Politics

The European Parliament gave its final green light to new measures to prevent and reduce waste from food and textiles across the EU.

Last week, MEPs adopted their proposals on new EU circularity rules to cover the entire vehicle lifecycle, from design to final end-of-life treatment.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck strong notes on unity, freedom, democracy and the rule of law in today’s State of the Union. But despite invoking “the power of the Green Deal” and the need to “stay on course”, her relentless deregulation drive serving mainly short-term industry interests exposes a hollow approach to the climate, nature and pollution crises.

The European Parliament’s plenary vote on its position on the proposed End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation (ELVR) marks an important step in advancing the circularity of the automotive sector. However, FEAD warns that certain requirements risk undermining the Regulation’s ability to deliver on its objectives.

Today the European Parliament voted on two crucial laws: one to tackle food and textile waste, and another to reduce the environmental footprint of vehicles from design to disposal.

The European plastics value chain is at a breaking point. A deep competitiveness crisis is suffocating the industry, with serious consequences already materialising across the sector. By the end of 2025, the region is expected to have lost recycling plants, amounting to almost one million tonnes of recycling capacity.

The European Commission is seeking the views of the public and experts on the future Circular Economy Act by launching a public consultation and a call for evidence.

The European Commission has activated the customs surveillance system to monitor the import and export of metal waste and scrap into and out of the EU, covering ferrous waste and scrap (including steel), aluminium and copper.

The European Commission presented an Action Plan for the Chemicals Industry to strengthen the competitiveness and modernisation of the EU chemical sector.

Municipal Waste Europe (MWE), the European Compost Network (ECN) and the European Biogas Association (EBA) have published a joint position paper calling for biowaste to be formally recognised as a strategic resource in the upcoming revision of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy — a crucial step to strengthen Europe’s resource independence and competitiveness while delivering climate and soil benefits.

The Commission has launched several initiatives to accelerate the EU’s transition to a circular economy and prepare the ground for the Circular Economy Act, expected in 2026.