Circular material use rate

Roadmap and initiatives seek to accelerate Serbia’s slow transition to a circular economy

Serbia developed a roadmap for the circular economy in 2020, aiming to bring together, connect and promote all those actors whose knowledge, innovativeness and creativity can contribute to a faster transition to the circular economy. This means introducing and using eco-design standards in production processes, and promoting new eco-friendly materials and technologies – all in the context of the new market demands and needs. Aims of the roadmap include providing information about the importance of the transition to a circular economy, identifying the sectors in which circular economy tools can be introduced more easily and recognising the key actors of change. Civil society contributed by promoting an open call for circular design, inviting designers to propose circular design solutions for the furniture industry that promote the sustainability and circulation of products and materials. The circular material use rate in Serbia reached 1.7% in 2021, compared with 0.9% in 2010 (see graph), which shows that Serbia is slowly improving in this field (see also).