Circular Economy: Commission kicks off initiatives to accelerate the transition and prepare the ground for the CEA in Q4/2026

Following up on our earlier communications, we confirm that the European Commission has today announced the launch of several initiatives to accelerate the EU’s transition to a circular economy and prepare the ground for the Circular Economy Act, expected in 2026. Please find the Commission press release here

The initiatives adopted today include

• modified rules regarding waste shipments, i.e., the launch of a digital waste shipment system (DIWASS) and launch of a public consultation on harmonising the classification of certain wastes (“green listed waste”).
• an evaluation of the EU’s electronic waste legislation.

Besides, new rules to improve recycling efficiency and material recovery from waste batteries are announced to be published in the next days, and today’s Clean Industrial Strategic Dialogue on Circularity is said to kick off a public consultation with stakeholders and call for evidence “that will be launched soon”.

1. Proposals regarding the digitalisation and classification of waste shipments:

• The Commission announced to implement a Digital Waste Shipment System (DIWASS): This is to enable companies to move from paper to digital procedures for shipping waste across the EU single market, reducing administrative burden and contributing to competitiveness. From 21 May 2026, digital systems will fully replace paper procedures, simplifying operations, improving traceability, and curbing illegal shipments. By digitalising these procedures, waste should be recycled at the most efficient facilities across Member States. Please see the proposals here:

• News item on Digital Waste Shipment System
• Implementing Regulation on the digitalisation of waste shipments procedures
• Annex to the Implementing Regulation on the digitalisation of waste shipments procedures

Content wise, this system should simplify waste shipments between Member States, ensuring that waste is recycled at the best facilities in the EU. The digital system is to strengthen markets for secondary materials and support the transition to a competitive circular economy in the EU. It also aims at improving traceability and address illegal waste shipments. DIWASS will serve two key functions, as required by the Regulation:  (1) to act as a central system accessible directly by competent authorities and economic operators currently without digital tools, and (2) to function as a central hub, enabling secure exchange of information and documents between this central system and local systems operated by certain Member State authorities, and commercial software used by businesses.

To be noted that the Commission states that it will continue developing DIWASS, including preparing technical documentation and user instructions by the end of 2025.

• In parallel, the Commission launched a public consultation on harmonising the classification of certain waste types (so-called “green-listed” waste) to facilitate their shipments across borders. The consultation is open until 31 October 2025 and the Commission consultation questionnaire is available here:

Public Consultation on classification of waste to facilitate their shipments for recycling in the EU

2) Evaluation of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive

Simultaneously, the Commission published an evaluation of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive.

In general, good progress has been made on the environmentally sound handling and proper treatment of all types of waste electrical and electronic equipment in the EU. The amount of WEEE collected increased significantly between 2012 and 2021.

However, the evaluation identified five shortcomings of the Directive; related to its scope, collection of WEEE, recovery of critical raw materials (CRMs), harmonisation in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, and treatment requirements across the EU.

• Scope of the Directive: The current scope does not adequately address new CRM-rich waste streams from renewable energy and digital technologies, such as wind turbines, which will reach the end of their lifecycles and be disposed of in the coming decades.
• Collection of WEEE: In 2022, only Bulgaria, Latvia, and Slovakia met the 65% collection target of WEEE, based on the amount placed on the market in the previous three years. Economic factors, illegal trade, lack of infrastructure, and low public awareness were barriers to reaching the collection target. Additionally, differing interpretations and calculation methods further complicated collection efforts.
• Recovery of CRMs: Low collection of WEEE results in a lost opportunity to recover valuable materials, in particular critical raw materials such as copper, rare earth elements, gallium, germanium or tungsten. Additionally, the current recycling targets in the Directive did not effectively encourage the recovery of secondary raw materials.
• Lack of harmonisation of EPR schemes: The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a principle that obliges manufacturers to manage and cover product end-of-life costs right from the design phase. The evaluation noted a fragmented implementation of EPR schemes across the EU and gaps in the enforcement of EPR obligations, particularly concerning online sellers.
• Inconsistent treatment requirements: Although progress has been made in environmentally sound handling and proper treatment of WEEE, only about 23% of recycling facilities in the EU implement high-quality treatment standards. Improving the quality of recycling could help retrieve greater volumes of valuable secondary raw materials.
• Feedback from today’s dialogue, the consultations, and the WEEE Directive evaluation is to guide the development of the Circular Economy Act and advance the EU’s shift toward a circular economy. In addition, later this week, the Commission intends to adopt new rules to improve recycling efficiency and the recovery of materials from batteries.

Further consultation with stakeholders is announced to be undertaken through a public consultation process.

• Relevant links:

• • News item on evaluation of the WEEE Directive
  • Staff Working Document on the evaluation of the WEEE Directive
  • Executive summary on the evaluation of the WEEE Directive
  • Support study for the evaluation of the WEEE Directive
  • Public consultation on WEEE Directive (closed)
  • Eurostat – Waste statistics – electrical and electronic equipment