While the high-road approach of the CRMA factors in the social and environmental conditions in which raw materials are extracted and processed, for this strategy to be viable, the EU must follow through and secure meaningful trade agreements with partner-countries that embed these considerations
As the European Union undergoes a crucial revision of its Waste Framework Directive, there is a pressing need for bold and innovative strategies to address the crisis of waste incineration and landfilling, write Alex Darut and Janek Vahk.
Waste shipments are vital to preserve the competitiveness of the European recycling industry. While strict rules must be put in place and more importantly enforced to combat illegal waste shipments which harm the environment and human health and the recycling industry, export restrictions applicable to recycled material
While certain metals, like lithium and cobalt, are essential for decarbonisation, Europe needs to shift the focus away from mining these materials towards reducing the amount needed and recycling what is used, writes Ann Dom.
Despite the initial impression that carbon capture and storage would be a good idea to reduce emissions from waste incineration plants, the climate will not benefit from this, argue Mick Wallace and Janek Vähk.
While vehicles provide economic and societal benefits, they come with a sizeable carbon footprint. The European Green Deal is a chance for car manufacturers to make their processes more circular, write Maya Ben Dror and Tilmann Vahle.
Increased recycling has come at the expense of greener activities like reuse. The European Union now needs to adopt a multidimensional approach to tackle Europe's waste problem and move towards circularity, writes Joan Marc Simon.
If you were to string together the more than 300,000,000 waste tyres accumulated annually in Europe, you would travel around the entire world. Tyre recyclers take a major waste challenge and turn it into sustainable valuable resources, paving the way …
Europe has an opportunity to use the textiles strategy, due to be published this year, to build on its history of textile manufacturing and switch to a more sustainable industry, benefitting citizens and the environment, writes Valérie Boiten.
The current political debate on industrial policy lacks an honest acknowledgement of how much is already decided – from EU recovery budgets to the 2030 climate targets, write Sandrine Dixson-Declève and Janez Potočnik. Sandrine Dixson-Declève is the president of The Club …
Moving to a sustainable and circular economy is the goal of decision makers, civil society and forward-looking companies like Covestro, but how do we get there? Here, Lynette Chung, Chief Sustainability Officer at Covestro, discusses what sustainability means to the industry, …
Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are used in plastics materials in electrical and electronic products to aid fire safety by reducing their propensity for ignition. This not only means a contribution to saving lives, but also products and property, thus preventing …
The EU and the UK must bring waste incineration plants within the scope of emissions trading schemes (ETS) if they are to achieve net zero-emissions and comply with the Paris Agreement, writes Georgia Elliott-Smith.
When the European Commission launched its new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) last March, the world was a different place. Now, as Covid-19 is badly damaging the European economy, calls for a green recovery have become even stronger, boosting the …
The EU Green Deal claims that it is a “new growth strategy that aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases …
The term “chemical recycling” should only be used for plastic waste reconverted into new plastics. If those plastics are transformed into fuels or petrochemical products, the process should be called “recovery” instead, write Shanar Tabrizi and Fanny Rateau.
EU member states need to integrate resilience into their national recovery plans in order to be eligible for recovery support, write Joke Dufourment, Natalia Papu and Yasmina Lembachar.
The EU recovery fund can be used to unlock an estimated €1.8 trillion opportunity by 2030 by making better use of materials and reducing waste, write Patrick Schröder and David McGinty.
There will soon come a time when the coronavirus will be nothing more but a bad memory in our lives and in our society. The conservation of our environment and our sustainable production of energy and food will continue to be key challenges for the future of the planet, writes Luis Planas.
Last year the EU passed ambitious new laws to reduce the consumption of single-use plastics. That same thinking now needs to be applied to the economy as a whole, argues Meadhbh Bolger, saying Europe can get started by setting targets in its upcoming Circular Economy Action Plan.
Consumers appreciate recyclates in packaging as long as it doesn’t affect the quality, functionality and price of the product. But how do companies remain competitive in view of added costs for high-quality recycling and the low price of virgin plastics? Michael Laermann tries to find the answer.
The EU has recently paved the way for longer-lasting products. Now we must enshrine this ambition into our future European Green Deal, write Jean-Pierre Schweitzer and Melissa Zill.
The European Commission should impose more stringent measures on producers to protect the environment and consumers. Making producers responsible for their products throughout their whole life cycle benefits us all, writes Oliver Loebel.
Plastics recycling is as much of a challenge as an opportunity for the circular economy. Michael Laermann looks at chemical recycling and whether it can make the plastics value chain more circular whilst providing a profitable new industry branch.
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