On Thursday 25 April, the European Commission announced the adoption of a joint roadmap with China for cooperation on the circular economy. This sets out the actions that the EU and China will take to implement the EU-China Memorandum of Understanding on the circular economy in 2024.
“Closer and continuous engagement with China is key to achieving not only our circular economy but also other shared environmental ambitions”, said EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius in a statement.
The actions outlined in the roadmap focus on plastics, including the ongoing negotiations for a global plastics treaty (see EUROPE 13190/14), but also on battery value chains and remanufacturing.
The roadmap was agreed on the sidelines of the Global Circular Economy Forum and will be discussed at the next high-level bilateral circular economy dialogue.
A first workshop on the circular economy for plastics in the EU and China is planned for May 2024 and will be followed by workshops on battery value chains and remanufacturing. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)