Michael Brunn

Europe's material footprint has been growing rapidly. In 2022, an average EU resident purchased over 32 kg of electrical and electronic equipment and 19 kg of textiles, and generated nearly 5 tonnes of waste.

The Strategy confirms the Commission's vision: replacing fossil-based materials with sustainable biobased solutions, scaling industrial deployment across value chains, and creating predictable demand conditions for innovative materials, including bioplastics. It also embeds biobased plastics within a coherent PPWR architecture, by committing to adopt, in 2027, criteria and targets for biobased plastics— a milestone that can provide much-needed regulatory clarity and long-term investment certainty. We also applaud the approach taken in the strategy to support biobased plastics in complementary with recycled content targets and coherently across sectors and applications.

Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) welcomes the EU Bioeconomy Strategy's vision of a bioeconomy that "strengthens resilience, ensures food security, and protects Europe's ecosystems". However, while the strategy presents opportunities to advance Europe's bioeconomy, it currently lacks the ambitious targets and safeguards needed to deliver real environmental and social impact.

The auditors found that the current recycling market faces challenges, separate waste collection remains at a very low level in some cases, and the disposal tariffs that citizens are charged do not necessarily cover all waste management costs.

ESWET welcomes this ambition and considers the initiative an important milestone in the EU's path towards climate-neutrality and resource efficiency.

Today's revised Bioeconomy Strategy makes some headway but falls short on giving a clear vision for a European bioeconomy that operates within planetary boundaries, says ECOS. This risks continuing the degradation of resources (such as forests, soils, farmland, and water systems) instead of steering the bioeconomy towards resilience and circularity.

Eva Bille, Head of Circular Economy at the EEB, said: "Instead of setting a strategy that confronts Europe's excessive demand for resources, the Commission clings to the illusion that we can simply replace our current consumption with bio-based inputs, overlooking the serious and immediate harm this will inflict on people and nature."

By using renewable biological resources from land and sea and providing alternatives to critical raw materials, the EU will move forward towards a more circular and decarbonised economy and can decrease dependence on fossil imports.

A major European research initiative coordinated by Fraunhofer Umsicht has been launched to develop integrated solutions for textile waste recycling.

Scheduled for commissioning in August 2027, the plant will be the most advanced MSW treatment facility in Latin America, setting a new standard for technological excellence and circular resource recovery.