Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

403 Chapter 15: Circular Economy and Waste Circular Economy and Waste 1. Introduction 1 www.eea.europa.eu/publications/accelerating-the-circular-economy (accessed 9 July 2024). The circular economy is a ‘model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible’ (European Parliament, 2023). In striving to use existing resources, materials and products to their fullest extent, the circular economy model is less environmentally damaging than the traditional linear economic model and also promotes growth and prosperity. The traditional linear economic model, and its take–make–consume–throw away pattern cannot be sustained. Through its continued reliance on extracting natural resources and generating significant volumes of waste, the linear model endangers our climate, biodiversity, water resources and human health. The challenge for Ireland is to move to a circular economy as quickly as possible and in doing so meet key European Union (EU) waste targets. EU circular economy strategies recognise the need to accelerate the transition from a linear economic model. In March 2020, the European Commission adopted the second Circular Economy Action Plan (EC, 2020). This plan is one of the main building blocks of the European Green Deal (EC, 2021) aiming to transform the EU into a resource-efficient economy with no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. Figure 15.1 depicts the vision for Ireland’s circular economy model. Figure 15.1  Ireland’s circular economy model Safe and sustainable design Efficient production Sustainable consumption Waste as a resource Raw materials Incineration and landfill S e c o n d a r y r a w m a t e r i a l s Durable products Non-toxic materials Renewable feedstocks Design for recycling Resource efficiency By-product utilisation Standards and ecolabels Product remanufacture Sorted material streams Hazardous substance removal High quality recycling End-of-waste criteria Green public procurement Sharing-economy models Product-service systems Sustainable lifestyles Repeated and intensive use Extended product lifespans Maintenance and repair Reuse and repurposing Longer and better use of products Source: EPA, 2023b (adapted from EEA 1 )