Cillian Lohan was instrumental in setting up the ECESP, and more recently he was responsible for preparing the European Economic and Social Committee's opinion on the Circular Economy Act - Circular economy and responsible resource consumption within planetary boundaries which was adopted in June.

In this interview with Euractiv, he talks about how the opinion frames the circular economy as something Europe needs to strengthen its resilience, competitiveness and strategic autonomy, rather than as an interesting environmental issue. 

The opinion calls for the Act to break the silos between circular legislation, establish a genuine single market for secondary raw materials with harmonised standards, traceability and certification, and make public procurement a lever for driving the circular transition – Cillian talks about why these factors are key and what they will achieve.

Europe wants to reindustrialise while reducing resource consumption – which may seem impossible to reconcile. Cillian explains that it is in fact possible, but will take hard choices. Linear business models based on rapid turnover and planned obsolescence will never reduce resource consumption, but ones based on efficiency, durability, repair, reuse and smarter use of resources certainly can. 

Lastly, how will we know that the CEA has been successful? If competitive, resource-conscious and socially fair circularity is standard in five years, there won't be any doubt!  

Read the article!