SUSTAINABILITY
What is happening in Europe?
In 2012, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation released their
watershed report “Towards the Circular Economy”.
In it, they invited readers to imagine an economy
in which today’s goods are tomorrow’s resources,
forming a virtuous cycle that fosters prosperity in
a world of finite resources. Most importantly, they
evaluated the “size of the prize”: an annual net
material cost savings opportunity for the European
Union of USD 380 to 630 billion, depending on the
ambition of the transition.
Fast forward to 2014, as the Ellen MacArthur
Foundation gathers momentum in its CE100
movement – which brings together forward thinking
companies, cities and governments to create critical
mass for a transition – and the World Economic Forum
participates in a global study putting the size of the
prize at over US$1trillion.
When the European Commission withdrew its proposed
circular economy package in 2014, they didn’t think
it would make any waves- after all who cares about
rubbish when the economy is crumbling? In a bold
move, senior executives from Michelin, Philips, Suez
and Unilever penned an open joint letter stating that
“the consequences of the economic crisis underline the
need and opportunity for economic systemic change
in the EU”. Soon the Commission was flooded with
pressure from industry, policy makers and community
groups to put the circular economy back on the agenda.
When they organised a conference to engage on the
new circular economy package in June 2015, tickets
were snapped up like a rock concert. They moved
venues and integrated an online component to allow
some 700 stakeholders to join in, and still some of us
were left on the waiting list.
The new circular economy package was released in
December 2015 (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/
circular-economy/index_en.htm), including broad
measures for changing the full product lifecycle
including an eco-design working plan, actions to
GOVLINK » ISSUE 3 2016
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