On March 21, 2024, the European Environment Agency (EEA) published a report titled “Accelerating the circular economy in Europe: State and outlook 2024.” The report aims to analyze how recent policies in the European Union support the transition toward a circular economy and offers options and prospects to further promote this transition in the future.
The report identifies several areas where efforts to develop a circular economy need to be made to alleviate environmental pressure and address the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution – many are relevant to food packaging:
- Europe continues to revolve around mass-producing products which often results in low product lifetimes.
- Recycling rates are stagnating, and the current recycling system appears to be insufficient in reaching 2030 waste reduction targets (FPF reported).
- Consumption levels in the EU continue to increase. The authors emphasize a need for “fundamental changes to consumption behavior,” including shifting from single-use products to reusable alternatives.
“The likelihood of reaching the 2030 targets is either low or moderate,” the authors state, highlighting the need for additional measures. Some proposed approaches include more binding and target-oriented policies, measures to promote higher quality recycling, or designing safe and sustainable products in the first place (FPF reported).
Considering the impossibility of 100% circularity, the authors encourage governments to prioritize the reduction of consumption and resource use. For this, products ought to be reused and designed for longer lifetimes (FPF reported).
Reference
European Environment Agency (March 21, 2024). “Accelerating the circular economy in Europe: State and outlook 2024.”
