INSIGHT by the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
The European Corporate Leaders Group (CLG Europe)’s Materials & Products Taskforce has released a report highlighting the role a circular economy can play in reducing energy consumption.
Business perspectives on energy savings through circular practices offers EU policymakers key recommendations, based on the energy savings of keeping materials and products in the economy for longer, encouraging their reuse and repair, and imposing mandatory recycling measures.
With over a year since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU is faced with energy instability and a cost-of-living crisis. This has prompted a rapid roll-out of measures in the bloc, from diversifying energy sources to a move towards renewables in the medium and long-term, under the REPower EU plan. But a circular economy is a key long-term solution for the EU’s energy and climate challenges, according to the report.
“The war in Ukraine has led to increased energy costs at a time when we also need to reduce our energy use. Our report demonstrates that circular solutions can have a triple benefit: reducing carbon emissions, reducing energy consumption and reducing material use – a win both for the economy and the environment. This will be a key requirement in future European Industrial Policy and will enable us to have a thriving industry, to meet our climate targets, while also respecting our limited planetary resources.”
-Tahmid Chowdhury, Materials and Products Taskforce lead at CISL, Brussels
Current energy policies look to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55%. However, research shows circular approaches have the potential to address the remaining 45% of emissions which stem from material production.
On top of a shift towards renewable energy and phasing out fossil fuels, the EU also plans to cut its use of energy by at least 13% (up from 9% in 2022). But the circular economy will be a key driver for the bloc’s climate ambitions by both reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption.
Drawing on examples from leading progressive businesses in Europe, the report demonstrates how many are already benefitting from this shift to a circular economy – as well as the challenges they are facing.
Saint-Gobain, a global manufacturer of construction materials, launched a ‘Glass Forever roadmap’ in 2017, which aims to increase the proportion of recycled glass in its glass production to 50% by 2025. Not only did this result in reduced emissions, the process used significantly less energy than melting virgin materials.
Insulation provider ROCKWOOL created a closed-loop recycling system, which allows stone wool insulation materials, typically considered waste and discarded in landfills, to be recycled and used as secondary raw material for new products.
“Fostering circularity and decarbonisation in the built environment are two top priorities for us. Introducing greater circularity into our production makes a significant impact. Every ton of cullet, or recycled glass, introduced into glass production saves 1.2 tons of virgin material, whilst the melting process of cullet use 30% less energy than melting virgin materials. These are significant benefits which demonstrate why a circular economy can reduce material needs whilst also lowering energy consumption.”
-Céline Carré, Head of Public Affairs, Saint-Gobain
The report provides six recommendations for policymakers on how to build greater circularity through existing policies:
- Create a clear vision for a new European green industrial strategy
- Create clearer supporting links between energy efficiency and circular economy policies
- Support the development and widespread adoption of recycling technological solutions
- Enable the recirculation of materials through fiscal policies applied across all stages of the product’s life cycle in alignment with existing EPR fees
- Use demand-side policies to increase the demand for circular products services
- Improve policy coherence.
Read the Business perspectives on energy savings through circular practices report
| All opinions expressed are those of the author and/or quoted sources. investESG.eu is an independent and neutral platform dedicated to generating debate around ESG investing topics.
