EuRIC: ‘room for improvement’ in Circular Economy package

Europe – The European Recycling Industries’ Confederation (EuRIC) has welcomed the European Commission’s Circular Economy package as a ‘first step to support sustainable growth in Europe’. However, the umbrella organisation for recycling industries also claims there is ‘clear room for improvement’.

Areas that require specific attention are; recycling targets and their calculation method; stricter measures to phase out landfilling and incineration of recyclables; the clarity of new provisions; boosting demand for secondary raw materials; and ‘correcting market failures which distort competition between primary and secondary raw materials’.

EuRIC president Dominique Maguin says: ‘The action plan to close the loop through a number of measures, including eco-design to ease products’ recyclability or “market-driven initiatives”, is a positive step forward. However, more needs to be done.’ On the plus side, EuRIC is particularly pleased to see proposals to facilitate cross-border circulation of secondary raw materials through the use of electronic data exchange.

EuRIC’s secretary general Emmanuel Katrakis comments: ‘Aligning administrative procedures with the pace of businesses by moving to electronic control systems is, in our digital age, an imperative for recyclers.’

The European Commission launched its revised Circular Economy package on December 2, claiming its proposals will ‘contribute to “closing the loop” of product lifecycles through greater recycling and reuse’ and will ‘extract the maximum value and use from all raw materials, products and waste’.

A feature on the Circular Economy package – and more reaction to it – will appear in the January/February issue of Recycling International.