Circular Economy: A Recipe for European Decline

Circular Economy: A Recipe for European Decline

As I have pointed out repeatedly in recent weeks, the European economy is in acutely bad shape. To make matters worse, its governments are increasingly deadlocked, unable to even comprehend pressing policy problems.  While Europe economically falls behind the rest of the world—being outperformed even by Russia—its ‘visionary’ political elite finds time to engage in eclectic flea killing: The European Commission has unveiled a first set of pilot…

New EU Circular Economy Package fails to support the European plastic recycling industry

The Commission presents the Package as an urgent response to the crisis in the plastics recycling sector, citing fragmented markets, high energy costs, volatile virgin plastic prices and unfair competition from third countries. Europe’s plastics recycling industry is experiencing its deepest downturn on record, with a net decrease of around one million tonnes of recycling capacity in Europe by the end of 2025. This happens at the very same time …