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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