The European Commission adopted an ambitious Circular Economy Package on 2 December 2015. The Package consists of an EU Action Plan with measures covering the whole product life cycle: from design, sourcing, production and consumption to waste management and the market for secondary raw materials.

Besides the report on the delivery of key intiatives of the 2015 Action Plan, the Commission also took further measures by establishing a Circular Economy Finance Support Platform with the European Investment Bank, issued guidance to Member states on converting waste to energy and proposed a targeted improvement of legislation on certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.

The Circular Economy Finance Support Platform will bring together the Commission, the EiB, National Promotional Banks, institutional investors and other stakeholders, raising awareness of circular economy investment opportunities and promoting best practices among potential promoters, analysing projects and their financial needs, and providing advice on structuring and bankability.

Commission Communication on the role of waste-to-energy processes provides guidance for Member States to achieve right balance of waste-to-energy capacity, highlighting the role of waste hierarchy which ranks waste management options according to their sustainability and gives top priority to preventing and recycling of waste. It helps optimising their contribution to the Energy Union and exploiting the opportunities for cross-border partnerships where this is appropriate and in line with EC environmental goals.

The package also contains a proposal to update legislation to restrict the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS Directive). It is estimated that the measures will prevent more than 3000 tonnes of hazardous waste per year in EU, and enable savings of energy and raw materials. In the health sector alone, an estimated EUR 170 million in healthcare costs could be saved.

To showcase the key deliverables achieved so far and to debate future deliverables with stakeholders, the Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee are organising a Circular Economy Conference on 9-10 March 2017. On this occasion the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform will be announced.