{"id":120091,"date":"2026-04-30T13:31:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T11:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/?p=120091"},"modified":"2026-04-30T13:31:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T11:31:21","slug":"commissions-circular-economy-act-risks-missing-the-point-eeb-warns-and-the-clock-is-ticking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/it\/commissions-circular-economy-act-risks-missing-the-point-eeb-warns-and-the-clock-is-ticking\/","title":{"rendered":"Commission’s Circular Economy Act risks missing the point,\u00a0EEB\u00a0warns\u00a0–\u00a0and the clock is ticking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following t<\/span>oday’s\u00a0<\/span>High-Level<\/span>\u00a0Dialogue on the\u00a0<\/span>Circular Economy\u00a0<\/span>Act<\/span>, the European Environmental Bureau\u00a0<\/span>(EEB)\u00a0<\/span>warns that the\u00a0<\/span>European\u00a0<\/span>Commission is heading in the wrong direction – and that there is still time to correct the course.<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n

The long-awaited Circular Economy Act is expected after the summer, but\u00a0key elements\u00a0remain\u00a0absent from the Commission’s planning,\u00a0and\u00a0today\u2019s dialogue did little to reassure that the legislation will live up to its promises.<\/p>\n

Notably, the Commission’s focus has been heavily skewed towards recycling and market\u00a0harmonisation, while\u00a0letting off the table\u00a0overproduction, overconsumption, and unsustainable resource\u00a0use.\u00a0Yet, these are the\u00a0very\u00a0issues exposing the EU to new geopolitical vulnerabilities\u00a0and material\u00a0dependencies\u00a0which\u00a0threaten the resilience of our societies\u00a0and\u00a0the long-term competitiveness of European industry, warns the EEB.<\/p>\n

The consultation processes leading up to the Act have imposed a narrow, blinkered vision, sidelining\u00a0the aspects\u00a0that have the biggest potential to create quality jobs\u00a0[1]\u00a0and\u00a0deliver the highest returns for both industry and consumers\u00a0at the lowest environmental cost: waste prevention, reuse, and repair.<\/p>\n

Marco Musso<\/strong>, Deputy Policy Manager for Circular Economy at the EEB,\u00a0who attended the Dialogue,\u00a0said:<\/p>\n

\n

“What we are seeing looks far more like a waste management law than a genuine circular\u00a0economy\u00a0act. Recycling has its place, but\u00a0it’s\u00a0a last resource, not\u00a0the only\u00a0strategy.\u00a0A\u00a0true circular economy starts with prevention,\u00a0reuse\u00a0and repair, but those\u00a0are\u00a0almost entirely\u00a0missing\u00a0from\u00a0the Commission’s approach. If this is the direction of travel, the\u00a0Act will remain a broken promise.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A\u00a0wide range of\u00a0civil society organisations\u00a0[2], businesses\u00a0[3], and even EU Member States [4]\u00a0–\u00a0have called for prevention,\u00a0reuse,\u00a0and responsible resource management to be central to the Act.<\/p>\n

Back in\u00a02024\u00a0the European Environmental Agency had also\u00a0urged policy makers to move beyond\u00a0a\u00a0waste-management based approach and address resource use more directly\u00a0[5].<\/p>\n

The Commission has heard the\u00a0message,\u00a0the question is whether it will act on it, says the EEB.<\/p>\n

\n

“There is still time\u00a0to correct the course,”\u00a0<\/em>Musso\u00a0<\/strong>added.\u00a0“The Act has not been published yet. The Commission can still broaden its ambition, listen to the chorus of voices calling for genuine circularity, and deliver legislation that addresses the real drivers of\u00a0unsustainable\u00a0resource\u00a0management.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The EEB will continue to\u00a0monitor\u00a0the Commission’s proposals closely and calls on decision-makers\u00a0to deliver\u00a0an Act that is truly worthy of the circular economy label.<\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

Note to editors:<\/h4>\n

[1]\u00a0The European remanufacturing sector alone is projected to generate 500,000 new jobs by 2030 –\u00a0a concrete contribution to the sustainable reindustrialisation Europe urgently needs.
\nSource:\u00a0https:\/\/www.eea.europa.eu\/en\/newsroom\/news\/creating-win-win-for-business-and-people-key-to-success-of-circular-economy<\/a><\/p>\n

[2]\u00a0Civil society’s joint letter on the EU Circular Economy Act:\u00a0https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/library\/joint-letter-on-the-eu-circular-economy-act\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[3]\u00a0Ecopreneurs\u2019 Position Paper: A Circular Economy Act to drive competitiveness and investment in circular business:\u00a0https:\/\/ecopreneur.eu\/2025\/06\/16\/cea-position\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[4]\u00a0Back in December, Member States called for further incentives to increase the durability, repairability, and reuse of products, and\u00a0emphasised\u00a0the importance of\u00a0establishing\u00a0non-toxic material cycles by rapidly phasing out harmful substances and fully implementing the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, with a particular focus on revising REACH. However, these key aspects are\u00a0visibly missing\u00a0from the Commission\u2019s current approach to the Circular Economy Act.<\/p>\n

Council conclusions:\u00a0https:\/\/data.consilium.europa.eu\/doc\/document\/ST-16856-2025-INIT\/en\/pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Council’s press release:\u00a0https:\/\/www.consilium.europa.eu\/en\/press\/press-releases\/2025\/12\/16\/europe-s-environment-council-urges-accelerated-transition-for-a-climate-resilient-and-circular-europe-by-2030\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[5]\u00a0The\u00a0assessment\u00a0of the European Environmental Agency was equally unambiguous: \u201cEuropean Union circular economy policies have been reinforced over recent years, but they still need to become more binding and target oriented to accelerate the uptake of a more regenerative economy in Europe. This means moving beyond the current strong focus on waste to address resource use more\u00a0directly”.<\/p>\n

EEA’s press release:\u00a0https:\/\/www.eea.europa.eu\/en\/newsroom\/news\/now-is-the-time-to\/<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following today’s\u00a0High-Level\u00a0Dialogue on the\u00a0Circular Economy\u00a0Act, the European Environmental Bureau\u00a0(EEB)\u00a0warns that the\u00a0European\u00a0Commission is heading in the wrong direction – and that there is still time to correct [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":120092,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[138,3,4,140,137,139],"tags":[978,343,691,1040,660,1041,680,676],"class_list":["post-120091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-circular-economy","category-news","category-press-release","category-product-policy","category-resource-efficiency","category-waste-recycling","tag-circular-economy-act","tag-recycling","tag-repair","tag-resource-use","tag-reuse","tag-strategic-autonomy","tag-waste-management","tag-waste-prevention"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/pexels-markus-winkler-1430818-18485567.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}