Politics

A report published by Za Zamiata and Zero Waste Europe reveals the stark parallel realities in Bulgaria’s plastic packaging waste management, where official recycling statistics paint a misleadingly optimistic picture that clashes with on-the-ground failures.

A new report by Bankwatch, Za Zemiata and Zelena Akcija, in collaboration with Zero Waste Europe, reveals that current EU budget allocations for circular economy and municipal waste management measures are insufficient to help central and eastern European countries catch up with the EU’s decarbonisation targets.

The BIR welcomes today’s publication by the European Commission of detailed information on which waste streams each non-OECD country has included in their applications to receive waste from the EU beyond May 2027.

EuRIC and BIR jointly express profound concern over the conclusions reached during the Summit on the Future of the European Steel Industry held in Paris on 27 February 2025.

President von der Leyen has convened key European industry leaders, social partners, and stakeholders for the launch of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of the European Steel sector. This dialogue marks the start of an inclusive and collaborative process to address critical challenges faced by the sector and ensure its continued success as a key driver of the European economy.

With the Clean Industrial Deal (CID), the European Commission is strengthening its decarbonization strategy and emphasizing the importance of European raw materials as well as climate protection and the circular economy. The Commission also wants to specifically promote research and innovation. The FEhS Building Materials Institute believes that the planned measures, which would also effectively support the use of by-products from the steel industry, are the right ones.

The European Commission and the European Environment Agency (EEA) have published the second Zero Pollution Monitoring and Outlook report, which provides an overview of the EU’s work to meet the 2030 zero pollution targets. The Commission has also published its fourth Clean Air Outlook report. The reports show that EU policies have contributed to reducing air pollution, pesticide use and plastic litter at sea. However, pollution levels are still too high, in particular from harmful noise, microplastic releases into the environment, nutrient pollution and waste generation.

Ahead of the inaugural Strategic Dialogue on Steel and the upcoming Steel and Metals Action Plan, EuRIC, the voice of Europe’s recyclers has published a Circular Economy Action Plan for Recycled Metals to steer discussions on the future of the steel industry through the lens of decarbonisation and circularity.

Today, the Commission has presented the Clean Industrial Deal, a business plan to support the competitiveness and resilience of our industry. The Deal will accelerate decarbonisation, while securing the future of manufacturing in Europe.

EuRIC welcomes the provisional agreement on the targeted revision of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD), reached by the European Parliament and Council on 19 February, as it marks a significant step forward for the circular economy and textile waste management. However, urgent support is still required to address the unprecedented crisis currently facing the EU’s textile reuse and recycling sector.

Despite steady progress in key areas, the European Union is only partially on track to achieve the EU’s 2030 climate, environment and sustainability objectives, according to the latest monitoring report published by the European Environment Agency (EEA). More decisive measures are needed to boost a circular economy, reverse the declining trend in biodiversity and in reducing the EU’s consumption footprint.