Accelerating the transition towards circularity to stimulate the European economy
21/05/2020
According to the report “A Green Recovery Stimulus for a Post-COVID-19 Europe” published by the Jacques Delors Institute, avoiding waste through reuse, repair and remanufacturing offers significant economic stimulus and job creation potential with major environmental benefits.
When waste cannot be avoided, the sorting, recycling or reuse of waste is highly labor-intensive.
Calculations made by the Reuse and Recycling EU Social Enterprises (RREUSE) network show that
traditional reuse centres dealing with multi-materials can create on average about 70-80 jobs for 1000 tons of collected and reused materials.
In fact, the European Commission’s estimates show that reaching 70% recycled waste in all EU Member States alone could create almost half a million jobs across Europe.
In the framework to the post-COVID-19 recovery package, the Jacques Delors Institute stand up for the EU to support initiatives to accelerate necessary infrastructure developments and promote the innovation of alternative materials and new technologies.
