Taking up and expanding on some of the principles included in the Circular Economy Action Plan for a Cleaner and More Competitive Europe, the Federal Action Plan for the Circular Economy (FR, NL) was adopted by the Belgian Government at the end of December 2021 and completed with 6 actions in December 2022. This federal plan sets out actions to move away from the linear "extract-make-consume-throw away" model to a circular economy Taking into account the limits of our natural resources, this circular model is more resilient and better meets the current economic, geostrategic and environmental challenges.
These actions focus on sectors and product groups with the highest ecological footprint and circularity potential. In practice, the measures aim
- to promote the marketing of circular products and services,
- to stimulate circularity in production and consumption patterns,
- to set up the appropriate tools to support the transition towards a circular economy, and
- to assess the progress made.
These different measures also include the following priorities:
- Promoting competitiveness and the creation of quality jobs
The various studies to quantify the economic opportunity that the circular economy would represent in Belgium all point in the same direction: several tens of thousands of jobs created and an economic gain amounting to billions of euros.
- Fighting climate change and biodiversity loss
By promoting the reuse and recycling of consumer products, the circular economy greatly reduces the extraction and transformation of raw materials, which account for half of global carbon emissions. The circular model therefore contributes to combating climate change and the degradation and destruction of ecosystems.
- Becoming less dependent on raw materials supply
As a country with few raw materials, we are heavily dependent on imported raw materials and thus on the volatility of their prices due to their increasing scarcity. Therefore a more efficient use of resources and more fluidity in the recovery and reuse of materials are becoming crucial issues.
- Including citizens in the transition process
One of the aims of the plan is also to enable citizens to take part in the transition towards a circular economy. A better information about the environmental impact or sustainability of the products they consume will help citizens to make sustainable purchases which are planet-friendly without being subject to greenwashing.
This plan is intended to complement the circular economy actions carried out by the Regions whose strategies are listed below:
- Walloon Region: https://economiecirculaire.wallonie.be
- Flemish Region: https://vlaanderen-circulair.be
- Brussels-Capital Region: https://www.circulareconomy.brussels