EU Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP)
Governmental Agency: European Commission
Jurisdiction: European Union
Ref no: COM(2020) 98 final
Status: ADOPTED
The new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) for a cleaner and competitive Europe, released in March 2022, aims to accelerate the transformational change required by the European Green Deal, and establish coherent product policy frameworks that will make sustainable products, services and business models the norm. It includes initiatives aimed at developing circularity throughout the entire lifecycle of a product.
Measures that will be introduced under the new action plan aim to:
- focus on the sectors that use most resources and where the potential for circularity
- reduce waste and increase capacity for waste handling
- ensure a well-functioning internal market for high-quality secondary raw materials
- empower consumers and public buyers
- make circularity work for people, regions and cities
- lead global efforts on circular economy
The CEAP identifies the textiles sector specifically as a priority group to be targeted in support of reduced environmental impact and increased circularity. This includes the proposal for an EU Strategy for Textiles in order to strengthen industrial competitiveness and innovation in the sector, boost the EU market for sustainable and circular textiles, including the market for textile reuse, address fast fashion and drive new business models. It also identifies textiles as a priority in relation to tackling microplastics pollution.
-
As the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) is an overarching strategy, it will be left to each separate legislation (once adopted into law) to clarify exactly which businesses will be impacted.
However, broadly the implementation of the CEAP will likely result in significant market change in response to policy initiatives, and thus impacts on businesses across the textiles sector. For example:
- A drive for circularity and secondary raw materials will mean the need for new recycling and materials manufacturing infrastructure
- Increased capacity for waste handling will mean growth in businesses in the collection and processing stages
- Empowering consumers and public buyers to act more sustainably may see impacts in what businesses are utilised to purchase textiles from - changing market dynamics