Europe prides itself on leading the charge for sustainability but when it comes to transitioning to a circular economy it has been stagnating. Despite consistent legislative efforts and ambitious rhetoric, the EU is still far from reaching its ambition…
Across the continent, ingenious small businesses are saving products from landfills and giving them a new lease on life.
Money from the EU’s Just Transition Fund will be used to diversify economic activity away from fossil fuels.
With over 400 million tons of plastic produced annually worldwide, half of which is designed for single use, and less than 10% recycled, the need to improve circularity is imperative. The upcoming delegated act from the Single-Use Plastics Directive (S…
It was a love fest today. The green fights begin tomorrow
A triple win for sustainability, circularity and business
Today and tomorrow (11 and 12 July) the Hungarian Presidency will host an informal meeting of Environment Ministers in Budapest, where they will discuss COP29, the circular economy’s potential to boost competitiveness and water scarcity.
We need to change how the EU packages food and beverages to transition to a low-carbon circular economy.
The European Union stands as a leader in global efforts to combat climate change, driven by a commitment to secure a sustainable future for all. At the heart of EU climate action lies the European Green Deal, a framework for transforming the EU into a …
Even before the European elections, maneuvering is under way for top jobs in Brussels.
As the EU prepares for a new mandate, Citeo advocates 11 measures aimed at developing an environmental and sovereign economic model for Europe.
Discover Europe’s leather industry: a hidden economic powerhouse crafting EUR 8 billion in luxury goods while pioneering sustainability and social responsibility. Unveil its transformative role in the circular economy & its impact on social standar…
As the world prepares for the fourth round of negotiations to create the first treaty to end plastic pollution, a dedicated global business coalition shares its insights with negotiators.
The EUโs new requirements for circularity, renewables and the bioeconomy will require verification if they are to work, after EU legislators came to a hard-fought agreement on revising the unionโs legislation covering packaging and packaging waste.
Europe must accelerate efforts to transform its economy into a circular one focused on reusing or repurposing materials to cut waste, a necessity if it is meet climate targets, the European Environment Agency warned Thursday (21 March).
Food waste remains one of the main obstacles towards achieving a circular economy. Find out more about the Parliament’s proposed solutions. Source : ยฉ European Union, 2024 – EP
Why Biofuels Must be on the EUโs Agenda
On Tuesday, MEPs adopted new EU consumer-protection rules to better respond to increased online shopping, emerging technologies and the transition to a circular economy.Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer ProtectionCommittee on Legal Affairs …
On Monday, Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement on revamped rules to reduce, reuse and recycle packaging, increase safety and boost the circular economy.Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Source : ยฉ European U…
Step change in EU plastic recycling rates is possible โ but only if the European Commissionโs Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation prevents waste from third-party countries from counting against EU recycling targets.
More than 200 economists called on the European Commission to overhaul the way it calculates its core economic forecasts and better integrate critical environmental factors into its baseline models in an open letter obtained exclusively by Euractiv on …
The Environment Committee adopted its proposals to better prevent and reduce waste from food and textiles across the EU.Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Source : ยฉ European Union, 2024 – EP
European consumers will have the right to have common household appliances, including mobile phones, repaired, while EU countries will have to produce schemes to boost repair rates according to a new law adopted on Friday (2 February).
The draft manifesto puts a heavy emphasis on border control, security and protecting Europe’s ‘Christian values.’
Wine and spirits should be exempt from future EU repackaging rules, EU environment ministers decided on Monday (18 December), angering beer producers who will have to comply with the new rules which include a new deposit system.
The latest draft General Approach from the Council of the EU on the proposed EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation is nothing but alarming when it comes to beverage packaging waste collection. With the EU Environment Ministers meeting on December…
France has already banned it โย now industry is lobbying hard to ensure the EU doesn’t do the same.
Crucial EU vote on Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation could result in a rule intended to prevent waste including a loophole that causes a mountain of it.
2014 was the year when I, as European Commissioner for Environment, introduced the circular economy in the European policy space. It was not a new concept, or unknown to science, but it was new to policy makers. Today, in less than 10 years, the concep…
Next weekโs vote on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation is a risky moment for Europeโs green future and circular economy.
