COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on a monitoring framework for the circular economy
Date: 2018-01-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU production, EU statistics, competitiveness, consumption, innovation, raw material, waste, waste recycling

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Strasbourg, 16.1.2018 COM(2018) 29 final  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on a monitoring framework for the circular economy {SWD(2018) 17 final}  
 
 
1.  Introduction 

The transition to a circular economy is a tremendous opportunity to transform our economy 
and  make  it  more  sustainable,  contribute  to  climate  goals  and  the  preservation  of  the 
world’s  resources,  create  local  jobs  and  generate  competitive  advantages  for  Europe  in  a 
world  that  is  undergoing  profound  changes.  The  importance  of  the  circular  economy  to 
European industry was recently highlighted in the renewed EU industrial policy strategy1. The 
transition to a circular economy will also help to meet the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for 
Sustainable Development2. 

In the circular economy action plan3, a circular economy is explained as an economy ‘where 
the value of products,  materials  and resources is  maintained in  the economy for  as long  as 
possible, and the generation of waste minimised’. 

In the transition to a more circular economy, monitoring the key trends and patterns is key to 
understand how the various elements of the circular economy are developing over time, to 
help  identify  success  factors  in  Member  States  and  to  assess  whether  sufficient  action  has 
been  taken.  The  results  of  monitoring  should  form  the  basis  for  setting  new  priorities 
towards the long-term objective of a circular economy. They are not just relevant to policy 
makers, but should inspire all and drive new actions.  

This is why the Commission, in the circular economy action plan, committed to come forward 
with a simple and effective monitoring framework.  This has been echoed by the Council of 
the EU, in its conclusions on the circular economy action plan4, where it stressed ‘the need for 
a  monitoring  framework  to  strengthen  and  assess  the  progress  towards  circular  economy, 
while minimising the administrative burden’. Also, the European Parliament has called upon 
the  Commission  to  develop  indicators  on  resource  efficiency  to  track  progress  towards  the 
circular economy.5 

This  Communication  implements  this  commitment  by  putting  forward  a  monitoring 
framework composed of a set of key, meaningful indicators which capture the main elements 
of the circular economy.  

The  circular  economy  monitoring  framework  draws  upon  and  complements  the  existing 
Resource  Efficiency  Scoreboard6  and  Raw  Materials  Scoreboard7,  which  were  developed  in 
recent  years  by  the  Commission.  The  framework  is  presented  on  a  website8  where  all  the 
indicators are available and will be kept up to date. 

1 COM(2017) 479. 
2 https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/international-strategies/global-topics/sustainable-development-goals/eu-
approach-sustainable-development_en  
3 COM(2015) 614. 
4 http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/06/20/envi-conclusions-circular-economy/pdf 
5 European Parliament Resolution of 9 July 2015 on resource efficiency: moving towards a circular economy 
(2014/2208(INI)). 
6 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/resource_efficiency/targets_indicators/scoreboard/index_en.htm. 
7 https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/1ee65e21-9ac4-11e6-868c-01aa75ed71a1. 
8 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/circular-economy  

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2.  Monitoring progress towards a circular economy 

Monitoring  progress  towards  a  circular  economy  is  a  challenging  task.  The  transition 
towards  a  circular  economy  is  not  limited  to  certain  materials  or  sectors.  It  is  a  systemic 
change  that  affects  the  entire  economy  and  involves  all  products  and  services.  Ideally, 
indicators  should  primarily  capture  trends  in  preserving  the  economic  value  of  products, 
materials and resources as well as trends in waste generation. 

Just  as  there  is  no  one  universally  recognised  indicator  of  ‘circularity’,  robust  off-the-shelf 
indicators to describe the most relevant trends are in short supply. With a single measure, or 
score,  it  would  not  be  possible  to  appropriately  capture  the  complexity  and  the  many 
dimensions of the transition to a circular economy. For this reason, a set of relevant indicators 
will be used for this monitoring framework. 

One  way  of  looking  at  the  circular  economy  is  to  see  how  materials  enter,  flow  within  and 
(eventually) leave the economy. Such a visual overview can be provided by a material flows 
diagram,  which  shows  all  raw  materials  —  aggregated  as  well  as  grouped  by  categories  of 
materials — throughout the economy, from their extraction until they become waste. 

