Greening metals and minerals production, including CRMs, comes with higher capital and operating costs – a 'green premium'. This reflects investment in decarbonising production processes, ensuring robust environmental and social safeguards and advancing circularity.
Manufacturers appear hesitant to absorb such premia and a credible green-premium market for CRMs is unlikely to emerge without regulatory intervention.
This analysis has laid out a phased, two-tier pathway towards a premium market. The first tier would focus on setting minimum market-access requirements, in order to level the playing field and exclude the worst performers from EU market access. A second tier of instruments is therefore needed to reward those who exceed baseline standards through targeted, conditional incentives.
Academics for Circular Economy welcomes the creation of a Circular Economy Act that aims to address issues such as resource dependence, competitiveness, and environmental pressures. To leverage the full economic, social and environmental potential of the circular economy, the Circular Economy Act must address a number of critical points:
Competitiveness through upstream innovation
European resource independence by design
Resilience of the single market
Environmental protection via a regenerative bioeconomy
The Commission is holding a public consultation on how to improve EU product legislation, specifically regarding the circular economy and the digital transition. It relates to the revision of the New Legislative Framework: established in 2008, it provides a blueprint for product harmonisation legislation, aligning 30 EU legal acts.
The EU Food Loss and Waste Prevention Hub is a one-stop-shop for stakeholders active in the area of food loss and waste prevention and reduction, across the EU and beyond. It's a source of information on what's going on in this community!
On 27 November, the European Commission adopted a bold new Strategic Framework for a Competitive and Sustainable EU Bioeconomy Strategy. By using renewable biological resources from land and sea and providing alternatives to critical raw materials, the EU aims to move forward towards a more circular and decarbonised economy and decrease dependence on fossil imports.
This audit aimed to evaluate the action taken by the European Commission and the Member States with a view to achieving the EU’s objectives for municipal waste.
It assessed whether the Commission’s legal initiatives and enforcement were fit for purpose; whether the four sampled Member States have made good progress in achieving EU waste targets and objectives; and whether the 16 sampled projects in these Member States – co-financed with EU funds – were implemented well in terms of time, cost and capacity.
The audit covered the period from 2014 to 2024. It found that while the Commission has boosted targets and requirements, many Member States face challenges in their progress towards circularity, mainly due to financial constraints and weaknesses in planning and implementation.
The Nordic Circular Summit is the largest annual conference on the circular economy in the Nordics, a gathering point for changemakers, policymakers, researchers and businesses driving the transition to a regenerative circular economy.
This webinar, tailored for distance sellers, will present the latest EU regulations and provide a comprehensive overview of EPR obligations and guide you through the necessary steps to ensure compliance.
This webinar will explore the international used clothing trade.
It will present the report on From Collection of Used Clothes in Sweden to Reuse in Kenya: A Case Study of Humana LT’s Value Chain for Second-Hand Clothes and look at the economic and environmental value of second-hand clothing exports and how policy can best support circular textile flows.
This webinar will explore the opportunities and challenges of environmental management for all organisations connected to chemical risks. It will focus on the regulatory context and practical strategies for implementing EMAS, the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme.
Participants will see how compliance with EU environmental policies can become a driver of innovation, competitiveness and long-term value creation. They will also hear practical insights and success stories from EMAS-registered organisations on reducing environmental impact and adopting circular processes.
