This briefing looks into how circular economy and waste sector policies and measures can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It analyses how European countries include circular economy and waste actions in their reporting on climate change mitigation policies and measures and how the introduction of additional measures can help accelerate future reductions of GHG emissions.

The briefing finds that waste management and the circular economy have considerable potential for mitigating climate change. Therefore, countries would benefit from including policies and measures in these areas in their climate policy mix.

EU policymakers recently decided to introduce a direct ban on the destruction of textiles and footwear, with some exemptions for small, micro and medium-sized companies.

In this briefing, the EEA takes stock of what is currently known about the volumes and destruction of returned and unsold textiles in Europe. The growth of online shopping, flexible return practices, changed consumer preferences and fast-fashion business strategies in Europe have resulted in increased shares of returned and unsold textiles.

Over the past years, fast fashion and luxury brands have been reported as destroying returned or unsold clothing, shoes and other textiles. Textile product destruction is a very good example of a ‘take-make-waste’ approach.

A Digital Product Passport (DPP) is being discussed as a core instrument for building a circular economy, itself a key enabler of climate neutrality. Although there is not yet a standardised, cross-sectoral and cross-company product passport system, there are already individual solutions for collecting information for certain product groups.

A DPP needs to be made available digitally for all stakeholders in order to increase transparency throughout the entire product lifecycle.

This paper answers the following questions:

• Why are politicians pushing for a DPP in connection with the circular economy?
• What is a DPP?
• What already exists?
• What does a DPP need?
• How ready are companies for a DPP? How can a DPP be delivered?
• What would a prototype look like?

The Netherlands aims to be fully circular by 2050, halving resource consumption by 2030. Waste prevention will be key, since the country's waste generation exceeds the European average. Large or small, cities are instrumental in managing waste prevention as they are both consumption hubs and waste generators. 

Circle Economy was asked by the executive agency of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management to identify the tools available to local government to prevent waste and explore how cities can be designed to help people reduce waste. This study sets out their findings.
 

Municipalities are seeking to reduce waste generation and increase recycling rates in order to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Materials that evade recycling are typically landfilled or incinerated.

This study compares cost effectiveness between sorting of mixed waste leftover after separate collection (leftover mixed waste sorting) and the capture of CO₂ from incinerator flue gas for underground storage (carbon capture and storage, CCS).

It has found that the most cost-effective way of delivering system-wide reductions in CO₂ emissions is the sorting system. The least cost-effective means to reduce CO₂ is CCS. Combining the two would achieve the greatest overall reduction and reduce the average cost of reduction to around half the cost of achieving reduction through CCS alone.

The SMART CIRCUIT project is designed to accelerate the adoption of digital and technological solutions in the circular economy, particularly in Central Europe's manufacturing ecosystem. It focuses on capacity building and knowledge sharing, enhancing regional and transnational cooperation, focusing on key value chains, promotion of circular economy strategies, and implementation of practical solutions.

The project showcases success stories from across Europe, emphasising the practical application of circular economy principles in various industries. They demonstrate innovative solutions to challenges in recycling, resource efficiency and sustainable manufacturing processes.

This brochure sets out 122 success stories from nine countries (AT, CZ, DE, HU, HR, IT, PL, SK, SI).
 

Since 2019, Circle Economy Foundation's Circularity Gap Reports have been providing analysis and theory on the global state of circularity. According to the Circularity Gap Report 2024, the circular economy is becoming more popular but failing to deliver.

The 2024 report lays out a roadmap for ambitious change to unlock capital, roll out bold policies and close the skills gap.

The circular economy is now extremely well known: the volume of discussions, debates and articles on it has almost tripled over the past five years. Unfortunately, the rate of global circularity is falling. The share of secondary materials consumed by the global economy actually decreased from 9.1% in 2018 to 7.2% in 2023 - a 21% drop in five years.

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The uptake of green and digital technologies will massively increase demand for critical raw materials (CRMs). Since CRM supply chains are heavily concentrated, this exposes the EU to significant CRM supply risks. Several policy options emerge for the EU to address these risks. Domestically, there is potential to produce primary and secondary CRMs, yet significant time and resources will be required to scale up production.

Material substitution and resource efficiency might also play non-negligible roles with enough R&I support. Internationally, both trade policy and international cooperation (including within multilateral fora) hold significant prospects for mitigating supply risks. If properly managed, stockpiling CRMs can also help shield against short-term supply or price shock.

For the EU’s Green Deal to be effective, it is critical to target the root cause of the triple environmental crises of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss: excessive extraction, production, manufacturing and consumption of material resources.

This excess is not evenly distributed in the world: as highlighted in the report, the EU consumes more than its fair share – levels that are almost double the estimated sustainable consumption levels.

Addressing material resource consumption by establishing an EU Material Resources Law will be critical to meet the fourfold objectives set out in the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) and stay within planetary boundaries. The EU will not achieve its climate change targets without making progress on resource consumption.

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission has just published a report on construction & demolition waste (CDW) which confirms that the circular economy is crucial for reaching climate neutrality by 2050:

- construction & demolition waste accounts for almost 40% of all waste generated in the EU
- the new JRC study estimates the potential for recycling and preparing for re-use of CDW to be roughly 83%
- realising this potential would lead to an additional 33 Mt CO₂e savings annually (equivalent to the combined annual emissions of e.g. Estonia, Latvia and Luxembourg).

The European Commission is taking important legislative and non-legislative steps to ensure CDW is managed in an environmentally sound manner and contributes to the circular economy.