In order to achieve the EU’s 2050 climate neutrality target, the European Commission is planning to announce new initiatives addressing the entire life cycle of products with the following objectives:

• design of products that allows circularity and
• promotion of circular economy processes and sustainable consumption.

The initiatives should also ensure that waste is prevented and that the resources used remain in the EU economy for as long as possible.

The Sustainable Products Initiative, expected to be published in December 2021, is a cornerstone of EU’s endeavours to create a circular economy. It will include rules for setting requirements on mandatory sustainability labelling and/or disclosure of information to market actors along value chains in the form of a digital product passport.

Join this EURACTIV Virtual Conference on 9 November at 9:30 CET to discuss EU's Circular Economy Action Plan and whether its new initiatives, such as the digital product passport, will achieve the transparency for products that policymakers are looking for. How easy will it be for industry, big and small, to comply with?

Novelis, the world leader in aluminium rolling and recycling, invites you to a webinar on 26 October to discuss how sustainable frontrunners are innovating the shift towards making fully-recycled aluminium products the norm, and to consider how EU policy can accelerate this transition.

The speakers are: MEP Bas Eickhout (Vice-Chair of the Environment Committee, European Parliament), Marius Vaščega (Head of Cabinet to Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, European Commission), Martijn Lopes Cardozo (Circle Economy, CEO), Emilio Braghi (Novelis, Executive Vice-President and President Europe). Anna Gumbau (climate journalist) will moderate this debate.

ICT products like computers, smartphones, etc. are fundamental tools adding efficiency to our lives, amongst other advantages. At the same time, NGO’s have highlighted challenges concerning environmental, human and labour rights, and the need for effective eWaste management in the electronics industry.

Together with activities associated with eWaste Day 2021, efforts of WEEE Forum, Open Repair Alliance and many others stakeholders, we have come a long way to encourage repair to push for positive and sustainable changes.

During this webinar Making every Day Repair Day > with Intention, Policy, and Standards on 21 October, we’ll get a glimpse into the developments from the perspective of policy measures such as EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan, Sustainable Products Initiative, Green Public Procurement (GPP) criteria, etc. All in all, this webinar will focus on industry initiatives to harmonise and fast track progress towards circular and fair ICT, with a focus on reparability.

The economic and environmental benefits of the circular economy are always on the forefront, but what about its social benefits? How are the livelihoods and well-being of specific communities affected by the transition? What about social norms, consumer behaviour and the social trade-offs that lie at the heart of the circular economy?

The Electronics Club of the CSCP's Consumer Insight Action Panel (CIAP) initiative is looking for pathways that address social implications in the circularity journey.

The need to move towards circular and more sustainable economic models has become more evident due to the Covid pandemic and data certifying the climate change effects. Moreover, European public institutions show an increased emphasis on promoting a circular economy transition, notably through the Next Generation Europe programme and the available funding.

At a single company level, however, how can we undertake this transition and its impacts? Often this has yet to be understood and planned. Advanced services, digitalization and «servitized» business models may have a big role in helping companies move to a circular paradigm and achieve not only environmental but also economic and social benefits.

The conference on 27 and 28 October deals with the synergies between servitization and the circular economy, and the role of servitization in supporting the transition towards a circular economy.

The transition to the circular economy needs collaboration. That’s why the first German Circular Economy Festival is an open social innovation event, calling on all relevant actors to pool their efforts to speed up the transition. For a societal endeavour of this scale, stakeholders from civil society, academia, policy making, industry and more need to be actively engaged. The festival aims to spur on stakeholders and serve as a platform for open social innovation.

The Directorate-General ENV of the European Commission is inviting you to participate in a webinar on Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) for newbies - a basic training on the PEF method - on 8 October 2021. No previous experience in the field is needed.

EU Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius will join RREUSE to explore the meaning of social value in the circular economy and whether social dynamics have been inherent factors in developing EU policies related to the green transition.

The webinar on 7 October 2021 will also focus on the way forward in ensuring that tools such as the Social Economy Action Plan and the Circular Economy Action Plan work together to create a more favourable policy and funding environment for social enterprises, safeguarding a socially fair and inclusive circular transition.

The Making It Circular Challenge is a two-day event on circular economy for plastics in Europe. This free-of-charge event will take place online on 29-30 September 2021.

The European Union, the Canada Plastic Pact, the Circular Economy Coalition and the project Reducing Plastic Waste in Canada are hosting a WCEF21 two-hour Accelerator Session on circular economy for plastics with a focus on global supply chains on 15 September 2021.

The participatory info session Circular solutions for regions and cities – how to make it work will take place on Wednesday 13 October, 11:00 a.m. (CEST). Participants will learn more about the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI), which offers possibilities for cities and regions, ranging from knowledge-sharing and technical expertise to financial opportunities, and get insights and experiences from the local perspective.

The second annual Circular Nonwovens Forum "Shaping together the circular economy for nonwovens" creates a platform for in-depth engagement with stakeholders on the challenges and opportunities arising on the path towards the circular economy for nonwovens, with a view to collectively finding ways and means to accelerate this transition. The event has been converted into a hybrid webinar for 2021.

As part of the Circular Economy Action Plan, the European Commission is developing two key policies on transparency: the Substantiating Green Claims Initiative and the Empowering Consumers Initiative, which will require companies to substantiate claims they make about the environmental footprint of their products/services and will help consumers to play their role in a green transition.

In light of this, the Policy Hub is willing to organise on 14 September a webinar co-hosted with Delara Burkhardt, a Member of the European Parliament to discuss what is needed for an effective policy framework on transparency. At the same time, the event will mark the launch of the Policy Hub’s position paper on transparency reflecting on the key recommendations from the apparel and footwear industry.

Welcome to the circular economy event of the year, World Circular Economy Forum 2021, on 13-15 September 2021!

Hosted for the first time in North America, WCEF 2021 will focus on the system level changes, or “game changers,” needed to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.