News from the circular economy
A recent report by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) provides a detailed look at plastic flows in the EU and their environmental impacts. The analysis shows that despite progress in recycling, the majority of plastics in Europe are still incinerated or landfilled, and only about one fifth finds its way back into the cycle.
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The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development provides a comprehensive overview of current challenges related to plastics through a series of policy-oriented analyses and publications. These contributions address the environmental, economic and systemic implications of plastics along their entire life cycle, from production and consumption to waste management and recycling.
In its article “Winning in Sustainable Packaging in 2025 – Bringing It All Together”, McKinsey & Company emphasizes that sustainable packaging is becoming a strategic priority for companies across industries. Increasing regulatory pressure, rising material costs and growing customer expectations are driving the need for more comprehensive and forward-looking packaging solutions.
The latest briefing from the European Environment Agency (EEA) shows that Europe is still far from a sustainable pattern of material use. Despite growing policy efforts, only 11.5 percent of materials used in the EU come from circular sources, while total material consumption continues to increase, putting additional pressure on ecosystems.
Without decisive action, the amount of plastic entering the environment each year could nearly triple by 2040. This is the core finding of the recent study “Towards Ending Plastic Pollution by 2040” was commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers for the Environment and Climate and produced by Systemiq. The positive message: with a systemic approach, global plastic pollution could be reduced by up to 80% within the next 15 years.
The new ETC CE Report 2025 makes it clear that a sustainable circular economy can only succeed if ecological goals are considered alongside social justice. While the focus has often been on resource efficiency, recycling rates, and material cycles, the study now specifically highlights the social impacts of global value chains, particularly in the areas of textiles, plastics, and batteries.
Circular economy is widely seen as a pathway to more sustainable production and consumption. But a recent report by Bertelsmann Stiftung and Yunus Environment Hub highlights a crucial missing piece: social innovation.
The new Circularity Gap Report 2025 presents a sobering picture: only 6.9% of all materials entering the global economy come from secondary sources – a decline from the previous year (7.2%). At the same time, global material consumption has surpassed 100 billion tonnes annually for the first time.
The new study “Circular Transformation of Industries: Unlocking Economic Value” by the World Economic Forum demonstrates that circular economy strategies offer not only ecological but also clear economic advantages. Based on a global survey of 420 senior executives from ten industrial sectors, the analysis shows that companies with holistic circular economy strategies benefit from greater resilience, cost savings and new revenue potential.
Three years after the publication of the first position paper, the German plastics and recycling industry has renewed its joint commitment to the circular economy and climate protection. The associations' new position paper offers comprehensive proposals for necessary changes to provide impetus for a stronger circular economy.
The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) has published a draft of the new National Circular Economy Strategy (NKWS). In many sectors of the German economy, the majority of emissions are caused not by domestic production, but in the upstream value chain during raw material extraction and the production of intermediate goods. Therefore, the circular use of products and raw materials offers the opportunity to significantly reduce resource consumption and emissions.
The new report "The Circular Economy for Plastics - A European Analysis" by Plastics Europe provides a better understanding of the state of the Circular Plastics Economy in Europe and offers an outlook on the transformation still necessary.
August 02, 2023
The new report from the United Nations Environment Programme examines economic and business models needed to address the impacts of the plastics economy.
In April 2023, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection published an information paper with basic principles for the National Circular Economy Strategy (NKWS). The strategy is currently being developed by the German government with the support of a multi-stakeholder process involving relevant interest groups from industry, science and civil society as well as the German states and municipalities. Among other things, the NKWS is intended to bundle existing raw materials policy strategies and define goals, fundamental principles and strategic measures for circular economy and resource conservation.
A new study examined the impact of circular plastic strategies in terms of complying with planetary boundaries. The result: by 2030, 75 percent of plastic would have to be recycled in order not to exceed the assigned safe operating space. This will require significant improvements in recycling processes and technologies combined with CO2 utilization and biomass as feedstock for plastic production.
