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Innovative thinking is the key to implementing the circular economy, a concept based on the principle of re-use and minimal waste. The idea is that everything is a raw material that can be re-used or recycled.
Innovative thinking is the key to implementing the circular economy, a concept based on the principle of re-use and minimal waste. The idea is that everything is a raw material that can be re-used or recycled. The EU Action Plan to implement a circular economy establishes an ambitious and credible long-term path for effective waste management and recycling, including clear targets for waste reduction. Key elements include:
- Recycle 65 percent of municipal waste EU-wide by 2030;
- Recycle 75 percent of packaging waste EU-wide by 2030;
- Reduce landfill use to a maximum of 10 percent of all waste by 2030;
- Ban landfilling of separately collected waste;
- Promote economic instruments to discourage landfilling ;
- Simplify and improve definitions and harmonized calculation methods for recycling rates throughout the EU;
- Promote re-use and stimulate industrial symbiosis through concrete measures—turn one industry’s by-product into another industry’s raw material;
- Incentivize producers to put greener products on the market and support recovery and recycling schemes (e.g. for packaging, batteries, electric and electronic equipment, vehicles).
“Our planet and our economy cannot survive if we continue with the ‘take, make, use, and throw away’ approach,” according to European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, responsible for sustainable development. “The circular economy is about reducing waste and protecting the environment, but it is also about a profound transformation of the way our entire economy works. By rethinking the way we produce, work, and buy, we can generate new opportunities and create jobs,” Timmermans said.
EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy (infographic)
The EU Action Plan to implement a circular economy establishes an ambitious and credible long-term path for effective waste management and recycling, including clear targets for waste reduction.
Key elements include:
- Recycle 65 percent of municipal waste EU-wide by 2030;
- Recycle 75 percent of packaging waste EU-wide by 2030;
- Reduce landfill use to a maximum of 10 percent of all waste by 2030;
- Ban landfilling of separately collected waste;
- Promote economic instruments to discourage landfilling ;
- Simplify and improve definitions and harmonized calculation methods for recycling rates throughout the EU;
- Promote re-use and stimulate industrial symbiosis through concrete measures—turn one industry’s by-product into another industry’s raw material;
- Incentivize producers to put greener products on the market and support recovery and recycling schemes (e.g. for packaging, batteries, electric and electronic equipment, vehicles).
“Our planet and our economy cannot survive if we continue with the ‘take, make, use, and throw away’ approach,” according to European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, responsible for sustainable development. “The circular economy is about reducing waste and protecting the environment, but it is also about a profound transformation of the way our entire economy works. By rethinking the way we produce, work, and buy, we can generate new opportunities and create jobs,” Timmermans said.