EC Adopts Circular Economy Action Plan
The European Commission has adopted a new Circular Economy Action Plan, including measures along the entire life cycle of products. The new Action Plan aims to make the economy fit for a green future, strengthen our competitiveness while protecting the environment and give new rights to consumers. The new plan will also impact the food industry, as it includes measures to reduce single-use packaging, tableware, and cutlery and to reduce waste.
The new Plan focuses on the design and production for a circular economy, intending to ensure that the resources used are kept in the EU economy for as long as possible, according to a press release. The plan and the initiatives therein will be developed with the close involvement of the business and stakeholder community.
The transition towards a circular economy is already underway, with frontrunner businesses, consumers and public authorities in Europe embracing this sustainable model. The Commission will make sure that the circular economy transition delivers opportunities for all, leaving no one behind, the officials said. The Circular Economy Action Plan put forward as part of the EU Industrial Strategy presents measures that focus on the sectors using the most resources and where the potential for circularity is high. The Commission will launch concrete actions including new mandatory requirements on what is allowed on the EU market, including the reduction of (over)packaging, new mandatory requirements for recycled content and special attention on microplastics as well as biobased and biodegradable plastics, or new legislative initiatives on reuse to substitute single-use packaging, tableware and cutlery by reusable products in food services. Furthermore, the focus will be on avoiding waste altogether and transforming it into high-quality secondary resources that benefit from a well-functioning market for secondary raw materials. The Commission will explore setting an EU-wide, harmonized model for the separate collection of waste and labeling Action Plan also puts forward a series of actions to minimize EU exports of waste and tackle illegal shipments.
Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, said: “We only have one Planet Earth, and yet by 2050 we will be consuming as if we had three. The new Plan will make circularity the mainstream in our lives and speed up the green transition of our economy. We offer decisive action to change the top of the sustainability chain – product design. Future-oriented actions will create business and job opportunities, give new rights to European consumers, harness innovation and digitalization and, just like nature, make sure that nothing is wasted.”
FoodDrinkEurope Supports the Decision
FoodDrinkEurope, whose mission is to facilitate the development of an environment in which all European food and drink companies, whatever their size, can meet the needs of consumers and society, while competing effectively for sustainable growth, reacted to the announcement of the new Circular Economy Action Plan.
FoodDrinkEurope’s environment director Laura Degallaix said that it is necessary to use the natural resources more sustainably if we are to live within the planetary boundaries and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. FoodDrinkEurope supports the new Circular Economy Action Plan and the European Commission’s ambition to move towards a more circular economy.
“The food and drink industry has some world-leading ideas and innovations that will support the Commission’s action plan. Our members continue to find ways to reduce food waste and to improve the environmental performance of their products throughout the lifecycle. They have been working to limit the quantity of packaging materials they use and find sustainable alternative packaging materials and delivery models, while always ensuring the highest level of food safety. The industry has also been making efforts to inform consumers about the environmental impacts of products and how they can make more sustainable choices,” Degallaix said.
The action plan aims to avoid trade-offs. For instance, packaging can be important for food safety or to prolong the life of a product – any new initiatives must not compromise safety or increase food waste. Equally, the action plan must be in step with the Industrial Strategy to ensure continued economic growth and jobs – leaving no one behind, the representative of FoodDrinkEurope added.
“We, therefore, urge the Commission to work collaboratively across all departments and to carry out impact assessments to avert unintended consequences of any proposed regulation,” Degallaix underlined.