Circularity for all products, from design to end-of-life

The newly released proposals from the European Commission on the circular economy broaden the scope […]

30/03/2022

The newly released proposals from the European Commission on the circular economy broaden the scope of product governance and design. They provide an opportunity to move towards a holistic assessment that takes the entire product life cycle into account. The sustainable product initiative in particular provides an opportunity to increase the scope of an integrated approach to the circular economy that has already been pioneered in areas like the regulation of batteries to all kinds of products.

In a global context, the scarcity of resources – from fresh water to fertile land – endangers the quality of life of future generations. Today, the equivalent of 1.7 planets are used, with global consumption of material resources increasing 14 times between 1900 and 2015. This figure is projected to still more than double between 2015 and 2050.

We understand, therefore, how the transition towards a low-emission circular economy must become both a European and a global priority. In addition to the environmental pressure, more than 90 per cent of the loss of biodiversity and the stress on water comes from resource extraction and processing. This situation represents a serious challenge for the EU economy and its industrial sector, which is heavily dependent on both energy and materials from international markets. Implementing circular economy targets will decrease our supply dependency from countries outside the EU; they could tackle price volatility and empower industrial competitiveness.

The green transition will free us from our dependence on imports of energy and other resource. And the circular economy, through the use of secondary raw materials, will allow us to reduce our energy demand for extraction and production, compared to using virgin raw materials. Currently, with the pandemic fading and the conflict raging in Ukraine, the need to work together towards a sustainable future is more pressing than ever before, as we are running headfirst into the limits of what our planet can provide.

Today, the European Green Deal aims exactly at boosting this transition through a set of actions based on a sustainable, climate-neutral economic development that is capable of ensuring a socially just transition. In this context, the circular economy can be a fundamental leverage to achieve strategic autonomy for the European Union. Consequently, it is particularly significant that the European Commission has updated its action plan on the circular economy by defining measures and actions which are to be implemented during this mandate. In the previous version of the action plan, concentrated on the end of life of products, ambitious targets for recycling and reducing landfilling were set, whose implementation is to be monitored by the European Commission. Now, however, the focus must shift to preventing the production of waste.

In March this year, the European Parliament adopted its position on the new battery regulation. It lays down, for the first time in European legislation, a holistic set of rules to govern an entire product lifecycle, from the design phase to end-of-life. This creates an entirely new approach to boosting circularity. 

Sustainability criteria such as the carbon footprint threshold, minimum recycling content, durability and performance requirements and removability criteria are fundamental standards to create a benchmark for the entire global market and to enhance resource efficiency. Currently, however, there is no comprehensive set of requirements to ensure that all products placed on the EU market become increasingly sustainable and that they stand the test of circularity. As a result, products are frequently replaced, which involves a significant use of energy and resource to produce and distribute new products and dispose of old ones.

The new legislation on sustainable products will represent a new European approach towards product policy. It will have to broaden the approach used for batteries into wider, horizontal rules. The initiative will review the scope of the ecodesign directive to be widened beyond energy-related products, and made applicable to the broadest possible range of products. Standards for performance, durability, reusability, reparability, non-toxicity, upgradability, recyclability, and recycled content should become the norm for products in the EU market rather than the exception.

These standards will complement the energy efficiency measures covered by the current ecodesign directive and it will help achieving the reduction by 55 per cent of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

As European Socialists and Democrats, we want to allow companies and consumers to compare the environmental footprint of different products. A product passport will be a crucial tool. It will have to provide accessible information about the durability of the product and its maintenance, reuse, repair and dismantling possibilities and end-of-life handling as well as its composition in terms of materials. Consumers must get the most complete and trustworthy environmental information. They must be protected against greenwashing, and they must obtain new rights such as the right to repair products.

Today there are more than 200 environmental labels used in the EU. Worldwide, there are more than 450. But while some of these are reliable, others are not. It is still difficult for consumers, companies and other market actors to make sense of them all. At the same time, European Commission will have to continue to supplement the legislative framework with specific products regulation. I refer in particular to the upcoming revision of the packaging and packaging waste directive or new ICT legislation.

As a political group, we have always been at the frontline to push for a robust transition towards a circular economy. We have been asking for mandatory resource efficiency requirements since the first circular economy action in 2014. Now, the sustainable product initiative (SPI) is a first milestone in this direction. Nevertheless, I believe we should strengthen this proposal by proposing binding EU targets for 2030 to significantly reduce the EU material and consumption footprints and bring them within planetary boundaries by 2050. This will enable a pathway to true circularity in the way we produce and consume.

The transition towards a circular economy has always been a flagship for European Socialists. We will continue to fight for it while assuring that this transition will unfold in a social and just way.

Photo credits: Hyper Story/Shutterstock.com

Find all related publications
Publications
18/09/2023

Making trade work for prosperity, people and planet

FEPS Primers series - Arancha González and Yanis Bourgeois
01/09/2023

Bidding farewell to workfare?

Recovery Watch series
06/07/2023

Towards a renewables scale-up that works for nature

Recovery Watch series
13/06/2023

Improving territorial justice

Transparency, inclusiveness, capacity building and strategy in the Territorial Just Transition Plans
Find all related events
Events
Upcoming
11/10/2023

Silver Rose Awards 2023

Award ceremony and reception
Past
21/09/2023
Brussels, Belgium (Expert meeting)

Progressive Economics Network

Getting the Green Deal Done
06/09/2023
FEPS HQ (Expert meeting - Hybrid)

Democratising EU economic governance

After a long period of reflection and negotiation, the European Commission has finally presented its […]
Find all related news
News
14/09/2023

Call for tender – Researcher on inflation

Basic Information Project    The profits-prices spiral: measures to avoid inflation  Partners   TASC (Ireland), Pietro Nenni Foundation (Italy)  […]
11/07/2023

A new social contract for the well-being of people and the planet

Call to action on Just Transition
20/02/2023

Let’s end involuntary unemployment!

European survey on the perception of unemployment and publicly funded jobs
07/02/2023

New study on how and why social issues have increased in prominence during the EP negotiations

Progress towards inclusive economic transition but need for further improvements in terminology and framing of vulnerable groups
Find all related in the media
In the media

“Trade doesn’t work in isolation from good domestic policies” Interview to Arancha González

by Borderlex 19/09/2023
Interview to Arancha González, former Spanish foreign minister, who released together with FEPS the new book entitled 'The Trade Handbook: Making Trade Work for Prosperity, People and Planet'

Após 66 anos de adiamentos, a barragem do Pisão entrou em contra-relógio

by Pùblico 19/08/2023
'After 66 years of postponements, the Pisão dam has entered a race against time' Pùblico's article mentions FEPS Policy Study 'Governing the RRF'

Just Transition: A new social contract for wellbeing of people and planet

by Euractiv 11/07/2023
Euractiv's article ahead of the high-level expert meeting on Just Transition in Valladolid, organized by FEPS, Solidar, and other think tanks and civil society organizations.

Ukrainian economy and society: whither the (postwar) country?

by Commons 16/06/2023
In Commons' article, Yuliya Yurchenko, co-author of FEPS’ book 'Europe and the war in Ukraine', outlines the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine for the Ukrainian population and the plans needed for Ukraine's recovery.