{"id":150267,"date":"2024-04-05T12:00:20","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T10:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cde.ual.es\/?p=150267"},"modified":"2024-04-05T12:00:20","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T10:00:20","slug":"european-environment-agency-now-is-the-time-to-accelerate-the-shift-to-a-more-circular-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cde.ual.es\/en\/european-environment-agency-now-is-the-time-to-accelerate-the-shift-to-a-more-circular-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"European Environment Agency: Now is the time to accelerate the shift to a more circular Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite legislative steps forward over the past five years, efforts to transform Europe\u2019s largely linear, \u2018throw-away\u2019 economy into a circular one will require further bold action and strong implementation of existing measures. Decisive action is essential to drastically reduce waste, prioritise reduction of resource use, improve recycling rates and improve the introduction of products that are designed for circularity from the outset, according to a major European Environment Agency (EEA) state of play assessment on the circular economy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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European Union\u00a0circular economy policies<\/strong>\u00a0have been reinforced over recent years, but they still need to become more\u00a0binding and target oriented<\/strong>\u00a0in order to accelerate the uptake of a more regenerative economy in Europe. This means moving beyond the current strong focus on waste to address resource use more directly. The benefits behind the potential setting of future targets on resource use or material footprint<\/b>and possible avenues to speed up the transition to a more circular model are explained in the EEA report \u201cAccelerating circular economy in Europe\u00a0<\/a>\u2014\u00a0state and outlook 2024<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Developing a circular economy<\/strong>\u00a0is a crucial part of the European Union\u2019s efforts to address climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. The EEA report gives a\u00a0comprehensive analysis<\/strong>\u00a0of how the EU is doing in the transition to a more circular economy and the strong policy push seen under the EU\u2019s Green Deal, together with options and prospects to further accelerate it.<\/p>\n

Mixed progress so far<\/strong><\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s heavy reliance on natural resources to provide materials, food and fuel comes with significant environmental and climate impacts. However,\u00a0following steep increases in resource consumption in the past, this trend has stabilised in recent years,<\/b>\u00a0the report says. A modest decoupling of EU resource consumption from economic growth has been observed, with total consumption of materials dropping slightly while EU gross domestic product (GDP) increased. At the same time, Europe\u2019s dependence on global imports for supply of some critical raw materials, metal ores and fossil-fuels are currently increasing against the backdrop of a more challenging geopolitical context.<\/p>\n

The EU has put measures in place to enable the shift to a circular economy, which means shifting from current \u2018linear\u2019 production models and consumption patterns. This transformation is enshrined in the\u00a0Circular Economy Action Plan<\/a>, one of the key parts of the\u00a0European Green Deal<\/a>. There has been positive progress in recent years towards circularity in Europe, such as increased recycling rates and the emergence of a sharing economy and other circular business models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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EU4Environment: ayudar a la Alianza Oriental a ser m\u00e1s ecol\u00f3gica<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

With a\u00a0circularity rate of 11.5%<\/strong>\u00a0in 2022, Europe consumes a\u00a0higher proportion of recycled materials<\/strong>\u00a0than other world regions. However, progress in the EU has been slow and we are still\u00a0far from the ambition to double<\/strong>\u00a0the Union\u2019s circularity rate by 2030.<\/p>\n

Assessing progress towards current circular ambitions, the EEA report states that there is a low or moderate likelihood for them to be achieved in the coming years.<\/p>\n

The report explains, however, that many circular economy\u00a0policies are still relatively new<\/strong> and some have not yet been fully put in place at national level. Added to this, the impact of these measures takes time to filter down to changes in business models, consumption patterns and, ultimately, our patterns of resource use. However, in addition to the implementation of existing policies, more can be done.<\/p>\n

Future action<\/strong><\/p>\n

The report also looks into\u00a0potential actions for the futur<\/strong>e<\/strong>, such as the setting of targets and promoting\u00a0higher quality recycling \u2014 where materials keep their original function and value for the longest possible time \u2014 to foster\u00a0EU resource independence<\/strong>\u00a0and lower their import. In addition to implementing eco-design principles, increasing circularity by\u00a0maximising the use and lifespan of products<\/strong>\u00a0through reuse, repair and remanufacturing is also critical.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Extra attention should also be given to the economics of\u00a0raw material supply<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 so incentives and prices of raw materials account for their environmental impact,and recycled materials have a better route to be reintroduced in the economy.<\/p>\n

Underpinning these changes is a\u00a0need to reduce product consumption<\/strong>\u00a0from current unsustainable levels, but current trends in the EU are, unfortunately, moving in the opposite direction. There are numerous opportunities for future EU policies to be informed by on-going research on\u00a0consumer demand<\/strong>, on how to change consumer behaviours, as well as embedding just transition principles in future action.<\/p>\n

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Other key findings<\/strong><\/p>\n