Circular Economy Action Plan
At a glance
By putting the accent on the combined goal of increasing sustainability and economic growth, the new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP 2.0), presented in 2020, sets the basis for an innovation-driven policy agenda, which must encourage both ambitious and economically viable solutions to scale up the circularity of the EU economy.
Recent developments such as the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), underscore the EU’s commitment to reducing waste and promoting sustainable practices across all sectors of the EU economy. This commitment has been further reinforced by Ursula Von der Leyen’s political guidelines in July 2024, calling for a new Circular Economy Act to create market demand for secondary materials and a single market for waste.
Packaging and the Circular Economy
Packaging is an integral and essential part of product supply chains, from the production to the consumption stage. The packaging supply chain, represented by EUROPEN, plays a central role in contributing to a resource efficient and circular economy by protecting products all along the value chains to avoid resource and product waste.
Our members are continuously innovating to deliver on their sustainability commitments, while preserving the integrity and safety of the products for citizens and businesses.
They are developing optimal packaging solutions preventing resource depletion, product and food waste and packaging entering the environment. They are also driving the uptake of innovative packaging design for increased reuse and recycling and contributing to the development of new sorting, collection and recycling technologies.
Our position
EUROPEN supports the objective of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) to contribute to the efficient functioning of the internal market for packaged goods, while preventing the adverse impacts of packaging waste and is keen on following the evolution of the proposal for a new Circular Economy Act.
The PPWR is expected to be adopted in the autumn of 2024. Thus, it is of utmost importance to focus on the upcoming steps to provide clarity and certainty to those stakeholders who will have to adapt to the new requirements, and to ensure the compliance of all actors involved.
In this context, to enable the success of the Regulation and accomplish its objectives, the upcoming secondary legislation and the overall work stemming from the PPWR’s entry into force must be guided by the following general principles:
- Timely and evidence-driven secondary legislation, critical to the undisrupted functioning of the value chains that depend on packaging for the commercialisation of products in the European market.
- Appropriate framework conditions enabling investment in innovation and supporting the development and scaling-up of technologies and infrastructure supporting the circular economy.
- Commitment from Member States to deliver on their obligations, improve their performance on the established recycling rates, and to comply with the existing legislation. The Commission has already called on the Member States through its 2023 Early Warning Report, signaling that 18 Member States are at risk of missing the target of 55% preparing for reuse and recycling of municipal waste, and 10 of missing the target of 65% recycling of packaging waste by 2025, and launching infringement procedures against all Member States (July 2024) for failing to comply with their waste collection and recycling obligations under EU law.
- Preserving the integrity of the Single Market for the harmonised implementation and strengthened enforcement of packaging legislation across the EU while adhering to the Better Regulation principle and avoiding duplications and overlaps with other existing legislation.