Facilitating the potential of permanent materials in EU circular economy

• The EU Youth Test at the EESC was applied to this opinion. Human Development Research Initiative (HDRI) was chosen by a group of interested youth organisations to represent all of them during the opinion-making process.
• This opinion is part of the EESC pilot "Enlargement Candidate Members (ECM)" where representatives from North Macedonia will take part in the study groups and in the Section meeting.

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The EESC:

1. recognises the crucial role of permanent materials in enabling a genuine circular economy, particularly in packaging, and calls for their explicit recognition in EU legislation;
2. supports the EU’s ambition to achieve a 90% separate collection rate for packaging waste by 2030, emphasising that advanced and well-funded collection, sorting and high-quality recycling systems are essential to maximise material retention and enable closed-loop recycling for permanent materials;
3. calls for the strengthening and harmonisation of extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes across Member States. This includes the enforcement of eco-modulated fees based on transparent and consistent criteria, proportional fee structures, and the ring-fencing of EPR revenues for reinvestment into the same material stream;
4. notes the need for prioritised investment in modern infrastructure for the separate collection, sorting and recycling of packaging waste. It stresses that additional support should focus on lower-performing regions or those with limited investment capacity, ensuring that all Member States can meet circular economy objectives;
5. recommends a comprehensive EU-wide assessment of citizens’ recycling behaviour to identify gaps, barriers and best practices. Based on this assessment, the EESC calls for measures to strengthen consumer participation in the separate collection of packaging waste, recognising that household sorting is the essential first step of effective recycling;
6. emphasises the importance of a socially sustainable transition to a circular economy, urging early anticipation of labour-market impacts. It calls for guaranteed access to up-skilling and re-skilling opportunities to support smooth job-to-job transitions so workers can fully participate in and benefit from the emerging circular economy;
7. advocates for stronger social dialogue and collective bargaining at all levels, including within companies, to ensure workers are informed, consulted and involved in the shift towards circular business models.