European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform

This document compiles a set of country-specific reports describing the progress made by each European country towards waste prevention and decoupling of waste generation. Each report explains their national waste prevention programmes and food waste prevention and product reuse policies with a view to the circular economy.

Separate links are offered in the document for each country report.

This report proposes a new framework for monitoring waste prevention. The framework consists of three clusters of indicators:

1. the system where prevention is implemented
2. policy enablers focusing on waste prevention measures, and
3. waste prevention outcomes.

Given that waste prevention occurs over time, this report seeks to assess longer term trends in waste prevention.

This comprehensive monitoring framework allows for a broader understanding of waste generation and prevention. However, the data collected were not sufficient for an in-depth analysis of waste prevention progress or for assessing the effectiveness of specific prevention measures. For a deeper analysis, more specific data and information need to be collected across EU countries in a systematic and harmonised way.

The EU economy uses unsustainably large amounts of materials. In 2021, only 11.7% of these materials came from recycled waste. This share of recycled material is known as the circular material use rate (CMUR) and over the last 20 years it has increased only slightly. The EU’s circular economy action plan aims to double that share by 2030.

This briefing looks at trends in the EU’s circular material use rate and the environmental impacts of material use. It also analyses the EU’s prospects for reaching its 2030 target. Efforts should focus on reducing use and increasing recycling of non-metallic minerals — such as construction materials — as these account for about half of all materials used.

Exponential demand for critical materials, driven by the energy transition, may trigger supply chain problems. Circular economy business models could help decouple the renewable energy sector from material consumption. However, with major economic, regulatory and financial barriers, the sector's transition sector towards a circular economy still has a long way to go.

This report, commissioned by the Green Purposes Company and prepared by the Gate C consulting firm, proposes an action plan for the renewable energy sector which will enable it to be fully aligned with the principles of a circular economy and to reap its benefits. It is critical that in helping to address climate change, the renewable energy sector does not inadvertently drive environmental problems elsewhere.

Circle Economy has partnered with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the World Bank Group initiative Solutions for Youth Employment (S4YE) on jobs in the circular economy. S4YE is a multi-year initiative to generate and share evidence and data for a better understand of how the circular economy can help lead to a more just and inclusive world.

This report systematically documents the literature on circular economy and jobs, identifying gaps and suggesting ways to simultaneously promote environmental sustainability and good quality jobs. It provides valuable insights for policy makers to move towards a better environment that is just for all, helping to create win-win situations that are so urgently needed for the planet, its prosperity and its people.

This Fashion for Change report illustrates the key business challenges and needs for circular fashion designers, start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises, along with proven and recommended solutions to support them.

The report recommends a hybrid community model that interconnects physical local competence centres with digital platforms and online networks to provide access to relevant information, contacts and online tools along with specific training, coaching and funding programmes. This approach would need to be supported by effective policy instruments.

The analytic work has been co-funded by the COSME programme of the European Union via the call COS-CIRCFASH-2019-3-02: Accelerate and scale up innovation applications for a sustainable and circular fashion industry.

This report aims to inspire and show procuring organisations and their agents, management and sustainability managers examples of opportunities for circular procurement. The report targets the main sectors of ProCirc's activities, including furniture, construction, waste, ICT and textiles.

The report puts forward five recommendations:

1. Dare to try: start, learn and adjust.
2. Find the balance: push the market and encourage development during the contract.
3. Create alignment: link the organisation’s goals to the procurement practices.
4. Appreciate innovation: dedicate sufficient time and resources to finding new solutions.
5. Use existing knowledge: network, tools and experience sharing.

Read more about the scaling opportunities.

This paper analyses CE policies and discourses in three European cities to draw critical insights and recommendations.

It first reviews the academic literature on urban CE policies to develop a new conceptual framework for analysing CE discourses and policies. This is then used to analyse and compare the CE policies of Glasgow, Amsterdam and Copenhagen.

Results show that technocentric approaches to the CE are dominant in the three cities. Moreover, they have very limited social justice policies for fair distribution of the costs and benefits of a CE transition. Key policy recommendations to address these shortcomings are thus proposed.

The insights offered by this paper are valuable for practitioners and academics seeking to improve urban CE policies.

This white paper by Eunomia presents a vision for 2040, describing the way in which society will use materials and products in an economy that is well on its way to circularity. It sets the stage for the development of a detailed policy blueprint for the steps needed to deliver this vision, supported by research and stakeholder engagement.

For many islands, the answer to the question “Why a locally, self-sustaining, and regenerative economy is needed?” is clear. The struggle often lies in the “how”.

In this article, it is argued that tools from regenerative economics, which follow an island economy-as-an-organism analogy, offer valuable and complementary insights to socio-metabolic research.

Indicators from flow-based and information-based ecological network analysis can quantify properties of an island's socio-economic metabolism (SEM) which are related to cycling, resilience, and degree of mutualism, among others.

To illustrate the applicability of these methods, Samothraki in Greece has been selected as a case study.