[Regulatory Update] EU advances design of the Circular Economy Act — aiming to build an internal market for secondary raw materials and circular products
Depending on how the framework is ultimately designed, it could affect several regimes at once, including the circulation of recycled raw materials, intra-EU movement of waste, extended producer responsibility, product design and public procurement. At this stage, the priority for companies is not "compliance obligations" but information-gathering and supply-chain design with an eye to the future regime; the Circular Economy Act is best read not as "an enacted regulation" but as a policy-making process through which the EU is reframing the circular economy as a matter of market design.
Related Regulation Information
EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)
The EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is a comprehensive framework regulation requiring environmentally sound design for nearly all physical products placed on the EU market, excluding categories such as food, feed, and pharmaceuticals. It represents a fundamental strengthening and expansion of the previous Ecodesign Directive, positioning environmental design as an integrated discipline within the EU market by mandating that sustainability requirements be built in from the earliest stages of product planning. The framework rests on four main pillars. First, ecodesign requirements that set product-specific rules covering durability, repairability, reusability, recyclability, environmental footprint, energy efficiency, and restrictions on hazardous chemical content (in coordination with REACH). Second, the Digital Product Passport (DPP), which requires products to carry a data carrier such as a QR code so that material composition, repairability and recyclability, carbon footprint, and other data can be provided and tracked digitally to ensure supply chain transparency. Third, a phased rollout through product-specific delegated acts covering priority product categories one at a time (textiles, steel, aluminum, furniture, tyres, and others). Fourth, market surveillance and conformity control, including exclusion of non-compliant products from the EU market and labelling where required by delegated acts.
See this regulation's full analysis (timeline & business impact)💡 The overview and schedule for the regulation related to this article can also be found on the Regulatory Gateway Database page.