Circular Economy 2.0

Background

March 2020 the European Commission published the new ‘Circular Economy Action Plan’ to speed up the transition to a circular economy. Going more circular contributes to meeting the ambitions of the European Green Deal and the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals set in the Paris Agreement. In addition, a circular economy can bring forth economic benefits, by contributing to growth and job creation and stimulating innovation, and in parallel provide environmental benefits.

The chemical industry: a key enabler of the circular economy

From the design phase of products to their end-of-life, the chemical industry can offer innovative solutions in every stage of the life-cycle of products. The solutions offered by the chemical industry enable a better use of materials (e.g. through recycling, re-use and extending their lifespan) and use of alternative feedstock (e.g. waste as feedstock, bio-based feedstock and capturing carbon for re-use as feedstock). This does not only benefit the chemical sector itself; it also enables downstream industries to become more circular.

Cefic’s position

As an industry Cefic and its members will adopt a leading role in accelerating the transition towards a more sustainable future and aim to adhere to the following principles for a circular economy:

• A sustainable business case: Environmental and social sustainability need to be integrated when developing circular, viable business solutions.
• The full life-cycle of products and processes is taken into consideration
• Increased cooperation among value chain partners

We call on policymakers to consider in their decision-making:

• A supportive, enabling and forward-looking policy framework, starting with an EU Industrial Strategy that enables industry to deliver on the EU Green Deal, and sufficient funding streams.
• A progressive environment for innovation and education.
• A uniform monitoring system to track progress.
• Global alignment to cater for today’s multilateral and global value chains.