Science, not ideology, should be at the forefront of our policies. This is especially true if we aspire to fortify Europe’s strategic autonomy and realise a truly circular economy. Yet, when it comes to the EUโs โGreen New Dealโ, science too often take…
As part of the European Green Deal and the new circular economy action plan, the European Commission put forward a revision of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) in November 2022. The initiative’s main objective is to ensure that…
MEPs should recognize reuse and recycling as complementary solutions in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.
EPR has been widely recognized and celebrated as being an effective way of making producers responsible for products (and their subsequent waste) they produce. On the one hand, based on a partnership between companies, municipalities and waste managers…
A leading committee of the European Parliament adopted on Wednesday (25 October) its version of the Right to Repair directive, including bicycles in its scope, as well as other options to help consumers with a defective product.
Without a packaging legislation that is supportive of reuse, refill and recycling as complementary solutions, industry faces major difficulties in meeting its circularity obligations, and the future of currently-effective recycling systems could be seriously compromised.
Food giant: Blanket approach to Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation reform is at odds with EUโs green ambition for carbon emissions reduction, consumer safety and food waste goals, and innovation.
PFAS has recently become a hot topic with more and more research being done into the subject. However, in the recent restriction proposal one key stage of the substanceโs life is being underestimated: the waste stage. To fully understand the impact of …
We could begin this opinion piece with a long explanation of the climate crisis. But you already know about it. You have read the warnings from climate bodies, and you have heard the speeches from world leaders. Sadly, you might even have witnessed the…
Luca Locatelli, an Italian photographer, has been researching the circular economy: an economic model geared to the elimination of waste, involving the circulation of products and materials and the regeneration of nature. His photographs document stori…
The EU is set to move towards a circular economy for beverage packaging. In just a couple of weeks, Members of the Environment Committee in the European Parliament will vote on their amendments to the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)….
The planned EU rules on packaging have the right aims but the wrong solution. If unchanged, they could lead to more waste, not less.
The PPWR debate has evolved, but weโre still concerned about the mandating of reusable packaging over recyclable, fiber-based solutions, says cross-sector EU business alliance.
Making a difference in more than 200 markets, with 30-plus crops sourced from over 2.8 million hectares in 60 countries, and more than 1 billion interactions with consumers every day.
The EU is still a way away from reaching its goals regarding manufacturers’ obligations to repair faulty goods, a German official said at a discussion on Tuesday (19 September).
Achieving Circular Economy success demands value-chain collaboration. The 4evergreen alliance unites experts from design to recycling, targeting a 90% fibre-based packaging recycling rate by 2030. This effort promotes circular design, improved collecti…
The European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) can jumpstart the European circular economy and set the standard for managing packaging sustainably.
Analysis of food packaging studies reveals significant evidence gaps for policymakers deliberating on packaging reuse targets in proposed EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation
Discourse on the transition to net zero invariably focuses on reducing carbon. But this is too simplistic.ย A circular economy is not carbon-free: carbon is embedded in its products. And that is good for the climate.
Fibre-based packaging offers what is probably the best existing example of a high-quality recycling system, where recycling can take place from any type of packaging to another. Professional recyclers say the real challenge is not in these โmaterial loopsโ but in the separate collection of paper for recycling, which has yet to be streamlined across Europe.
Political limbo likely to hold back the Netherlands’ influence on key files in Brussels.
Despite lofty ambitions, the EU is currently far from achieving its circular economy objectives, according to environmental experts who drew attention to a recent report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) to stress their point.
Environment commissioner urges realism as time runs short to agree on food waste, biodiversity and circular economy proposals.
Join this EURACTIV Hybrid Conference to discuss the potential of a circular EU economy, and how making this shift could contribute to a climate-neutral Europe. Questions to be addressed include:
– What are the opportunities for climate and circular …
SNEAK PEEK โ Following a week in which his strategy came under attack from all sides, Rishi Sunak faces senior MPsโ questions on net zero. โ The โlethargicโ rollout of smart meters is bad for emissions โย and bad for peopleโs pockets. โ The U.K.โs emissions trading scheme is changing. We have the rundown on this [โฆ]
