CEEP welcomes the European Commission’s Circular Economy Strategy. It is in line with the Commission’s principle of better regulation and sets the right direction for a more effective implementation through all Member States.

“While being more realistic in the definition of its goals, the Strategy brings important improvements, in particular the minimum requirements for Extended Producer Responsibility and the proposals for new waste legislation with a clear definition of municipal waste and measures to further boost recycling”, explained Valeria Ronzitti, CEEP General Secretary. CEEP also welcomes the holistic and wider approach of the Strategy compared to the proposal of July 2014. It now takes into account all parts of the value chain, among others through tackling better EcoDesign as well as markets for secondary raw materials.

However, it remains to be clarified how in particular EcoDesign can be strengthened in practice, without introducing additional legally binding measures. European institutions should also now considerably improve the Commission’s lack of ambition on landfilling. Public services’ providers regret that a binding reduction target will only be put in place from 2030. While taking into account the progress achieved so far by Member States, EU institutions should introduce a quick and considerable reduction of landfill to really achieve resource-efficiency as soon as possible. In the context of COP21 and beyond, this would also send a clear signal for climate protection as landfilling of organic waste is responsible for the biggest part of emissions in the waste sector.

“CEEP now calls for a swift implementation of the Strategy and no further delay in implementing legislative proposals in order to quickly advance towards a real circular economy. CEEP will continue its dialogue with the European institutions: the expertise of public services’ providers is key to ensure the feasibility of the proposals and their effective implementation”, concluded Ms Ronzitti.

For further information, please contact:

Maxime STAELENS, Communication Officer
Email: maxime.staelens@ceep.eu
Tel.: + 32(0) 2 229 21 40

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CEEP, European Centre of Employers and Enterprises providing Public Services, is one of the three general cross-sectoral European Social Partners. It gathers public and private providers of services of general interest from across Europe. CEEP members contribute to more than 26% of EU GDP and employ 30% of the EU workforce.