EU-Definition: Repair, re-use and recycle!

Every European consumes on average 14 tonnes of raw materials per year. And produces, every year, five tonnes of waste. And yet this waste, these products and these materials could be re-used, repaired or recycled. This is the principle of the circular economy, a concept promoted by Parliament. The aim is to move away from the linear model that’s been predominant since the industrial revolution. It’s time to break with the ‘take-make-use-dispose’ pattern of growth. In its place we’re to have a circular economy where the lifecycle of products is extended to reduce the use of raw materials and the production of waste. Raw materials, design, production or remanufacturing, distribution, consumption, use, reuse or repair, collection – residual waste leaves the cycle – and recycling of what can be recycled in order to reinsert these raw materials at the beginning of this new, endless cycle.