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The words and actions of the EU around the circular economy, a central component of many EU policies including the European Green Deal and the Coronavirus Recovery Plan, do not always align. This is what researchers from Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� and the ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� of Messina concluded in , published Open Access in the journal Sustainable Production and Consumption.

“The EU’s policy on the circular economy follows an approach dominated by technological innovation rather than real societal change,” says Martin Calisto Friant, PhD researcher at the Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, and head author of the study. “While the EU’s discourse is rather holistic and includes many socio-political elements of a circular transition such as health, equity, participation and inclusiveness, the EU’s policies, on the other hand, focus only on technological solutions such as product regulations and recycling targets.”

“There is thus a clear dichotomy between words and actions,” explains co-author Dr. Walter Vermeulen.

‘Green growth’

The researchers also found that both EU policies and discourses follow an  approach, which aims to decouple economic growth from environmental exploitation. “The EU seeks to unlock the so called ‘growth potential’ of the circular economy, clearly aiming for decoupling while arguing that ‘green growth’ would lift all the boats,” explains Roberta Salomone, researcher at the ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� of Messina and co-author of the study. “This emphasis on ‘green growth’ is problematic from an academic point of view as research has found that an absolute sustained decoupling of economic growth from environmental harm is impossible,” the researchers explain.  

EU citizens currently have an ecological footprint over 5 times higher than what scientists have generally recognised as sustainable. The researchers explain: the scale of the reduction in ecological footprint needed for Europeans to live within the biophysical limits of the earth is so vast that it is impossible to achieve, while also growing the GDP per capita. “This seriously questions the EU’s insistence on the circular economy as an avenue for ‘green growth’,” Calisto Friant adds.  

To address the aforementioned limitations, the paper proposes a set of 32 science-based policy recommendations which can help strengthen circular economy policies both within and outside the EU. For example: banning the destruction of unsold stocks, reducing taxes on recovered products and repair services, taxing raw materials instead of labour, increasing the minimum guarantee periods, and reducing working hours to 30 per week. You can read the full set of recommendations in the .

Publication

Martin Calisto Friant, Walter J.V. Vermeulen, Roberta Salomone, Analysing European Union circular economy policies: words versus actions, Sustainable Production and Consumption, .