New EU Circular Economy Measures: What this Means for Companies and Consumers Linear economy models are directly linked to resource depletion. This leads to ecosystem degradation, pollution, and waste. Moreover, aiming to keep up with consumer demands, the take-make-dispose logic only aggravates existing socioeconomic inequities. This is why accelerating the transition to a Circular Economy is at the heart of the European Green Deal. As part of the Green Deal, the Circular Economy Action Plan entails initiatives along the entire lifecycle of products toward a cleaner and more competitive Europe. Recently, the European Commission launched a new Circular Economy Package to speed up the transition. The package includes a Sustainable Products Initiative, a Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, and new provisions on consumer empowerment. But what do these new measures mean for companies and consumers? What challenges can be anticipated – and most importantly – what are the opportunities? The Sustainable Products Initiative The best performing products when it comes to sustainability criteria are the ones designed with sustainability in mind from the start. This means integrating recycled and recyclable materials as well as designing products that are durable, repairable, and energy- and resource-efficient among other criteria. There is, therefore, a need to shape business models around Circular Economy principles and create room for sustainable circular design. This is closely tied to business model innovation in order to identify, develop, and test future-proof products and services that increase resilience, business value, and compliance with EU policy through sustainable solutions. The new Sustainable Products Initiative also highlights the need to increase sustainable choices on the consumer side. To this end, necessary information on the features and performance of products needs to be made publicly available and easily accessible. The repairability index in France is a prime example. In view of the EU ‘right to repair’ and in initiatives like the Consumer Insight Action Panel we are collaborating with key actors toward enabling consumers to not only make informed choices but also acquire the skills needed to repair products and keep them for longer in use – a hallmark of the Circular Economy. Within the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform, we have joined efforts to enable circular electronics by focusing on skills for cities, businesses, and consumers. Reach out to our Circular Economy expert, Dr. Imke Schmidt to exchange on how to enable circular electronics and more! A Strategy for Circular Textiles Current textile production and consumption practices are taking a serious toll on the environment. Fast fashion – which by principle focuses on rapid production of high volumes of garments that wear out quickly – accounts for a major share of textile waste as well as significant amounts of microplastics released into the oceans. Dominating practices of textile production are also marked by poor working conditions that fall short of respecting workers’ rights or ensuring livelihoods of textile workers. The new strategy calls for all textiles placed on the EU-market to be durable, repairable, and recyclable as well as primarily made of recycled fibres, free of hazardous substances, and produced in socially-sustainable ways. Pathways to circular textiles and less microplastic use are needed in order to boost product durability, repairability, and recyclability but also ensure the usage of secondary raw materials and a break from fast fashion. Contact our colleague, Dr. Francesca Grossi to discuss Circular Economy opportunities in the textile industry. Empowering Consumers The Circular Economy can only work if consumers are also on board. On a product level, adequate information on a product’s repairability or durability is often missing. Moreover, planned obsolescence, greenwashing or untrustworthy producer/retailer practices as well as shortfalls in infrastructure (such as take-back points for electronics) add to the burden. In initiatives like the Consumer Insight Action Panel or platforms like the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform we rely on the power of collaboration to not only collect and analyse consumer insights and perspectives but also feed them into all hallmarks of the supply chain. Reach out to Imke Schmidt to discuss the role of consumers in enabling the Circular Economy. Addressing behavioural challenges and enabling sustainable lifestyles is the core focus of our Sustainable Lifestyle (SL) Team and deeply ingrained in projects such as the PSLifestyle. Get in touch with the Head of our SL Team, Rosa Strube to discuss how to empower consumers to change behaviours for more circularity.