The European Commission plans to present several short-term initiatives before the end of the year to boost investment in the circular economy, introduce trade measures where justified, and simplify existing rules. Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall announced the plans in a keynote speech at the event "Towards a circular and resilient economy in Europe: How to improve recycling”, hosted by the European Policy Centre (EPC) last week.
Ms Roswall did not give details of the measures planned but said that, together with other elements of the Clean Industrial Deal, they were intended to help realise the EU’s "vision for economic security, competitiveness and decarbonisation". The initiatives, she said, would aim to "identify market bottlenecks and to improve the economics of circular solutions".
The Commissioner made clear that the legislative proposal for the forthcoming Circular Economy Act (CEA), which the Commission intends to table next year, would not offer blanket solutions across all sectors. "There is no 'one-size-fits-all' solution," she said. "The bottlenecks for plastics are different from textiles, steel, aluminium or cement. That means the solutions will also be different."
As an example of a "very specific" bottleneck, Ms Roswall pointed to the plastics sector, where recycling rates were still "just not good enough". According to industry association Plastics Europe, only 13 per cent of plastic production in 2023 was based on recycled material. "Investors won’t build new recycling capacity unless they are confident they will be able to sell the recycled plastics," she said, describing the lack of confidence in future demand as "the killer bottleneck".
Ms Roswall also highlighted concerns about competition. "Our recyclers are not only up against EU competition. Our EU markets are flooded with plastics from overseas," she said. "I have no silver bullet to fix this. But I am determined to find solutions."
The Commissioner called on stakeholders to contribute to the public consultation on the CEA and "call for evidence" for the related impact assessment before they close on 6 November. "Your views and expertise are vital, so I urge you all to contribute," she said.
In addition, Ms Roswall emphasised that the legislative process would have to balance the interests of many economic actors, including recyclers, producers, traders and consumers. "We are walking a fine line between having too much detail and complexity on the one hand, and establishing rules that are too general and lack nuance on the other," she said. "We have to get it right – and that takes time. We need to understand the markets, the bottlenecks, and the interests involved," she added.
