{"id":1426,"date":"2026-08-17T13:35:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T13:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mycrochettips.com\/?p=1426"},"modified":"2026-08-20T13:09:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T13:09:17","slug":"new-eu-circular-economy-law-risks-turning-a-blind-eye-to-material-consumption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mycrochettips.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/17\/new-eu-circular-economy-law-risks-turning-a-blind-eye-to-material-consumption\/","title":{"rendered":"New EU circular economy law risks turning a blind eye to material consumption"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"EU\"<\/h4>\n

Theresa M\u00f6rsen, Policy Manager at Zero Waste Europe, argues that the EU\u2019s Circular Economy Act must break free from import dependencies and cut down on material use if it wants to spearhead a successful circular transition.<\/h4>\n

Discussions on the circular economy are heating up in Brussels as the European Commission prepares to publish its proposal for the Circular Economy Act in autumn.<\/p>\n

But EU decision-makers risk repeating past mistakes by presenting recycling as a silver bullet to meet material needs and tackle the waste crisis.<\/p>\n

Instead, Europe needs more serious strides towards decreasing its import dependency<\/a> and ensuring resources are used more strategically.<\/p>\n

Why the current approach isn’t enough<\/h2>\n
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Theresa M\u00f6rsen, Policy Manager at Zero Waste Europe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The EU imports almost twice as much material by weight<\/a> as it sends out, and every day, each EU citizen is responsible for 38.6 kg of raw materials extracted from the earth<\/a>, on average.<\/p>\n

To put that into perspective, making the smartphone in your pocket requires mining<\/a> 10-15kg of ore<\/a>. The ecological damage is immense: biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate change.<\/p>\n

In fact, our current thirst for raw materials makes a comfortable life within planetary<\/a> boundaries<\/a> less and less likely for our children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n

Much of our material needs come from a persistent throw-away culture. Each year, the EU discards millions of single-use vapes<\/a>, 16 billion single-use coffee cups, and 5.8 million<\/a> tonnes of clothing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These products contain valuable materials from cotton, polyester, and paper, to aluminium, lithium, and cobalt.<\/p>\n

While they can be recycled in theory, in practice, collection is insufficient, losses occurring during recycling are inevitable, and many products contain hazardous substances or weren\u2019t designed to be recycled in the first place.<\/p>\n

This means that these materials are either burned in an incinerator or buried in a landfill. This is exactly the kind of preventable waste the Circular Economy Act has a chance to address, but only if it goes further than what is currently on the table.<\/p>\n

A Circular Economy Act for a secure and innovative Europe<\/h2>\n

The EU already has an ambitious target to double circularity from 12.2% to 24% by 2030 \u2013 set in the Clean Industrial Deal in 2025. But hitting that 24% target requires confronting two issues that remain largely absent from the debate:<\/p>\n

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  1. Circularity is still not prioritised as a driver of competitiveness and resilience, but rather as a burden for businesses.<\/li>\n
  2. The absolute consumption of materials needed for the EU economy is too high to be substituted with circular materials alone.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This is the core gap the upcoming Act has to close: it must address both circularity and the absolute demand for materials while creating new opportunities for businesses.<\/p>\n

    Reusing and recycling materials is important, but reuse without absolute reduction is like trying to empty a bathtub without turning off the tap; the water level keeps rising, as do the risks for people and planet.<\/p>\n

    In an increasingly volatile world that frequently sees the disruption of supply chains, using the materials that are already available to us more strategically is what should guide policy-making.<\/p>\n

    As the European Commission finalises the proposal, we’re calling for the Circular Economy Act to incorporate the following measures:<\/p>\n