IKEA, Philips, Lego, H&M publish circular economy wishlist

Companies write to EU lawmakers outlining three priorities ahead of upcoming Circular Economy Act

IKEA, Philips, Lego and H&M have published a joint wishlist for the EU’s Circular Economy Act. 

The firms were among 12 signatories to a letter to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen identifying three priorities for the upcoming law. 

They called for a “single market for circular solutions” in Europe, based on harmonised definitions and more efficient cross-border procedures and Extended Producer Responsibility systems. 

The letter also said the EU should reform its tax system and introduce economic incentives to make circular business models cost-competitive with linear alternatives – including through circular public procurement requirements. 

Finally, it asked for more emphasis on collaboration between different players in supply chains and the development of finance solutions, such as investment de-risking and the establishment of an EU Secondary Materials Platform. 

“Our businesses are actively implementing, or looking for ways to support and enable, circular solutions to reduce exposure to resource price volatility and supply chain risks, diversify revenue, and achieve high levels of environmental protection,” wrote the companies, who also include SAP, Intesa Sanpaolo, Amcor, Borealis, Tomra, Backmarket, DLL and Brambles. 

“However, the transition to a circular economy in Europe is obstructed by market fragmentation, lack of harmonised policies, and economic instruments that disadvantage circular business models relative to linear alternatives.” 

The Circular Economy Act will be finalised later this year, and the Commission closed applications for its final stakeholder workshop on Friday, in which it will explore the findings from its impact assessments and discuss key policy measures being considered. 

Meanwhile, the European Environment Agency published a briefing on scaling circular business models on Monday.