| Author (Corporate) | European Commission |
|---|---|
| Series Title | COM |
| Series Details | (2014) 398 final (02.07.14) |
| Publication Date | 02/07/2014 |
| Content Type | Policy-making, Report |
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Valuable materials are leaking from our economies. In a world where demand and competition for finite and sometimes scarce resources will continue to increase, and pressure on resources is causing greater environmental degradation and fragility, Europe can benefit economically and environmentally from making better use of those resources. Since the industrial revolution, our economies have developed a ‘take-make-consume and dispose’ pattern of growth - a linear model based on the assumption that resources are abundant, available, easy to source and cheap to dispose of. It is increasingly being understood that this threatens the competitiveness of Europe. Moving towards a more circular economy is essential to deliver the resource efficiency agenda established under the Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Higher and sustained improvements of resource efficiency performance are within reach and can bring major economic benefits. With the Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe in 2011, the Commission proposed a framework for action and underlined the need for an integrated approach across many policy areas and levels. The main ideas of the Roadmap are now developed in the Seventh Environment Action Programme (7th EAP). Moving to more circular economic models promises a much brighter future for the European economy. It would allow Europe to rise to the current and future challenges of global pressure on resources and rising insecurity of supply. Pumping resources back into productive use again and again, cutting waste and reducing dependence on uncertain supplies is a direct route to improving resilience and competitiveness. By helping to decouple economic growth from resource use and its impacts, it offers the prospect of sustainable growth that will last. |
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| Source Link | http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2014:398:FIN |
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| Subject Categories | Environment |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
