Circular Economy Closing the loop – An EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy

Hugo- Maria Schally

DG Environment

Circular Economy: a priority

Protecting the environment and boosting competitiveness go hand-in-hand: both are about building a sustainable future.

Energy Union and Climate

Jobs, Growth

and Investment

Democratic Change, Better

Regulation

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

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Circular Economy

Transition towards a

Circular Economy

The value of products, materials and resources is maintained in the economy

for as long as possible

Waste generation is minimised

Brings economic, social and environmental gains

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Circular Economy: an international dimension

EU's international commitments

2030 Sustainable Agenda

Paris Agreement to combat climate change

G7 Alliance for Resource Efficiency

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Key action areas

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Production

Waste Management

Co

nsu

mp

tion

Seco

nd

ary

raw

m

ate

ria

ls

Innovation, Investment

& Monitoring

Priority sectors

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Biomass & Bio-based Products

Plastics

Food Waste

Construction & Demolition

Critical Raw

Materials

Implementation-Circular Economy

Action Plan Communication

List of Follow-up Initiatives (Annex)

4 Legislative proposals on waste

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They are being debated at the Council and at the European Parliament

1/3 of the actions are being

implemented

State of Play (1)

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What has been done so far?

Legislative proposals on waste

Tackling false green claims

Green Public Procurement

Call "Industry 2020 and the circular economy" under Horizon 2020

Legislative Proposal on fertilizers

Best practices of water reuse

"Innovation Deals"

Stakeholders platform on food waste

State of Play (2)

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Next steps

(by the end of 2016)

Eco-design

Communication 'Waste to Energy'

REFIT of EU Ecolabel and of EMAS.

Preparation for next steps Pilots Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) and Product Environmental Footprint (PEF)

Green Financing Platform with the EIB and national banks

Assessment of the contribution of Circular Economy to the Bio-economy Strategy

Recycling Protocol for Construction and Demolition Waste

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State of Play (3)

Next steps (2017)

Plastic Strategy

Pre-demolition assessment guidelines for the construction sector

Interface between chemicals, products and waste legislation

Monitoring and indicator framework

Next steps (On-going)

Quality standards for secondary raw materials market

Development of indicators for the assessment of the environmental performance of a building

New/revised BREFs for industrial sectors

Use of Cohesion funds for Circular Economy

Other European Institutions

At National Level

Stakeholders' engagement

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Implementation-other actors

Other European Institutions

Council

• Discussions on the Waste Proposals

• Council conclusions on the Action Plan

European Parliament

• Report of the ENVI Committee

• Draft reports of Simona Bonafé and opinions of EP ITRE Committee

Committee of the

Regions

• Final opinion on the waste proposals

• Upcoming opinion on the Action Plan

EESC

• Opinion on the Circular Economy Package

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At national level

Member States are implementing the package

National Parliaments opinions on the Package

Some cities are becoming 'circular'

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Stakeholders' engagement

Exchange of best practices and knowledge

European Innovation Partnerships (Raw materials-water)

Support of voluntary business approaches and public-private partnerships

Role of private institutions

Ellen McArthur Foundation

Institut de l'Économie Circulaire

Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP)-UK

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Review ecodesign legislation: Focus on durability, future re-use, reparability, recycling and recovery

Resource efficiency indicators

Phasing-out of landfilling, and the right infrastructure for recycling

Consumer-related measures: product information on repair/maintenance, environmental performance Tackle food waste

Circular Economy and Life Cycle Thinking

EU has committed to promote products, services and organisations that are " circular " in their characteristics !

We need a "metrics" to measure the environmental performance of products (including services) and organisations !

The Environmental Footprint methods (PEF/OEF) could be the common metrics to be used in EU policies.

Circular Economy and Environmental Footprint

• Links to the circular economy:

Tackling the whole life cycle is behind the system thinking in the circular economy

Reliable information on life cycle environmental performance: consumers and stakeholders

Understanding trade-offs along the whole value chain: better design and production decisions

batteries paints

pipes detergents

IT equipment

leather

Metal sheets

Footwear

Photovoltaic

Thermal insulation

T-shirt

UPS

Intermediate paper product

beer coffee

dairy feed

fish

meat

pasta

water

Pet food

olive oil

retail

wine

copper

Environmental Footprint pilot phase

The EF Pilot phase at a glance

Rules

Verification

Communication

Level playing field

Technical implementability

How to (vehicles)

Tools for SMEs

Horizontal Working Groups

International dimension

An "easy" tool for all companies

Company specific data

Free IT tool

Product group: XYZ Attribute: Single attributes or weighted average

Environmental performance of products

Number of products

Information freely accessible

ref <y%ref* >x%ref

GPP

* Plus additional requirements non captured by LCA

Product policies TOMORROW (?)

Outlook

EC Evaluation

Peer review

Policy discussion

2017 2018

Thank you for your attention

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