Figure 1: Material flows in the economy (EU-28, 2014)9, 10 

9

 Source: Andreas Mayer, Willi Haas, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Fridolin Krausmann, Philip Nuss, Gian Andrea 
Blengini (forthcoming): Monitoring the circular economy in the EU28 - A mass-balanced assessment of 
economy wide material flows, waste and emissions from official statistics. In: Journal of Industrial Ecology 

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Figure 1 presents an overview of material flows in the EU in 2014. The input-side on the 
left shows that 8 billion tonnes of materials are processed into energy or products annually in 
the EU. Only 0.6 billion tonnes originate from recycling. On the output-side, it shows that out 
of the 2.2 billion tonnes of waste that are generated only 0.6 billion tonnes re-enter the system 
as  recycled  materials.  The  rest  of  the  materials,  equivalent  to  1.5  billion  tonnes,  is  waste. 
These  aspects  point  to  a  significant  potential  for  improvement  in  particular  by  increasing 
the share of materials recycled as secondary raw materials and decreasing the production of 
waste. 

The monitoring framework aims at measuring progress towards a circular economy in a way 
that  encompasses  its  various  dimensions  at  all  stages  of  the  lifecycle  of  resources,  products 
and services. This is why the monitoring framework has a set of ten indicators (see Table 1) 
grouped  into  four  stages  and  aspects  of  the  circular  economy:  (1)  production  and 
consumption,  (2)  waste  management,  (3)  secondary  raw  materials  and  (4)  competitiveness 
and  innovation.  This  broadly  follows  the  logic  and  structure  of  the  circular  economy  action 
plan. 

10 Energetic use covers raw materials used for combustion or production of food and feed. 

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No   Name 

Relevance 

EU levers (examples) 

Production and consumption 

1 

2 

EU self-sufficiency for 
raw materials 

The circular economy should help to 
address the supply risks for raw 
materials, in particular critical raw 
materials. 

Raw Materials Initiative; Resource 
Efficiency Roadmap 

Green public 
procurement* 

Public procurement accounts for a 
large share of consumption and can 
drive the circular economy. 

Public Procurement Strategy; EU 
support schemes and voluntary criteria 
for green public procurement 

3a-c  Waste generation 

In a circular economy waste 
generation is minimised. 

4 

Food waste* 

Discarding food has negative 
environmental, climate and economic 
impacts. 

Waste Framework Directive; directives 
on specific waste streams; Strategy 
for Plastics 

General Food Law Regulation; Waste 
Framework Directive; various initiatives 
(e.g. Platform on Food Losses and 
Food Waste) 

Waste management 

5a-b  Overall recycling rates 

6a-f  Recycling rates for 

specific waste 
streams  

Secondary raw materials 

7a-b  Contribution of 

recycled materials to 
raw materials demand 

Increasing recycling is part of the 
transition to a circular economy. 

This reflects the progress in recycling 
key waste streams. 

Waste Framework Directive 

Waste Framework Directive; Landfill 
Directive; directives on specific waste 
streams 

In a circular economy, secondary raw 
materials are commonly used to make 
new products. 

8 

Trade in recyclable 
raw materials 

Trade in recyclables reflects the 
importance of the internal market and 
global participation in the circular 
economy. 

Competitiveness and innovation 

9a-c  Private investments, 
jobs and gross value 
added 

This reflects the contribution of the 
circular economy to the creation of 
jobs and growth. 

Waste Framework Directive; Eco-
design Directive; EU Ecolabel; REACH; 
initiative on the interface between 
chemicals, products and waste policies; 
Strategy for Plastics; quality standards 
for secondary raw materials 

Internal Market policy; Waste Shipment 
Regulation; Trade policy 

Investment Plan for Europe; Structural 
and Investment Funds; InnovFin; 
Circular Economy Finance Support 
Platform; Sustainable Finance 
Strategy; Green Employment Initiative; 
New Skills Agenda for Europe; Internal 
Market policy 

10 

Patents  

Innovative technologies related to the 
circular economy boost the EU’s global 
competitiveness. 

