The EU walks the talk:
the circular economy brings new jobs
Thomas Reiner | 22.05.2019
In December 2015, the EU Commission adopted the “Circular Economy Action Plan”. Meanwhile, a first conclusion can be drawn – and that turns out to be positive.
At the heart of the Circular Economy Action Plan were two aspects that should go hand in hand:
1.) To increase the global competitiveness of the European economy, promote sustainable economic growth and create new jobs.
2.) Use resources in a circulatory system intelligently. In concrete terms, this means that resources should be used as long as possible and their values maximally exploited. At the end of the usage cycle, it’s important to preserve the resources of collection and recycling as comprehensively as possible.
In total, 54 measures were adopted under the plan. They have now been implemented or are being implemented. The “EU Monitoring Framework for the Circular Economy” now allows a first conclusion, which the European Commission published on 4 March 2019.
The result: the transition to a circular economy has put the EU back on the path of job growth. Key points of the balance sheet:
• In 2016, the related sectors of the circular economy employed over four million workers. This is an increase of 6 percent compared to 2012.
• Job growth is expected to continue as secondary commodity markets continue to unfold and develop.
• The circular economy has created new business opportunities, facilitated new business models and opened up new markets – both within the EU and beyond.
Links:
The complete report by the EU-commission from the 4th of Marth 2019 (PDF; English)
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/circular-economy/indicators
