Circular economy… worldwide changes

What changes worldwide could have the biggest impact on the circular economy? Read our selection for you for September 2021.

European Commission presents “Fit for 55” package

In mid-July, the European Commission presented a comprehensive legislative package with a wide range of measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union by 55% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2030.

The “Fit for 55” package includes:

• revisions to the Renewable Energy Directive,
• CO₂ limits for passenger cars,
• the emissions trading scheme,
• the burden sharing mechanism and the energy tax system, and
• the introduction of a carbon border adjustment mechanism.

For the waste sector, the incineration of waste will continue to be excluded from the existing emissions trading scheme, as well as from the new emissions trading scheme for the transport and building sector, but it will be regulated within the burden sharing mechanism. However, the sectors regulated under the burden sharing mechanism will have to reduce their emissions by 40% by 2030 (compared with 2005), instead of the current 30%.

After the summer break, discussions on the legislative package will continue in the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. The final adoption is expected by the end of 2022.

New BIR report on the global recovered fibre industry

The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) has released its second report on the global recovered fibre industry.

The report “Paper and board recycling in 2019: Overview of world statistics” finds that the share of paper and board that was made from recovered fibre increased from 50.3% in 2018 to 51.2% in 2019.

Overall production of paper and board using recovered fibres stayed at 211 million tonnes, while production of recovered fibre fell from 250 to 244 million tonnes.

The report also highlights that almost half of the paper and board made using recovered fibres was produced in Asia and that the recovered fibre incorporation rate was highest in Europe with an average of almost 55%.

Besides information on the production and use of recovered fibre, the report also covers international trade flows as well as relevant market information.

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