The European Commission has initiated a new consultation and call for evidence for its forthcoming Circular Economy Act. This move marks the beginning of efforts to introduce new regulations designed to expedite the transition towards a more circular economy. The Commission’s objectives include doubling the EU’s circularity rate and establishing the region as a global leader in the circular economy by 2030.
The Commission aims to address several challenges with the proposed act, such as the EU’s reliance on imported raw materials, including critical ones, insufficient resource efficiency, and the failure to account for environmental externalities inherent in a linear economy. While the transition to a circular economy is deemed crucial for reducing dependency, enhancing competitiveness, and alleviating environmental pressures, the EU’s circularity rate has seen minimal improvement, rising from 10.7% in 2010 to just 11.8% in 2023.
Key objectives of the upcoming act include creating a unified market for secondary raw materials, boosting the supply of high-quality recycled materials, and stimulating demand within the EU. Although specific policy proposals have not been presented, the Commission has identified two principal pillars likely to shape the act’s focus. These are targeting e-waste through effective collection and recycling measures to generate market demand for secondary critical raw materials, and implementing measures to promote a single market for waste and secondary raw materials. Proposed actions involve reforming end-of-waste criteria, simplifying and digitalising extended producer responsibility schemes, and establishing mandatory criteria for public procurement of circular goods and services to encourage demand.
The consultation and call for evidence will remain open until November 6, 2025, with the Commission aiming to adopt the Circular Economy Act in 2026. [Circular Economy Act Consultation](https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/14812-Circular-Economy-Act_en)
