European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform

The strategy aims to make a robust and successful circular economy a central pillar in driving Scotland’s innovation and growth towards a sustainable future. 

Published in March 2026, it sets out what Scotland aims to achieve by 2045. It focuses on sectors and products in order to optimise the impacts of individual materials, such as plastics, critical materials and chemicals, across the supply chain as a whole.

The goal is to make Scotland a net zero and nature-positive nation, helped by the significant progress in transitioning towards a circular economy with sustainable levels of material use. Scotland will have a thriving economy that meets societal needs and is based on circular economy principles, and will have reduced the negative global impact of its production and consumption.

This strategy positions circularity as pivotal for Ireland's economic competitiveness, environmental sustainability and social wellbeing. 

It aims to take Ireland from a linear model to a regenerative, closed-loop system where materials are kept in use for as long as possible. Actions and targets for specific sectors (construction, agriculture, retail, packaging, textiles & electronic equipment) are included, with a view to reducing material resource consumption and boosting repair, reuse and re-usable products and materials.

Core objectives:

• Raise Ireland’s circular material use rate from 2.7%
• Support economic expansion
• Enhance competitiveness and innovation
• Enhance social equity
• Empower people
• Actively support local authorities
• Establish digitalisation as an enabler of the circular economy

Germany's National Circular Economy Strategy adopts a strategic vision focused on reducing the consumption of primary raw materials. This approach is guided by the proposal from the International Resource Panel, under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which sets a global target of 6-8 tonnes of raw material consumption per capita per year by 2050.

The strategy considers every stage of the cycle: product design, material selection, production, maximising the use phase and, finally, reuse and recycling. It aims to prevent waste from being created in the first place. This can be achieved through smart product design, efficient manufacturing, extended product lifespans, easier repairability and maximising the recycling of all materials.

Italy's National Strategy for Circular Economy identifies the administrative and fiscal tools designed to strengthen the secondary raw materials market in terms of availability, performance and costs; contribute to the achievement of climate neutrality objectives; and implement a roadmap of actions and measurable targets up to 2035. It sets out the legislative framework governing the objectives and the ways and means of achieving them. 

Macro-objectives include: enhance competitiveness of secondary raw materials; consolidate EPR schemes; develop fiscal reforms promoting the circular economy; improve traceability of waste streams; mandatory minimum environmental criteria for GPP; focus on strategic industrial supply chains; support industrial symbiosis; and foster circular skills.

This programme builds on the solid foundations laid by previous programmes.

• Chapter 1 sets out a vision of the circular economy up to 2030 and 2050.
• Chapter 2 addresses general measures used to help deliver a circular economy in the Netherlands. They affect the various phases of the product value chains.
• Chapter 3 describes measures that relate to specific product groups, such as furniture, plastic packaging and housing.
• Chapter 4 addresses supporting measures for a number of topics, such as knowledge & innovation, the Circular Netherlands Accelerator!, market incentives, financing instruments and circular procurement.
• Chapter 5 covers the collaboration between the parties involved in this programme.
• Chapter 6 describes which resources are available for the plans in this programme.

On 17 July 2024, the Catalan government launched the Roadmap for the Circular Economy in Catalonia (Full de Ruta de l’Economia Circular a Catalunya, FRECC), highlighting its push for sustainable development and accelerating the transition to a more circular and equitable economy that maximizes the value of resources by 2030.

The plan, developed by the Catalan government (Generalitat de Catalunya), experts and citizens, aims to decouple economic growth from resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

The roadmap will be implemented by means of two action plans: one for 2024-2026 and another for 2027-2029.

This strategic plan is about making the circular economy in Wales a reality. 

The Welsh Government set out their commitment to use the powers and levers available to them to accelerate the transition to a circular, low-carbon economy. Wales is already doing well in terms of recycling, but further efforts are needed. The strategy recognises that resource use is key, and states that a circular economy is a critical element of a green and just recovery because it will reduce consumption and prevent waste.

The strategy lists 8 headline actions for delivering a circular economy in Wales, from helping Welsh businesses reduce their carbon footprint by becoming more resource efficient to phasing out unnecessary single-use items, especially plastic.

The Austrian circular economy strategy was developed and led by the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, together with many economic, scientific, administrative and civil society actors.

The transformation into a circular economy entails factoring resource flows into production, sales and consumption processes and thus massively reducing the use of materials (raw or otherwise), as well as the volume of waste and the strain on the environment.

Austria's circular economy strategy therefore aims to:

• Spare resources
• Achieve zero waste
• Achieve zero pollution
• Protect the environment.

The Romanian Government has approved an Action Plan promoting the Circular Economy as part of the National Strategy for the Circular Economy (NSCE). The action plan sets out a national vision for speeding up the transition to a circular economy, with measures geared to the nine economic sectors with the greatest potential for circularity in Romania's economy: agriculture and forestry; automotive; construction; food and beverages; packaging; textiles; electrical and electronic equipment; waste; water; wastewater.

The action plan has a cross-sectoral strand including promotion activities and a monitoring platform. It also stipulates 52 priority measures scheduled to be rolled out between 2024 and 2032.

See the Executive Summary of the Romanian Circular Economy Action Plan.

Kosovo, a potential EU candidate country, has embarked on an ambitious journey – the transition towards a circular economy. The aim of this journey is:

• to preserve the country’s nature and rich biodiversity
• to valorise its resources and talent, 
• to contribute to a more resilient and regenerative economy and a society where everyone has the opportunity to live a good life.

This roadmap by Kosovo's Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure identifies six priority areas: a) food and b) forestry systems, c) creative and d) retail sectors, e) built environment and the f) manufacturing sector. 

Given the strong interdependency of these sectors, the Roadmap also introduces horizontal areas that enable and support priority areas and further promote circular transition.