Recycling Europe

Circularity is no longer a niche environmental ambition - it is fast becoming a defining pillar of Europes industrial strategy. Amid mounting geopolitical pressures, volatile supply chains, and climate emergencies, the ability to retain materials, reduce resource dependence, and lower emissions has moved to the core of EU policymaking.

Recycling Europe welcomes the Commissions objective to strengthen the EU industry and to stimulate demand for low-carbon products through the creation of lead markets under the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA). Incentivising circularity and recycling is a key tool to reach these objectives.

The European Recycling Industries' Confederation (EuRIC) welcomes the forthcoming Industrial Decarbonization Accelerator Act as a key initiative to support the decarbonization of Europes energy-intensive industries, while maintaining their competitiveness and fostering innovation.

The implementation of mandatory measures in public procurement rules is crucial for stimulating the demand for recycled materials and contributing to the EU's decarbonization objectives. Impacting a multitude of streams covered by EuRIC members, public procurement holds a significant leverage for enhancing circularity within the EU Single Market.

Public procurement represents a powerful yet underutilised tool in the EUs transition towards a climate-neutral, circular economy. Accounting for approximately 14% of the EU GDP - over 2.4 trillion annually, public procurement holds significant potential to influence market demand, shift production patterns, and accelerate the uptake of recycled materials and circular products, thereby contributing to the EUs…

Directing investments towards a climate-resilient and net-zero economy by focusing on six environmental objectives, the EU Taxonomy is a cornerstone of the EUs sustainability strategy. Recycling Europe strongly supports this simplification initiative, while emphasizing it must not undermine the environmental ambition of EU legislation.

EuRIC welcomes the publication of the proposal for a Green Claims Directive as a positive step towards promoting transparent and accurate environmental claims in the European market. By setting clear guidelines and standards for eco-labelling, this initiative can help consumers make more informed and sustainable purchasing decisions, while also encouraging businesses to adopt more eco-friendly practices.

The European Recycling Industries Confederation (EuRIC) calls for a robust and future-oriented implementation of CBAM that closes current loopholes, supports genuinely low-carbon production methods, and ensures fair competition for recycled materials and EU industries. Please find our detailed feedback attached.

Directing investments towards a climate-resilient and net-zero economy by focusing on six environmental objectives, the EU Taxonomy is a cornerstone of the EUs sustainability strategy. Recycling Europe strongly supports this simplification initiative, while emphasizing it must not undermine the environmental ambition of EU legislation.

In this paper, Recycling Europe sets out a series of recommendations to strengthen the implementation of the Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) and to support forthcoming legislation aimed at advancing the circular economy for plastics: Strengthen 2030 PET Targets: Increase the mandatory recycled content in PET bottles to 50% rPET to accelerate the transition towards a circular plastics economy.

Recycling Europe welcomes the Environmental Omnibus and the Commissions objective to facilitate the implementation of existing laws and the achievement of environmental objectives, while simultaneously reducing unnecessary bureaucracy and strengthening the Single Market.

EuRIC - the European Recycling Industries Confederation - believes that developing robust and fair calculation methods for the recycled content is of paramount importance to ensure a level playing field for all recycling technologies.

The European Recycling Industries Confederation (EuRIC) welcomes the opportunity to give feedback on the future delegated act laying down rules on the operation of the Digital Product Passport (DPP) and the role of service providers. Overall, EuRIC considers the DPP as a good opportunity for advancing recycling and the circular economy.

Recycling Europe welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the Call for Evidence on trade measures aimed at ensuring sufficient availability of aluminium scrap on the EU market. However, the underlying assumption that the EU is facing a structural shortage or leakage of aluminium scrap is not supported by market evidence.

The European plastic recycling market continues to struggle, as recycled polymer demand remains weak with no signs of improvement. The recent package announced by the European Commission on 23 December, aimed at accelerating the EUs transition to a circular plastics economy, marks an important first step toward strengthening plastic recycling in Europe.

Securing access to Critical Raw Materials (CRM) is crucial to strengthening Europes resilience and competitiveness. The creation of the CRM-Centre (CRM-C) is therefore a step in the right direction. This new EU body could help create demand for recycled materials, a much-needed element to scale recycling capacities in Europe. But for this, the CRM-C must be fit for recycled CRM by design.

Recycling Europe, the voice of Europe's recyclers, supports the development of ecodesign requirements for iron and steel products under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), recognising their potential to accelerate both decarbonisation and circularity across the steel value chain.

Representing the vast majority of critical raw materials (CRMs) and e-waste recycling facilities in Europe through its members, the European Recycling Industries Confederation (EuRIC) has a strong interest in supporting the identification of waste streams with high potential for CRM recovery to increase the volume of processed materials.

The Ship Recycling Group of Recycling Europe welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the 16th edition of the European List of ship recycling facilities. The process of adding and removing yards from the EU List should ensure a level playing field across the sector and uphold high standards for ship recycling. This is, however, not reflected in the draft 16th EU List.

The formulations for polyurethane One Component Foams (OCF) may contain Medium Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (MCCP) to leverage their properties as plasticizers and their increased flame retardancy. As these substances are phased out, the treatment of the prepolymer remaining after use of the OCF containers will leave the recycling industry with two treatment options: recycling of these materials or incineration of…