LAWR

CIRCULAR ECONOMY EC axes Circular Economy Package: What does this mean for industry? The resource management sector was left shocked towards the end of last year after the European Commission decided to withdraw the current 'Circular Economy Package' and replace it with a more broader and ambitious approach. Here, Liz Gyekye unpicks this issue. he Circular Economy Package which was launched early last year under the stewardship of former Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik, requires Member States to recycle 70% of munic- ipal waste and 80% of packaging waste by 2030. Just before Christmas last year, speaking at the plenary session of the European Commission's (EC) Work Programme for 2015, the Commission's First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said he wanted the circular economy to be "approached in a circular way - not just half a circle". "We are proposing to withdraw the existing proposal on the circular econo- my to make way for a broader and more ambitious approach that can be more effective," said Timmermans. "We want to look beyond the narrow focus on waste and to 'close the loop' of the circu- lar economy, for example by addressing recycling in product design..." 'Increasing jobs' To understand why Timmermans gave this statement, it is necessary to under- stand a bit of background on the situ- ation. Jean-Claude Juncker, the new President of the European Commission, pledged to refocus the EU executive on the bigger political issues of the day and cut regulations seen as unnecessary or hampering business activity. Hence, Juncker's top priority was not the circu- lar economy but a focus on cutting red tape and creating "new jobs". However, Timmermans said that the EC will expect to come back with a more ambitious circular economy pro- posal by the end of 2015. He said "we will not drag our feet with this". The ESA (Environmental Services Association) expressed regret about the uncertainty created by the European Commission's decision to withdraw the Circular Economy Package. ESA Europe policy adviser Roy Hathaway says that "if the decision is made not to proceed with the package, then the view of ESA and its members is that there will be continued uncertainty about what the future recycling targets post 2020 will be". He adds: "A repercussion of this uncertainty will be that companies are less likely to feel confident in investing in the waste and resource management infrastructure needed to boost recycling and recovery in the future." The Resource Association along with other trade associations represent- ing the recycling industries concurred with Hathaway's view. In a joint state- ment, the trade associations called on the European Parliament to support the Circular Economy Package. The trade bodies say that withdrawing the propos- al could "lead to unnecessary and harm- ful regulatory uncertainty, a waste of the EU institutions' resources, and above all, a delay in the actions and investments required by private and public entities". Shadow Environment Secretary Barry Gardiner was equally damning about the EC's announcement. He wrote to Environment Secretary Liz Truss to urge her to issue a clear statement of support for the Circular Economy Package. Nevertheless, Environment Minister Dan Rogerson told LAWR that Defra continued to support the circular econ- omy. He says: "Making the best pos- sible use of our resources is important – we will continue to work closely with the EC as they bring forward their modified proposals. We supported the Communication on the Circular Economy and welcome the opportunity to work with other Member States to develop a package to further increase resource efficiency." 'Real progress' The resource management industry is in agreement that the EC's decision will slow progress. However, Ricardo- AEA Resource Efficiency and Waste Management practice director Adam Read questions whether the "EC pack- age was driving real progress previ- ously". He went on to say that "businesses are driving circularity for their own reasons". For example, companies such as Coca-Cola have invested in repress- ing infrastructure historically to ensure quality of supply for their bottles, Read explains. "Other companies like Xerox and HP have developed new business models for 'hire' rather than purchase to ensure ownership of the resource and ability to maintain, mend and renew....." Hence, as Read concludes: "Although the overall momentum maybe slowed, things will continue in pockets!" " Businesses are driving circularity for their own reasons " 20 Local Authority Waste & Recycling February 2015 T

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