Commissioner Roswalls keynote address at the event ‘Towards a circular and resilient economy in Europe: How to improve recycling hosted by the European Policy Centre (EPC)

Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, friends,

Moving from a linear, wasteful economy to a circular, sustainable one is a political priority for the EU, and a personal priority for me.

The circular economy used to be a conversation based on environmental and climate considerations. This dimension is obviously very important.

But when speaking about circularity today, we also need to place the conversation in the wider context of our security, resilience and competitiveness, in a changing geopolitical context.

Getting to circularity requires a change in mindset.

We need to rethink how we live, how we do business, and how we interact with the world around us.

This a whole-of-society transition, and it needs a whole-of-society approach.

So I am delighted to be part of todays event.

For almost 30 years, the European Policy Centre has provided a platform to engage stakeholders and citizens in EU policy-making.

So this is the ideal place to discuss the circular economy and to map out our path to a more resilient and sustainable future. 

Today, we extract, make, use and dump our products. Then we start at the beginning and do it all over again.

Its bad for the planet, bad for our economies, and bad for business.

In the last fifty years, global extraction of resources has more than tripled.

We are using natural resources nearly twice as fast as ecosystems can regenerate them.

Its not sustainable, its not smart, and its not strategic.

The Circular Economy Act aims to break this destructive spiral, before its too late.

The Act will build on several decades of waste legislation, and on progress made under the European Green Deal.

In parallel, we are working hard to make sure the products on our market are durable, repairable and recyclable.

But were still almost 90% linear. And were not moving far enough or fast enough towards circularity.

Some of this can be explained by the fact that much of the recent legislation promoting circularity has not entered into application yet.

But as Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi highlighted, we need to get the economics right and create a Single Market for secondary raw materials.

This is exactly the goal of the Circular Economy Act.

It aims to identify market bottlenecks and to improve the economics of circular solutions.

The potential is clear.

If we can make more with the same amount of natural resources, we can: 

• improve our economic security and resilience,

• increase our competitiveness, and 
• reduce environmental impacts.

We can reduce waste, create more value, and cut greenhouse gas emissions. 

Circular measures alone could deliver at least 20–25% of the greenhouse gas emissions reduction we need to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. 

Quite often the bottleneck can be very specific.

Take plastics for example.

Plastic is a great invention. But plastic consumption has grown rapidly over recent decades, and with it, plastic waste.

Yet, recycling rates are just not good enough.

According to Plastics Europe, only 13% of plastic production in 2023 was based on recycled plastics.

Why? Because primary plastics are simply cheaper than secondary ones.

Of course, this ignores the massive environmental, economic security and social cost.

We have done, and are doing, a lot to tackle this, including:

• legislation to support plastic waste prevention and recycling,
• trade measures to ensure a level playing field, and
• extended producer responsibility fees to help finance collection and recycling,

But still, there isnt enough confidence in future demand – and this is the killer bottleneck.

Investors wont build new recycling capacity unless they are confident they will be able to sell the recycled plastics.

And we need to be very mindful of the level playing field.

Our recyclers are not only up against EU competition.

Our EU markets are flooded with plastics from overseas.

I have no silver bullet to fix this. But I am determined to find solutions.

Let me share a few thoughts on the design of the Act.

First – We need to be targeted.

There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution.

The bottlenecks for plastics are different from textiles, steel, aluminium or cement.

That means the solutions will also be different.

Second – Our legislative process needs to consider – and balance – the needs of various economic operators: recyclers, producers, traders, consumers, and others.

We are walking a fine line between having too much detail and complexity on the one hand, and establishing rules that are too general and lack nuance, on the other.

We have to get it right – and that takes time.

We need to understand the markets, the bottlenecks, and the interests involved.

We have launched a call for evidence and public consultation to help answer these questions – it is open until 6 November.

Your views and expertise are vital, so I urge you all to contribute.

We will also undertake a serious impact assessment.

However, the challenges we face are immediate. And this is my third point – Europe cannot wait. 

Europe is the number one global exporter of services, and number two exporter of goods.

But EU industry is exposed to high energy costs, strategic dependencies and the risk of the impact of overcapacities in other global regions.

So we need to speed up our transition to circularity.

Before the end of this year, we will adopt a series of short-term initiatives designed to boost investment, to apply trade measures where justified, and to simplify.

Together with the other elements of the Clean Industrial Deal, these measures will help to make our vision for economic security, competitiveness and decarbonisation a reality.

Fourth, and finally – It is said that laws are like sausages. We dont want to see them being made.

I am a lawyer by training, and a lawmaker by trade. I can confirm that creating laws is messy.

It requires negotiation, collaboration and compromise.

But that doesnt mean we should accept some of the unnecessary complexities that our system throws up in legislation.

That is exactly what we are trying to do now in the simplification omnibus.

Our goal is to make it easier for businesses to do business – while continuing to uphold our high environmental standards.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I began today on the importance of collaboration. And, with a nod towards circularity, I will finish there too.

This cannot succeed without the input, the insight and the experience of industry, civil society, academia, policy makers and citizens. Of businesses big and small.

So I urge you all to engage and commit. Help us to close the loop and drive this transition to a competitive, resilient and equitable circular economy.

One that is good for business, good for citizens, good for the environment and good for the future.

I will be with you at every step.