ETUI-ETUC conference 2016 Panel 9 Laurent Zibell

1. Policy Brief: an industrialised
Circular Economy
New World of Work
Brussels, 28 June 2016
Laurent Zibell, Policy Adviser

2. Circular Economy concept
 Material flows in a loop: after use, the
product is fed back into production (= not
disposed of)
 Preserve value of material items
 Fundamental change in industrial
processes
 Necessary in world of finite resources
(including regeneration capacity of renewable
materials & ecological services)

3. Maintain
Repair
Upgrade
Retrofit
Refurbish
Dismantle
Disassemble
Recycle
Full
product
Module
Component
Raw
material
(long-life)
Product
Economic +
Ecological
Value
+
-
Waste
Information
Entropy
Circular Economy concept: preserving value

4. An industrialised Circular Economy to boost
industrial jobs in Europe
Industrialised
testing,
maintenance,
repair,
upgrade, dis-
assembly, re-
manufacturing,
sorting,
recycling…
Standards +
regulation
Investment in
technologies:
ICT, Robotics,
Industrial
Automation,
Separation
Secure,
affordable,
high-quality
raw materials
Low-carbon,
competitive
energy-intensive
industries
Industrial jobs in Europe
Skills
Tax shift: labour →
raw materials

5. Concrete policy proposals (1/3)
 Standards for:
o automated processing
o Eco-design
o information to customer
 Regulation:
o mandate the uptake of standards
o liability for upgrade / retrofit
o statuses of used items

6. Concrete policy proposals (2/3)
 Internal consumptiontax on Critical Raw
Materials
 Export controls on waste
 Support demand for long-life products
o legal guarantee
o “usage economy”
o targeted subsidies

7. Concrete policy proposals (3/3)
 Education & training
o Eco-design rules
o Quality Assurance
o High-quality manufacturing
 Innovation
o industrial pilots
o networking & business models
 Indicators

8. Consequences on industrial
employment: contradictory effects
 Fewer units produced
 More hours per unit
 More activity in design
 More activity in maintenance / repair
 Market for ICT, automation, robotics
 Mobilisation of EU sectorstrengths
 Activity in dis-assembly
 Lower cost for labour
 Available raw materials
 Competitive and sustainable energy-
intensive industries

9. Thank you for your attention !
 Contact: Laurent Zibell, Policy Adviser
laurent.zibell@industriall-europe.eu
 Policy Brief:
http://www.industriall-europe.eu/Committees/IP/PolBrief/PB2016-03-
CircularEconomyPolicy-EN.pdf