims to strengthen all stages of the European critical raw materials value chain including by improving circularity and recycling.

In November 2023, the Council and Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the act. The new rules set an objective of at least 25% of the EU’s annual critical raw materials consumption coming from domestic recycling.

Waste shipments

The EU has recently updated rules to better regulate trade in waste within the EU and with non-EU countries, to:

  • ensure that waste exports do not harm the environment and human health
  • address illegal shipments

The revision of the rules aims to reduce shipments of problematic waste to outside the EU, update shipment procedures to reflect the objectives of the circular economy and improve enforcement. It promotes the use of waste as a resource within the EU.

The Council and the European Parliament’s negotiators reached a provisional political agreement to update the regulation on shipments of waste in November 2023. The rules were formally adopted by the Council in March 2024.

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Last review: 28 June 2024