The European Commission issued the first part of its Circular Economy Package

In the New Circular Economy Action Plan, the European Commission announced the adoption of a number of legislative and non-legislative initiatives that would help deliver on the objectives of the European Green Deal. Holding to its commitment, the Commission published on 30 March 2022 the first part of its Circular Economy Package, which included:

• A proposal for a Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition, aiming to amend the existing Consumer Rights Directive and Unfair Commercial Practices Directive to create a new right for consumers to know about a product’s lifespan and reparability, while strengthening rules on the substantiation of green claims and planned obsolescence.
• A proposal on Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), aiming to establish a framework to make all products that are placed on the EU market (at the exception of food, feed and pharmaceutical products) sustainable. Another important aspect of the proposed Regulation is the introduction of a Digital Product Passport to electronically register, process and share product-related information along its value chain and to consumers.
• A proposal for the revision of the Construction Product Regulation, aiming to improve the sustainability of construction products in line with the goals of the EU Green Deal.
• A strategy for Sustainable Textiles, a non-binding document aiming to create a framework to improve the sustainability and circularity of textile products.

WHAT DID YOU MISS?

• May 2022: EUROPEN provided feedback on the European Commission proposal for a Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition. EUROPEN supports the objective of the Commission proposal and further requested that the proposal contemplates the possibility for companies to use recognised standards to substantiate their claims.
• June 2022: EUROPEN provided feedback on the ESPR proposal. In EUROPEN’s view, it is essential that the ESPR does not create double regulation, in particular for product-specific legislations like the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. While the objectives of the ESPR are naturally interlinked with those of the PPWD, because of the intrinsic relationship between packaging and the packaged product, sustainability measures specific to packaging need to continue to be governed by the PPWD.

WHAT’S NEXT?

• Q3/Q4 2022: The European Commission is expected to adopt a working plan setting the prioritisation of products to be regulated by the ESPR.
• 30 November 2022: According to the latest available College agenda, the second part of the Circular Economy Package should be published at the end of November and include the following initiatives:
  • A proposal for the review of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive.
  • A proposal for a Regulation on substantiating environmental claims using the product/organisation environmental footprint methods (green claims).
  • The publication of a Communication on a policy framework for bio-based, biodegradable and compostable plastics.
  • A proposal for measures to reduce the release of microplastics in the environment.
  • An initiative on sustainable consumption of goods – promoting repair and reuse (the right to repair).