Proposed EU Circular Economy Act

Proposed EU Circular Economy Act

As President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen’s second mandate prioritises the circular economy as seen in the new Commission’s political guidelines and the Commissioner’s mandate letter. The Circular Economy Act will be a Regulation (decision by Parliament and Council) that includes supporting demand for secondary raw materials and creates a single market for waste.

The proposed Circular Economy Act will follow on from the first and second Commission Circular Economy Action Plans and will include modifications to a number of existing Regulations. In parallel, relevant work is underway on the implementation of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act, that will update the current  EU BioEconomy Strategy.

Given the current timeline it is hoped that the Circular Economy Act will be adopted by the Parliament and Council by the end of 2026, with a first public consultation in Spring 2025. The objectives of the Act are that circularity should improve EU competitiveness, reduce import dependencies and contribute significantly to EU greenhouse emission reductions.

The Circular Economy Act will hopefully lead to better sorting and separating of biowastes as the collection obligation under the Waste Framework Directive remains widely unimplemented by Member States. A specific problem is the Animal By-Product (ABP) status of biowastes, with ABP Regulations posing obstacles to recycling for operators. Stakeholders are hoping that the new act will support fertiliser regulations, soil policies, environmental policies and the common agricultural policy (CAP).

If you need assistance with the registration of fertilising products in the EU including CE marking under the FPR, please do not hesitate to contact the experts at Kerona info@kerona.ie