A new report released by Zero Waste Europe argues that the EU’s current policies are ‘insufficient’ to reduce the absolute levels of resource use.
Ahead of the introduction of the Circular Economy Act, the report states that current policy measures are a blind spot that threatens the EU’s strategic autonomy.
The report presents three alternatives, which include expanding the scope of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to cover downstream products and organic chemicals.
In the long term, it also recommends pricing a wider set of pollutants and introducing border tax adjustments to reflect their true environmental impacts abroad.
Finally, it also calls for a transition toward a tax-based scheme targeting resource use and pollution as a long-term strategy to shift the burden away from labour-based taxation.
These changes are essential to guide Europe towards greater resource resilience and environmental integrity.
The report suggests investing the additional revenues these measures would generate into projects that reduce the carbon intensity of production and the consumption of primary resources via an extended EU Innovation Fund.
To support this transition, the report urges the EU to revise the ‘Circular Material Use Rate’ (CMUR) as an indicator of circularity.
Commenting on the report, Theresa Mörsen, Waste & Resources Policy Officer, said: “These changes are essential to guide Europe towards greater resource resilience and environmental integrity.
“Ultimately, we need to remember that a strategic use of materials is directly linked to the EU’s long-term competitiveness and intergenerational fairness, ensuring future generations can live well within planetary boundaries. Our recommendations provide the bedrock for this to happen.”
Beyond economic instruments, the report argues for targeted policy support to boost the uptake of high-quality recycling and increase the availability of secondary materials.
It also suggests that the EU explore strategic cooperation with third countries to strengthen waste management systems abroad to secure access to critical raw materials.
