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In addition, extracting and using raw materials has a major impact on the environment. It also

increases energy consumption and CO2 emissions. However, a smarter use of raw materials
can lower CO2 emissions.
Measures such as waste prevention, ecodesign and re-use could save EU companies money

while also reducing total annual greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, the production of materials
we use everyday account for 45% of the CO2 emissions.
Moving towards a more circular economy could deliver benefits such as reducing pressure on the
environment, improving the security of the supply of raw materials, increasing competitiveness,
stimulating innovation, boosting economic growth (an additional 0.5% of gross domestic product),

creating jobs (700,000 jobs in the EU alone by 2030).
Consumers will also be provided with more durable and innovative products that will increase the
quality of life and save them money in the long term.

In March 2020, the European Commission presented the circular economy action plan, which
aims to promote more sustainable product design, reduce waste and empower consumers, for
example by creating a right to repair. There is a focus on resource intensive sectors, such
as electronics and ICT, plastics, textiles and construction.

In February 2021, the Parliament adopted a resolution on the new circular economy action
plan demanding additional measures to achieve a carbon-neutral, environmentally sustainable,
toxic-free and fully circular economy by 2050, including tighter recycling rules and binding targets
for materials use and consumption by 2030.

In March 2022, the Commission released the first package of measures to speed up the transition
towards a circular economy, as part of the circular economy action plan. The proposals include
boosting sustainable products, empowering consumers for the green transition, reviewing
construction product regulation, and creating a strategy on sustainable textiles.

The circular economy has come to stay. There can be no doubt about this: all one has to do is
visit the webpages that the European Commission devotes to this theme, and that show the action
plan of the circular economy package for the current year, as well as the initiatives in place for
promoting the circular economy among a wide range of stakeholders. And this is how it will be in

the years to come!

The rise of the circular economy and its tools

The circular economy is one that integrates the tools to recycle, propagates them at a systemic
level, and takes them to a higher level. Its objective is to cut down on waste and the use of
resources through the transformation of the products’ life cycles.

There are many different interpretations of the circular economy, so it’s not always possible to be
certain what is circular and what isn’t. Moreover, the issue has far-reaching implications – just
take the differences in our resource, energy and waste management practices and their varied

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