The document outlines five key policy recommendations for the EU’s upcoming five-year mandate (2024–2029) that aim at enhancing recycling and fostering a thriving recycling sector that can ensure raw material autonomy, foster innovation, create jobs, and drive economic growth.
The manifesto highlights the significant potential for circularity and recycling within the C&D sector, stressing the need to stimulate the market for recycled materials and advance legislation to mandate their use. It calls for mandatory Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), improved separation of C&D waste, and the introduction of EU-wide End-of-Waste (EOW) criteria to boost the uptake of recycled materials. Additionally, it calls for balanced chemicals legislation that protects the environment and human health while facilitating recycling and avoiding excessive industry burdens.
Julia Ettinger, EuRIC’s Secretary General, stated: “Our manifesto provides a clear roadmap for policymakers to increase circularity in construction and demolition, reduce environmental degradation and resource depletion while driving economic growth and innovation within the EU. We urge policymakers to prioritise these recommendations in the upcoming legislative term.”