Horizon 2020 

* Indicators under development 

Table 1: Indicators on the circular economy included in the monitoring framework 

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These  indicators  were  selected  to  capture  the  main  elements  of  a  circular  economy.  Data 
availability was taken into account when choosing them, building on the Resource Efficiency 
Scoreboard and the Raw  Materials Scoreboard. The indicators are based on existing data as 
much  as  possible,  thus  limiting  the  administrative  burden.  Other  criteria  against  which  the 
indicators  were  assessed  include  relevance,  acceptance,  credibility,  ease  of  use  and 
robustness. 

Responses  to  the  public  consultation  on  the roadmap11  and  discussions  with  Member  States 
representatives  and  stakeholder  experts12  were  also  taken  into  account  when  selecting  the 
indicators. 

The Commission will be improving the knowledge base and data availability for measuring 
progress in the circular economy: 
-  Work is ongoing to develop methodologies and data collections that can be used for the 
indicators  on  green  public  procurement  and  food  waste,  with  a  view  to  publishing  the 
data in the coming years. Meanwhile, Eurostat is producing some provisional estimates of 
food waste. 

-  As part of the 2015 circular economy package and broader efforts by the Commission to 
improve  the  quality  of  EU  statistics  on  waste,  the  Commission  has  proposed  to 
harmonise the methodologies for calculating recycling rates for municipal waste13 and 
packaging  waste14.  Once  adopted  by  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament  and 
implemented  by  the  Member  States,  these  proposals  will  bring  about more  reliable  and 
comparable statistics. 

-  Through  Horizon  2020,  the  Commission  is  funding  several  research  projects  that  will 
deliver  better  data  to  complement  the  official  statistics,  in  particular  via  the  EU  raw 
materials information system15.  

3.  First findings 

The ten indicators of the monitoring framework provide a broad picture of the key leverage 
points to increase the circularity of the EU’s economy. While it will take some time before the 
results of the actions on the circular economy are visible in the statistics, it is meaningful to 
start  by  establishing  baselines.  This  will  help  to  monitor  future  developments  and  inform 
policy making processes. 

There  is  both  a  strong  need  and  a  significant  potential  for  further  improvements  in  the 
performance  of  the  EU  and  its  Member  States.  The  role  of  the  EU  is  greater  in  some  areas 
(such as trade in recyclable raw materials) than in others (e.g. green public procurement). 

11 https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/initiatives/ares-2017-1830357_en . 
12 Producers of official statistics on environmental accounts and experts on resource efficiency/integrated 
product policy and on raw materials policy: 
http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm?do=groupDetail.groupDetail&groupID=2673, 
http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm?do=groupDetail.groupDetail&groupID=470, 
http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm?do=groupDetail.groupDetail&groupID=2812,   
http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm?do=groupDetail.groupDetail&groupID=1353. 
13 COM(2015) 595 final 
14 COM(2015) 596 final. 
15 http://rmis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ 

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Production and consumption 

Some  progress  can  be  observed  towards  more  circular  trends  in  production  and 
consumption  e.g.  in  terms  of  waste  generation.  Nevertheless,  there  is  still  considerable 
room for narrowing the gap in performance between Member States and across materials. 

The indicator on self-sufficiency in the supply of raw materials shows that the EU is largely 
self-sufficient  for  most  non-metallic  minerals  such  as  construction  materials  and  industrial 
minerals. However, the indicator also confirms that for the EU’s critical raw materials16 the 
EU  is  relying  on  imports  to  a  large  extent,  which  highlights  the  need  for  secure  access  and 
diversification of supply. Many of these materials are needed to achieve the EU’s objective of 
a sustainable, low-carbon, resource-efficient and competitive economy17.  

Public Procurement represents a large share of GDP and hence green public procurement – 
i.e.  when  public  authorities  use  their  purchasing  power  to  choose  environmentally  friendly 
goods,  services  and  works  –  can  be  a  driver  for  the  circular  economy  and  for  innovation.18 
Data is still to be developed for this indicator.  

