The mechanical and plant engineering industry is behind the Circular Economy Act announced by the Commission, according to the VDMA. However, certain conditions must be met for the circular economy to succeed. First of all, a single European market for secondary raw materials is needed. This means that secondary materials must be traded and used at competitive prices within the EU. According to the VDMA, this requires quality criteria and standards for secondary raw materials and their reuse. "Due to volatile prices, the market is currently under severe pressure and secondary plastics in particular are often more expensive and therefore not economically attractive," says Dr. Sarah Brückner, Head of the VDMA's Environment and Sustainability Department. "Both the relationship between quantity and quality and the price structure are simply not right today, and this is where the EU can set a positive course with concrete measures," Dr. Brückner continues.

How can the secondary raw materials market be strengthened?

One approach to strengthening the secondary raw materials market in Europe could be a product-specific recyclate usage quota. This means that a minimum quantity of secondary raw materials should be reused for certain products. This would allow the market to be realigned and the price imbalance between recyclates and virgin materials to be better balanced. It is important that this quota system and market monitoring apply throughout Europe and are implemented quickly. It must also be implemented with little bureaucracy and without any significant negative economic impact on small and medium-sized enterprises and competitiveness.

The Circular Economy Act is to be published in the coming legislative period. The VDMA has clear ideas on this: "We hope that the Circular Economy Act will help to avoid a patchwork quilt in the circular economy. This is because the situation in Europe is currently rather chaotic with regard to national waste regulations, materials policy and measures for circular product policy," says Dr. Brückner. National measures, such as the draft of a national circular economy strategy (NKWS) recently published in Germany, must fit into the European framework; only then will they lead to long-term success, emphasizes the VDMA expert.