Opportunities and pitfalls for sustainable materials management in European Union law EU materials law examined.

Pressures on natural resources, the environment and human health have increased in the past decades and will continue to rise if no changes will come about in many of our current patterns of resource extraction, manufacturing, product use and waste management. To this end, the European Union aims at transforming the Union’s economy from a linear system into a so-called Circular Economy, which is an economy based on a life-cycle approach. Establishing the right regulatory regime for a Circular Economy is one of the challenges facing the European Union. This doctoral dissertation aims to contribute to a better understanding of the legal conditions that ideally need to be fulfilled in order to enhance the transition towards a Circular Economy in EU environmental law.

The study first analyzes the embedding of the Circular Economy concept in EU primary law and EU environmental policy, whereupon three key laws are identified for the transition.

Next, these laws are separately analyzed in three case studies based on a particular starting point derived from the Circular Economy ideology to determine which aspects of the laws obstruct the transition. Additionally, certain improvements to the policy framework for the Circular Economy, i.e. the 2015 Circular Economy Package, are proposed to address the legal obstacles. The case studies concern: a) the Ecodesign Framework Directive, on the possibility to emphasize material-related aspects in product design and to broaden the law’s scope to non-energy-related products; b) the Waste Framework Directive, on the opportunities to encourage qualitative recycling, which includes a closer examination of the use of harmonized European standardization; and c) REACH, on the differences in compliance between virgin and recycled materials.

Besides more specific recommendations for each individual law, some overarching recommendations to change the regulatory regime for the Circular Economy are made as well.