The European Commission has unveiled a first set of pilot actions to accelerate Europe’s transition to a circular economy, with a particular focus on the plastics sector.
Part of a two-step approach, the package of pilot measures includes, first, a set of short-term actions to support circularity in particular in the plastics sector, while encouraging investment and innovation more broadly. Second, the Commission will in 2026 propose a Circular Economy Act with further horizontal measures that will improve the functioning of the Single Market for secondary raw materials.
Evidence from the Commission’s Joint Research Centre shows that circular solutions can cut the sector’s climate-related emissions by 45%, decarbonise energy use, and improve the sector’s trade balance by €18 billion per year by 2050.
The plastics recycling sector faces mounting pressures: fragmented markets for recycled materials, high energy costs, volatile virgin plastic prices, and unfair competition from third countries. These challenges are already taking a toll, according to the Commission, with reduced capacity use and financial losses for EU recyclers, which threaten the EU’s circularity targets and industrial competitiveness.
As part of the package, the EU executive is presenting an implementing act to create EU-wide end-of-waste criteria for plastics under the Waste Framework Directive. Setting EU-wide standards on when recycled materials are again considered materials for re-use is a key step to establish a Single Market for recycled plastics, simplify administrative procedures for recyclers, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, and ensure a stable supply of high-quality recyclates across Europe. Before final adoption, the draft act is published for public feedback until 26 January 2026.
The Commission is also presenting for vote by Member States an implementing act concerning the recycled content of PET single-use plastic beverage bottles under the Single-Use Plastics Directive. These rules could create new opportunities for plastic chemical recyclers, ensuring that chemically recycled plastics contribute to achieving EU recycling targets subject to certain conditions and in complement to mechanically recycled plastics. A clearer regulatory framework is also expected to improve legal certainty, helping to unlock investment in chemical recycling across Europe.
The Commission is planning to relaunch and strengthen the Circular Plastics Alliance, reinforcing it as a structured and inclusive platform for cooperation across the plastics value chain, where industry stakeholders, Member States and the Commission can jointly identify shared priorities and address key challenges affecting the competitiveness and circularity of the European plastics sector.
To ensure fair competition between EU-made and imported plastics, the Commission is creating separate customs codes for virgin and recycled plastics. This will support enforcement of EU rules on imported plastics by customs and national market surveillance authorities.
The Commission is also announcing monitoring efforts for EU and global markets for virgin and recycled plastics which will inform potential trade measures to ensure fair competition between EU-produced and imported plastics. The Commission will take stock of these measures during 2026.
The Commission will step up support for circular projects, leveraging collaboration with national banks and the European Investment Bank. It will support Trans-Regional Circularity Hubs by setting up a Competitiveness Coordination Tool (CCT) pilot. The hubs will encourage smart specialisation and cross border cooperation to scale up recycling and circular practices.
A public consultation has now been launched with a call for evidence to evaluate the Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD). This is the first step in examining how well the Directive has reduced the impact of certain plastic products on the marine environment and on human health, while promoting a circular, innovative and sustainable economy. The consultation and call for evidence are open to all interested parties until 17 March 2026.
Website on Circular Plastics Alliance
