4.4 Circular use of materials

This briefing covers circular material use in the EU as approximated by the Circular Material Use Rate (CMUR). This measures the extent to which recycled materials are used in the economy, thereby replacing primary raw materials and reducing their extraction. As it is limited to material recirculation, the CMUR figure should always be considered alongside other metrics covering additional circularity objectives, including the minimisation of resource use and the strive for clean material cycles. Moreover, the CMUR only considers the quantity of recycled materials, not the quality of recycling processes (see briefing 4.3 Waste recycling).

Key policies

The circular economy action plan (2020) states that ‘the EU needs to accelerate the transition towards a regenerative growth model that gives back to the planet more than it takes, advance towards keeping its resource consumption within planetary boundaries, and therefore strive to reduce its consumption footprint and double its circular material use rate in the coming decade.' Furthermore, the recently-adopted Clean Industrial Deal includes, as a KPI, the increase of the EU’s CMUR to 24% by 2030.

Policies increasingly address recycled content and recycling capacity (e.g. the Single Use Plastics Directive, the Batteries Regulation and the Critical Raw Materials Act).

Past trends (10-15 years)

Trends/developments show a mixed picture

Although the EU’s CMUR has increased slightly in the past decade — from 10.7% in 2010 to 11.8% in 2023 (Figure 1)— it is still considered low. This positive trend is explained mainly by increases in the amount of waste recycled as domestic material consumption has remained largely stable. Non-metallic minerals account for more than half of total material consumption (Figure 2) and their CMUR has decreased since 2010. CMURs increased for biomass, fossil-based materials and metals. CMURs for various material groups differ significantly: it grew to almost 25% for metal ores in 2023 yet only slightly above 3% for fossil materials. This range reflects the different nature of materials and how they are used. For instance, metals are technically easier and economically more attractive to recycle and feed back into the economy, while fossil-based materials are mostly burned for energy.

Outlook (10-15 years)

Trends/developments show a mixed picture

To increase Europe’s overall CMUR, recycling needs to increase, material use needs to decrease or both must happen. Recent trends around recycling and material use show stagnation. This potentially indicates that the 'low-hanging fruits' for recycling have already been harvested, and that there is an absence of targets and dedicated policies to reduce material use at the EU level. Given this situation, advancements in the CMUR are unlikely in the near future.

Nevertheless, targets have been set for recycling rates and recycled content (e.g. for critical raw materials) for a number of waste streams, offering incentives for recycling; however, waste that significantly influences the CMUR, such as mining waste, is not addressed by these targets. Beyond waste, circular economy policies are rather new (e.g. the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation) but their imminent implementation is expected to drive the CMUR upwards. Other policies, such as those related to climate change, should reduce fossil fuel use — with a positive, if limited, impact on the CMUR.

Prospects of meeting policy targets 2030/2050

2030: Largely not on track to meet targets

To double the CMUR by 2030, the EU will need to increase the headline metric from 11.2% (reported for 2020) to 22.4%. This is unlikely to happen, considering that the CMUR only increased by 1.1 percentage points from 2010 to 2023, with stagnation since 2017. Moreover, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) predicts increasing demand for materials in the EU by 2030. This increase in demand is important because recycling alone will not allow the EU to achieve its target; reduced material use is also required. Reducing the use of large material groups like non-metallic minerals has greater potential for increasing the CMUR. However, since material extraction has different environmental impacts (Figure 2), measures should also focus on reducing fossil fuel and metal consumption, as well as making biomass production more sustainable to reduce environmental pressures.

2050: No specific policy targets

Robustness

Data on the CMUR are based on reported statistics for recycling, domestic material consumption (DMC) and trade provided to Eurostat; they are considered robust. Overall, the assessment of outlooks and the prospects of meeting policy targets/objectives are largely based on expert judgement. The CMUR indicator would benefit from further development to better take into account the environmental aspects of different material groups and waste quality aspects.

Charts/maps

Figure 1. Trends in circular material use rates, by material

Figure 2. Amount (left) and environmental footprint (right) of materials consumed in the EU-27, 2022