On February 12th 2026, the Circular Cities & Regions Initiative (CCRI) organized a stakeholder dialogue in Brussels to present their policy recommendations in view of the Circular Economy Act and discuss about them.
Focus on the CCRI and the Circular Economy Act
The CCRI is a European Commission’s initiative, promoted by the DG for Research and Innovation, aimed at straightening the implementation of the circular economy in European cities and regions. Initially funded under Horizon 2020 and later through Horizon Europe, the initiative contributes to the achievement of the Green Deal goals, including climate neutrality by 2050, as well as the Bioeconomy Strategy. By promoting the transition to a circular economic model, the EU seeks to reduce pressure on natural resources, stimulate sustainable growth, and create new jobs.
The Circular Economy Act, scheduled for adoption in 2026, aims to create a genuine single market for secondary raw materials by increasing the availability of recycled materials and encouraging their use within the European Union. With this new legislation, the EU intends to strengthen and expand existing measures to accelerate the transition towards a more resource-efficient economic model, capable of reducing waste generation and contributing to climate neutrality.
CCRI Policy Recommendations
In light of the forthcoming adoption of the Circular Economy Act, the CCRI has developed six policy recommendations, which were presented and discussed during the event. These recommendations are based on evidence collected by the CCRI Coordination and Support Office between 2022 and 2025 and are designed to support the implementation of the circular economy at local and regional levels. The aim of the meeting was to gather feedback from stakeholders, which will directly contribute to the preparation of the Circular Economy Act.
The six recommendations focus on:
- Leveraging public procurement to drive circular markets
This includes introducing Green Public Procurement criteria, rewarding quality and circular performance rather than price alone, adopting life-cycle costing (LCC) as a standard method, and investing in knowledge and capacity-building for public buyers.
- Transforming Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) to incentivise circular design and waste prevention
This involves linking EPR contributions to eco-design requirements, using the Digital Product Passport, and allocating more resources to prevention and reuse, not only recycling.
- Reforming end-of-waste and the waste hierarchy to enable circular material use
By defining harmonised criteria to facilitate the use of secondary raw materials and reduce regulatory barriers between Member States.
- Boosting demand for secondary raw materials through market incentives
By introducing mandatory minimum recycled content requirements in specific products, alongside targeted market incentives.
- Boosting collection and material recovery of electrical and electronic waste (WEEE)
By reinforcing collection systems, promoting design-for-disassembly requirements, and ensuring safe and adequately funded treatment processes.
- Scaling circularity through regional and transnational cooperation
By strengthening administrative capacity, financial instruments, and interregional collaboration to deploy circular solutions at scale.
The CCRI Coordination and Support Office first presented each recommendation and then opened the floor to questions, comments, and feedback from stakeholders. Among the contributions received, participants highlighted the need to accelerate harmonization across Member States. In particular, regarding the third recommendation, it was noted that different Member States currently apply varying conditions for waste-related criteria. A possible initial solution discussed was the adoption of regional-level “end-of-waste” criteria definitions to facilitate the implementation.
The multi-stakeholder dialogue organized by the CCRI represented a key moment of exchange ahead of the adoption of the Circular Economy Act. The event provided local and regional authorities, along with other stakeholders, with a concrete opportunity to shape EU circular economy policies by bringing forward real territorial needs and priorities. The feedback collected will contribute to shaping the new legislative framework, which represents a strategic opportunity to transform European territories and develop measures capable of accelerating the EU’s transition towards a circular, resilient, and climate-neutral economy.