What would it take to turn resale and repair into a source of economic growth that uses fewer resources, produces fewer emissions and creates more local jobs?

That's the question at the heart of this new report. It demonstrates how a targeted mix of policy incentives could lift gross margins to 55% for resale and 41% for repair. It covers three policy shifts: 

• reducing VAT/sales tax on secondhand goods and on repair services
• lowering labour taxes for jobs in resale and repair
• Extended Producer Responsibility

The report focuses on existing levers that governments can pull, not new frameworks to invent. Together, they improve margins per unit, reduce labour costs and ensure producers pay more of the true costs of linear production, giving resale and repair the conditions they need to scale.

In this document, Recycling Europe outlines its “DOs and DON’Ts” for the upcoming CEA, presenting key policy recommendations that can stimulate demand for high-quality recycled materials, expand recycling capacity and identify measures that could, conversely, undermine the competitiveness of the recycling industry by restricting the recycled materials market or increasing administrative burdens.

Circular Change, a globally recognised think-tank, is celebrating its tenth anniversary. 

It was founded in 2016 by Ladeja Godina Košir, currently Co-Chair of the ECESP, with a view to collaborative leadership and cross-border cooperation, strengthening international dialogue and advancing the circular transition.

Achievements include organising conferences geared to co-creation and systemic change, assuming a European leadership role by chairing the ECESP and gaining global recognition with a Circular Leadership Award nomination at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Circular Change has also contributed to national circular economy roadmaps in Serbia and Chile, advanced the concept of transition brokers and highlighted the need for circular diplomacy.

This is the Ellen McArthur Foundation's key policy recommendations for the Circular Economy Act.

They argue that by rapidly aligning regulatory requirements and fiscal incentives across the EU single market without further delay, the CEA can enable a European secondary raw materials market and circular business models to succeed, while harmonising environmental and industrial policy goals.

They propose three core policy levers:

1. Build a true EU single market where circular products and secondary materials can move freely.
2. Leverage price and demand signals to make upstream circular solutions the most accessible and affordable choice for buyers.
3. Treat the circular economy as a core industrial strategy to strengthen circular supply and value chains through industrial collaboration.

This briefing presents key air pollutant trends and projections for energy-intensive industries in Europe. 

It looks at how greenhouse gas emissions have fallen over the past two decades, but improvements in this area have stalled in the last ten years. Further progress will require the implementation of environmental legislation and transformative change in emission-intensive processes.

The briefing also looks at decarbonisation and circularity. Both approaches, particularly electrification, offer significant co-benefits for pollution prevention. A clear understanding of these co-benefits and risks should be used to guide investments and maximise environmental, health and competitiveness gains.

Every year, our global economy consumes around 100 billion tonnes of resources — three quarters of which it cannot replenish. This reliance on a constant flow of virgin raw materials leaves our economies increasingly exposed to price shocks, supply disruptions and the universal inefficiencies of resource waste. One direct way to relieve this pressure is to keep materials circulating at their highest value.

The Rediscovery Centre considers that:

• the call for evidence focuses too much on measures to enhance collection and recycling and too little on prevention, repair and reuse;
• tackling consumption rates and increasing reuse will also reduce the EU’s reliance on imports;
• welcomes the move to develop EPR schemes but feels that the non-profit sector and other key stakeholders involved in the design and implementation process should be involved as well as producers;
• more effective circularity metrics and targets are needed, including separate targets for consumption reduction, repair, reuse and preparation for reuse;
• dedicated and sufficient financial mechanisms and funding streams are needed to ensure the viability of prevention, repair and reuse initiatives across the EU.

Plastic pollution continues to pose a major challenge for communities across Europe, and the question of who should finance the management of litter has become increasingly important. This first ACR+ policy paper on litter evaluates the progress made by Member States in establishing and rolling out the EPR systems required by Article 8 of the Single Use Plastics Directive (SUPD).

It finds that few Member States have started implementing these systems. It is easier to establish systems for packaging-related SUPD products (because of the EPR systems already in place) than for new products such as balloons and wet wipes.

However, the most challenging part of the implementation is the calculation of littering costs. Public authorities pay the bulk of this, but more transparency is needed.

Reuse activities are an essential part of the EU’s moves to tackle the growing waste crisis.

However, the current combined targets for reuse and recycling generally prioritise recycling. This disregards the fact that quantitative reuse and preparing-for-reuse targets are an essential policy tool to implement the EU’s waste hierarchy.

This report presents an overview of existing targets and a detailed look at 24 targets set in different product categories and waste streams. The policy recommendations will help policymakers as they shape the Circular Economy Act, the revised WEEE Directive and other relevant measures at EU level. They cover issues such as setting specific targets for product streams with high environmental impact and job creation potential.

Paper recycling is one of Europe’s greatest circular economy achievements. However, regulatory fragmentation, market imbalances and rising operational risks are placing pressure on recyclers.

Recycling Europe calls on EU policymakers to act. This manifesto proposes four measures to safeguard the success story of paper recycling:

• Design circular paper products: recycling should be expected and the CEA should drive demand;
• Reduce EU administrative burdens: EU-wide rules on end-of-waste criteria for recovered paper and shipments are needed;
• Secure access to global markets for recovered paper: not all recovered paper can be re-used within Europe;
• Address the fire risk from lithium batteries in waste management facilities: proper waste sorting is crucial.