February 21, 2023
The Circularity Gap Report 2023 illustrates global material flows and identifies key circular solutions that can reverse the overshoot of multiple planetary boundaries. The report also demonstrates which circular solutions are most suitable for different country profiles to achieve their goals, based on their economic, social and environmental differences.
January 25, 2023
The German Standardization Roadmap Circular Economy by DIN, DKE and VDI was developed in cooperation with over 500 experts from industry, science, the public sector and civil society. Circular economy is of particular importance in achieving the goals of the European Green Deal and the Climate Protection Act 2021.
December 12, 2022
The newly published white paper »Rethinking the Circular Economy for Plastics - How the Transformation to Circular Value Creation Can Succeed« by the VDI Round Table looks at the systemic change to the Circular Economy and formulates recommendations for action for politics and business.
August 30, 2022
The OECD report »The Global Plastics Outlook: Policy Scenarios to 2060« presents a set of coherent projections on plastics to 2060, including plastics use, waste as well as the environmental impacts linked to plastics, especially leakage to the environment.
June 30, 2022
SYSTEMIQ's report »ReShaping Plastics: Pathways to a Circular, Climate Neutral Plastics System in Europe« examines the plastics industry in Europe and identifies a path to achieve the goal of climate neutrality by 2050.
May 10, 2022
The report »The Circular Economy for Plastics – A European Overview« by Plastics Europe provides an overview of 2020 European plastics production, conversion into parts and products, consumption and waste flows.
April 15, 2022
The Working Group III report contributes to the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report and provides an updated global assessment of climate change mitigation progress and pledges.
April 4, 2022
The Global Plastics Outlook: Economic Drivers, Environmental Impacts and Policy Options provides policymakers with a comprehensive overview of the challenges ahead and potential solutions.
March 15, 2022
An essential requirement for the development of a circular economy is a fundamental rethinking in practice. The change to a circular economy for plastics will only succeed if not only individual technical solutions, but the whole »system« is aimed to the production and use of high-value recyclates.
February 15, 2022
The Circularity Gap of the global world economy has not improved. Over the past five years the reports have investigated how linear the world still is. Currently, only 8.6% of the 100 billion tonnes of resources consumed each year are recycled, leaving a massive Circularity Gap of over 90%.
September 1, 2021
The »Circular Economy Roadmap for Germany« was developed within the framework of the Circular Economy Initiative Germany (CEID) and is a scientifically based framework for action that systemically describes the steps required for Germany's transition to a circular economy. It contains recommendations for action that are intended to provide orientation for decision-makers in politics, business and science.
May 5, 2021
The global demand for raw materials has been increasing for decades. Enhancing the circular flow of raw materials via the recycling of waste but also via the reuse of goods can reduce the pressure on primary raw materials. In this study, commissioned by NABU, the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research examined the use of secondary raw materials in Germany.
December 1, 2020
The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment unites businesses, governments, and other organisations behind a common vision and 2025 targets to address plastic waste and pollution at its source, starting with packaging.
November 3, 2020
In this progress report, you can learn more about the Alliance to End Plastic Waste and some of their partner projects that are preventing plastic waste leaking into the environment, capturing the value of plastic waste and supporting communities around the world.
November 3, 2020
The discussion paper of the state initiative IN4climate.NRW deals with potentials and development perspectives for the chemical recycling of plastic waste as a contribution to the defossilisation of the chemical and plastics processing industry in NRW.
April 6, 2020
The newly published report »The Circular Economy for Plastics – A European Overview« by PlasticsEurope draws from a larger study on the Plastics Circular Economy 2018 in EU28+2 countries. It aims to be one of the several studies, surveys and analyses which looks in more detail at the different steps of the life cycle of plastics.
Dezember 20, 2019
The study determines the amount of packaging put on the market in Germany (packaging consumption) for the material-groups glass, plastics, paper, aluminum, tin plate, other steel, composite materials, wood and other packaging materials. Aside from the packaging used in Germany, the calculation of the packaging consumption also includes the determination of filled exports and filled imports.
Februar 18, 2019
But how can recyclability be determined in the most efficient and reliable way possible? Fraunhofer UMSICHT tested a software tool developed by Henkel.
Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPE