Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW), including concrete, wood, metals, bricks, glass, and plastics, makes up about 30% of all waste generated annually in the EU, representing a major material stream. The construction sector also significantly impacts the environment, contributing around 12% of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions.

The European Commission launched a new website on the recycling of plastic intended for contact with food. Among other useful infromation, the website provides access to the Union register of novel technologies, recyclers, recycling processes, recycling schemes and decontamination installations, set up according to Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1616.

Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for sustainable products has been recently published in the Official Journal of the EU.

The European Commission has opened the call for strategic project applications under the Critical Raw Materials Act.

The European Commission has recently published the 2024 LIFE calls for proposals, including topics related to the circular ecomomy.

The industry responsible for sorting discarded textiles for reuse and recycling is on the brink of collapse across Europe, with urgent alarms ringing from the Netherlands, Germany, and the UK. Without immediate intervention, this crisis will escalate, causing irreversible economic and environmental damage.

The Green Advisory Service for Sustainable Investments Support (Green Assist) is a new advisory initiative under InvestEU, funded from the LIFE programme.

The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) recently published report offers a comprehensive analysis of the state of play of the transition to a more circular economy in Europe and the strong policy push we have seen lately, together with options and prospects to further accelerate it.

Source: full EEA report available here