EU municipal waste19 generation per capita has dropped by 8 % between 2006 and 2016 to 
an average of 480 kg per capita per year. This is a clear example of an area where each citizen 
can  make  a  positive  contribution.  However,  large  variations  among  Member  States  are 
observed (between 250 and 750 kg per capita per year) 20, and municipal waste generation is 
still growing in  several Member States.  The quantity of waste generated still correlates to  a 
certain  degree  with  GDP  per  capita.  It  is  therefore  positive  that  the  data  on  total  waste 
generation (including industrial and commercial waste but excluding major mineral waste) per 
unit of GDP shows a decrease of 11 % since 2006.  

Reducing food waste21 has an enormous potential for saving the resources we use to produce 
the  food  we  eat.  Food  waste  takes  place  all  along  the  value  chain:  during  production  and 
distribution, in shops, restaurants, catering facilities, and at home. This makes it particularly 
hard  to  quantify.  According  to  Eurostat’s  preliminary  estimates,  EU  food  waste  decreased 
from  81  to  76  million  tonnes  (i.e.  by  around  7 %)  between  2012  and  2014,  equivalent  to  a 
drop from 161 to 149 kg per capita. 

Waste management 

Waste  management  generally  shows  positive  developments,  yet  with  significant  room  for 
improvement and differences among Member States and across waste streams.  

16 COM(2017) 490. 
17 E.g. cobalt for batteries used in electric cars, silicon for solar panels.  
18 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/index_en.htm  
19 Waste from households and in public spaces and similar waste from other sources. 
20 Differences in the way Member States measure waste generation can explain some of the differences. 
21 https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/food_waste/eu_actions_en  

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Between 2008 and 2016, EU recycling rates for municipal waste increased from 37 % to 
46 %.  Five  Member  States  recycle  more  than  half  of  their  municipal  waste,  while  some 
countries are approaching the 2030 recycling target of 65 % proposed by the Commission22; 
however, five Member States are still below 25 %.23  

Source: Eurostat 

Between 2008 and 2015, the recycling rates for packaging waste also increased in the EU, 
from 62 % to 66 %; it increased in almost all Member States, and in 2015 almost all Member 
States had met the 2008 target of 55 % (the Commission has proposed a target of 65 % by 
2025  and  75 %  by  203024).  For  plastic  packaging,  the  average  recycling  rate  in  the  EU  is 
significantly lower, at 40 %, even though there have been improvements in recent years.  

The recycling of municipal biowaste in the EU was 79 kg per capita in 2016, an increase of 
23 % compared to 2007. 

For the recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), the data show that 
the  level  of  collection  and  recycling  varies  considerably  across  EU  Member  States  and 
indicate  a  great  potential  to  improve  resource  efficiency  and  reduce  illegal  collection, 
treatment  and  shipment.  In  2015,  only  four  Member  States  recycled25  over  half  of  the 
electrical and electronic equipment that had been put on the market.  

Finally,  for construction and demolition waste,  20 Member States  have reported that they 
already  achieved  the  70 %  recovery  target26  set  for  2020.  Given  that  by  weight  this  is  the 

22 COM(2015) 595 final . 
23 Member States are using different methods to calculate recycling rates, which can explain part of the 
differences. The Commission has proposed a common method in its legislative proposal on waste. 
24 COM(2015) 596 final. 
25 or prepared for reuse 
26 The target covers not only recycling but also re-use and other material recovery, including backfilling of non-
hazardous construction and demolition waste excluding naturally occurring material 

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single biggest waste stream in the EU, it is a positive sign. However, it should be noted that 
the target includes backfilling27, a practice that does not keep the value of the materials in the 
economy  and  is  therefore  not  conducive  to  a  circular  economy.  In  addition,  there  are  large 
differences in data reporting between Member States. 

Source: Eurostat 

Secondary raw materials 

The contribution of recycled materials to overall materials demand is relatively low. Trade 
in secondary raw materials is increasing both in the EU and with third countries. 

In  a  circular  economy,  materials  embedded  in  products  and  components  are  recycled  when 
they  reach  their  end-of-life  and  are  then  injected  back  into  the  economy  as  secondary  raw 
materials.  This  reduces  the  environmental  footprint  of  production  and  consumption  and 
increases  the  security  of  supply  of  raw  materials.  In  the  EU,  the  level  of  demand  for  raw 
materials  exceeds  what  could  be  supplied  even  if  all  waste  were  turned  into  secondary  raw 
materials. Therefore, the supply of primary raw materials will remain necessary.  

