The European Commission announced on December 2, 2015 that it is adopting an ambitious new Circular Economy Package. The Commission press release listed the key actions to be carried out under the current Commission’s mandate. Action items that are relevant to the EEE industry include:

• Funding of over €650 million under Horizon 2020 and €5.5 billion under the structural funds;
• Development of quality standards for secondary raw materials to increase the confidence of operators in the single market;
• Measures in the Ecodesign working plan for 2015-2017 to promote reparability, durability and recyclability of products, in addition to energy efficiency;
• A strategy on plastics in the circular economy, addressing issues of recyclability, biodegradability, the presence of hazardous substances in plastics, and the Sustainable Development Goals target for significantly reducing marine litter;

The broad range of actions making up the Commission’s circular economy package may have significant impact on the EEE industry and manufacturers over the upcoming decade. Impacts may include:

• Ecodesign implementing measures that include design for reuse and recycling requirements in addition to the traditional energy efficiency requirements.
• Requirements to make repair information available
• Emphasis on implementing an environmental management system
• Increased scrutiny of green claims
• Product environmental footprint to measure and communicate environmental information
• Increased Green Public Procurement (GPP)
• Increased use of recycled plastics and recycled criterial materials
• Development of quality standards for secondary raw materials
• Increased exchange of information between manufacturers and recyclers