The transition to a circular economy is behind schedule in EU member states despite billions of euro being spent on the effort, according to the European Court of Auditors (ECA).
A circular economy preserves the value of products, materials and resources for as long as possible to minimise waste.
It means products that last longer or are easier to repair, upgrade, remanufacture, reuse or recycle.
Circular economy
To help with the transition to a circular economy, the EU Commission issued two action plans. The first, published in 2015, outlined 54 specific actions.
The second, issued in 2020, added 35 new actions and set a target of doubling ‘circularity rate’ – the proportion of material recycled and fed back into the EU economy – by 2030.
The auditors noted that neither of these plans were binding but were designed to support member states to increase circular-economy activities.
The ECA concluded that there is only limited evidence that the action plans had influenced circular-economy activities in the member states.
By June 2022, nearly all EU countries had a national circular-economy strategy or were in the process of developing one.
“Preserving materials and minimising waste are essential if the EU wants to become resource efficient and achieve the environmental objectives of its Green Deal.
“But EU action has been so far powerless, meaning the circular transition is unfortunately almost at a standstill in European countries,” Annemie Turtelboom, ECA member, said.
Auditors
The ECA said that over €10 billion was earmarked between 2016 and 2020 to invest in green innovation and to support businesses with the transition to a circular economy.
However, the auditors found that the member states spent the vast majority of this money on managing waste rather than on preventing it through circular design.
“In this context, achieving the EU’s ambition of recycling twice as many materials during the current decade as during the previous one will be like trying to square the circle,” the ECA report said.
Overall, the EU has made very little progress in its transition to a circular economy.
Between 2015 and 2021, the average circularity rate for all 27 EU countries increased by only 0.4 percentage points.
Lithuania, Sweden, Romania, Denmark, Luxembourg, Finland and Poland actually regressed during that time.
The ECA said its report aims to help the EU Commission to improve its monitoring of the transition to a circular economy and better target EU funding.
In 2020, the Irish government adopted the Waste Action Plan for Circular Economy.
Its key objectives were to shift the focus to removing or designing out harmful waste and extending the life of products and goods by reusing them and preventing waste occurring in the first place.
In December 2021, the government adopted its Whole of Government Circular Economy Strategy, including the objective to increase Ireland’s circularity rate above the EU average by 2030.
The ECA selected three member states, including Ireland, to assess their progress towards a circular economy.
The ECA said that information on the specific amount allocated for the transition to a circular economy in Ireland was not yet available, as programme negotiations were ongoing at the time of the audit.
They also examined an Irish project focused on collaborative research between companies and academics on innovative projects, including investment in eco-innovation.
The auditors found that the project delivered its planned results – the testing and trialling of recycled raw materials.
However, they said that the objectives of the project were limited to patenting the new technology and did not extend to commercialisation or dissemination of the study results.