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FULL CIRCLE: CLOSING THE LOOPAS THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION ADOPTS AMBITIOUS NEW LEGISLATION TO STIMULATE THE TRANSITION TOWARDS AN ECONOMY IN WHICH RESOURCES ARE USED MORE SUSTAINABLY, VICTORIA HATTERSLEY LOOKS AT HOW PERMANENT MATERIALS SUCH AS ALUMINIUM AND STEEL CAN MAKE A CONTRIBUTION, AND WHAT IMPACT THIS LEGISLATION WILL HAVE ON THE BEVERAGE PACKAGING INDUSTRYOn 2 December 2015, the European Commission announced the adoption of its ambitious new Circular Economy Package (CEP) to “close the loop” of the circular economy – taking into account all phases in the life cycle of a product, from production and consumption to waste management. This package will, among other things, set common targets for recycling and the reduction of waste to landfill as well as offer economic incentives to brand owners and promote “industrial symbiosis”. (See sidebar for the key points of the proposal). New legislative measures will also increase the supply of secondary raw materials in order to reduce Europe’s dependence on imported raw materials. Each year, around one million tonnes of aluminium scrap leave the continent and are recycled elsewhere in the world, which makes Europe more reliant on imports. This could be avoided through increased investment in both collecting and sorting infrastructure. Not only will this help foster more sustainable economic growth, it is hoped that it will boost Europe’s competitiveness on a global level. More resources kept within the economy should also help to secure jobs. Meanwhile, innovation will be stimulated to increase the competitiveness of European industry, through EU programmes such as Horizon 2020, COSME, and the Structural and Investments Funds. Because of the increased emphasis on boosting infrastructures for the recycling of secondary raw materials within Europe, there is a much greater focus within the CEP on the use of materials that can be easily and efficiently recycled – such as aluminium and steel.➤ AT A GLANCE: WHAT DOES THE NEW CEP LEGISLATION PROPOSE?A concrete EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy to cover the whole material cycle. It takes in several revised legislative proposals, including:• A common EU target for recycling 65% of municipal waste by 2030.• A common EU target for recycling 75% of packaging waste by 2030.• A proposed target of 75% of aluminium packaging waste prepared for reuse and recycling by 2025, rising to 85% by 2030.• A binding landfill target to reduce landfill to a maximum of 10% of all waste by 2030.• A ban on landfilling of separately collected waste.• Promotion of economic instruments to discourage landfilling.• Simplified and improved definitions and harmonised calculation methods for recycling rates throughout the EU.• Concrete measures to promote re-use and stimulate industrial symbiosis.• Economic incentives for producers to put greener products on the market, and support recovery and recycling schemes.EUROPEAN CAN MARKET REPORT 2016 35CIRCULAR ECONOMY