European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform

Buildings are important in EU environmental and climate policy for several reasons, including their greenhouse gas emissions and high consumption of material resources. Improved design and building techniques will produce highly efficient new buildings, but more than 85 % of today's buildings are likely to still be in use in 2050.

This briefing examines potential renovation activities that could improve the sustainability of existing buildings and the implications for embedded greenhouse gas emissions and resource use.

Establishing an EU circular economy calls for a transformation of Europe’s production/consumption systems. Production systems respond to and shape consumer demand through the products offered and how they are marketed. Informed consumer choices can potentially shape decisions made by producers upstream and downstream in product supply chains.

This briefing explores how policy can enable more circular economy-consistent consumer behaviour by understanding the factors influencing it.

The study aims at raising awareness among practitioners and policymakers of the concept of 'circular taxation' and of its potential to provide the incentives needed to step away from the wasteful linear economy and contribute to the shift to a circular economy which operates within planetary boundaries.

1. The report proposes a definition of circular taxation differentiating it from traditional approaches to environmental taxes.
2. Four case studies of environmental taxes are considered to establish if they have elements that would be expected of circular taxation, and to seek to learn lessons for the application of circular taxation.
3. Recommendations are presented on the implementation of circular taxation and on the possible uses of revenues with a focus on equity and just transition.

This report is the final outcome of the collaboration that took place in 2021 and 2022 between the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Environment Agency (EEA) and its European Topic Centre (ETC) on circular economy.

This collaboration entails the area of efficient and circular management of material resources and, in particular, of raw materials. Ultimately, this report and underlying data/knowledge findings are meant to support the further development of the European Commission’s Raw Materials Information System (RMIS).

The report Avoiding Blind Spots: Promoting Circular & Fair Business Models by Circle Economy, European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and The Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO) provides an overview of the blindspots - the unintended, unaddressed or underexplored negative impacts - of promoting circular business models.

The aim is to get a holistic understanding of the impacts of circular business models, specifically taking into account the social sphere.

The report considers three circular business models (repair, resale and product as a service - PaaS) and four types of blindspots (governance, market, social and environmental).

Recommendations for (EU) policy makers, public procurers and businesses are then formulated to address these blindspots.

The TwinRevolution project supports Vocational Education and Training (VET) learners from the textile and furniture industries on their green and digital transition journey.

The blueprint Twin transition in the manufacturing sector offers an overview of the current challenges faced by the sector. Best practices examples from both industries illustrate how smart and circular approaches can accelerate the transformation of these two sectors.

Following a literature review detailing the current state of industry 4.0 and circular economy in both sectors, the report highlights how specific Key Enabling Technologies can support a twin transition.

In September 2019, nine Resourceful Cities embarked on their journey to develop next-generation urban resource centres as a way to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. 

The nine cities together with their local stakeholders were all able to deliver a high-quality Integrated Action Plan. Every one of those action plans is not just an expression of their resilience in times of crisis: it is also a manifestation of their individual response to their local context and needs.

This publication summarises their collective journey as a network and tells the story of each of the nine partner cities from their own perspective. Their journey shows that cities are big enough to make a difference and small enough to make it happen.

The textile industry’s figures are clear: of the 648 000 tons of textiles placed on the market each year in France, only 38% are collected for recycling.

The 10 proposals set out in this white paper (in French) seek to meet three objectives. The first consists of building the Extended Producer Responsibility approach around environmental benefits. The second is to support the development of a sustainable textile and footwear recycling industry. The last is to meet the legitimate expectations of transparency and traceability. The proposals aim to achieve these objectives in the context of the three key steps in a product’s lifecycle: (1) fabrication, (2) consumption, and (3) regeneration.

There can be no doubt that circular demand creates opportunities for circular supply. But how can closed loop criteria be integrated into public procurement, which represents nearly 14% of Europe's GDP? To figure it out, Renewable Matter interviewed Helena O'Rourke-Potocki and Simon Clement, respectively circular economy and procurement officer and senior coordinator on the circular economy at ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.

ICLEI is a global network working with more than 2 500 local and regional governments committed to driving local action towards a social and ecological transition. In future, whether purchasing services or products such as buildings, furniture and food, local authorities will need to look for increasingly sustainable supplies.