On average, recycled materials only satisfy around 10 % of the EU demand for materials, 
in spite of a steady improvement since 2004. For a number of bulk materials, secondary raw 
materials satisfy over 30 % of total demand for materials (e.g. copper and nickel). However, 
for a large number of materials, including almost all critical raw materials, the contribution of 
recycled materials to satisfying the demand for raw materials is still small to negligible. This 
may  be  because  it  is  not  profitable  to  recycle  them,  the  technologies  to  recycle  them  are 

27 A recovery operation where suitable waste is used for the purposes of reclamation in excavated areas or for 
engineering purposes in landscaping. 

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lacking, or the materials are embedded in products kept in use for a long time (e.g. rare earth 
elements used in wind turbines).  

Furthermore, the indicator on trade in recyclable waste shows that the EU is a net exporter 
of several major recyclable waste streams such as plastics, paper and cardboard, iron and 
steel, copper, aluminium and nickel. Trade within the EU of plastics, paper and cardboard, 
copper, aluminium, nickel and precious metals waste increased considerably between 2004 
and  2016,  allowing  economic  operators  to  reap  the  benefits  of  the  EU  internal  market  for 
secondary raw materials. 

Competitiveness and innovation 

The  transition  to  a  circular  economy  increases  investments,  value  added  and  jobs,  and 
stimulates innovation.  

Source: Eurostat 

In  2014,  private  investments  in  a  subset  of  economic  sectors  relevant  to  the  circular 
economy28  are  estimated  to  have  been  around  EUR  15  billion  in  the  EU  (i.e.  0.1 %  GDP). 
The same year there were more than 3.9 million jobs in these sectors, an increase of 2.3 % 
compared  to  2012.  In  spite  of  the  economic  and  financial  crisis,  these  circular  economy 
sectors created around EUR 141 billion of value added in 2014, which represents an increase 
of  6.1 %  compared  to  2012.  Several  EU  funding  programmes  are  available  to  support  the 
transition  to  a  circular  economy,  such  as  the  European  Fund  for  Strategic  Investments,  the 
European  Structural  and  Investment  Funds,  Horizon  2020  and  the  LIFE  programme.  In 
addition, in January 2017 a Circular Economy Finance Support Platform was launched.  

For  patents  on  recycling  and  secondary  raw  materials,  the  data  show  an  increase  of  35 % 
between 2000 and 2013. EU patents for glass recycling represent 44 % of the world total for 
such patents, while the EU’s share is 18 % for plastics and 23 % for paper. 

28 I.e. reuse and recycling activities. Renting and leasing activities can also contribute to circular economy, but 
are for now not included because current statistics may not distinguish with sufficient granularity those activities 
that clearly contribute to circular economy from those that do not. For further details, see the Staff Working 
Document. 

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4.  Conclusions 

This monitoring framework captures, in a concise set of indicators, the main elements of the 
circular  economy,  including  the  lifecycle  of  products  and  materials,  the  priority  areas  and 
sectors,  and  the  impacts  on  competitiveness,  innovation  and  jobs.  It  will  thus  be  a  tool  to 
follow key trends in the transition, to assess whether measures in place and the engagement of 
all the actors have been sufficiently effective, and to help identify best practices in Member 
States that can be disseminated. 

The  indicators  will  be  continuously  updated  on  the  website  dedicated  to  the  monitoring 
framework29.  This  website  also  includes  tools  to  monitor  progress  and  documents  the 
methodologies  for  the  indicators,  data  sources,  definitions  and  publishing  standards.  The 
Commission  will  continue  to  elaborate  the  indicators  which  need  further  development,  in 
particular on food waste and green public procurement. 

A dialogue with Member States and stakeholders will help to further improve the framework. 
In particular, the framework relies to a large extent on high quality statistics that the Member 
States provide to Eurostat. The Commission would also welcome the involvement of all EU 
institutions. 

29 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/circular-economy. 

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