Europe’s Circular Economy Must Be Built for Workers, Not Just Resources

Brussels wants to double recycling by 2030, but pure resource efficiency targets alone cannot build a fairer and more resilient European economy. In their latest comprehensive analysis, Judith Kirton-Darling, Philippe Pochet, and Laurent Standaert point out that the social impacts of the circular transition and social considerations must not be treated as an afterthought. European policymakers must decide whether to build a system focused solely on raw materials and theoretical efficiency, or one that places quality jobs, workers’ rights, and fair wages at the heart of circular value chains.

Stalled Progress and the Current State of the Circular Economy

No expert or policymaker today disputes the importance of the circular economy. Dwindling resources, a global shortage of critical minerals, the European Union’s drive for strategic autonomy, a significant reduction in the carbon footprint, and more mindful consumption models are all compelling arguments for the shift. However, the problem is that this widespread agreement has not yet translated into a more ambitious, practical approach. The question is no longer whether Europe should strive for circularity, but rather what type of circular economy it intends to build in practice: one driven exclusively by resource efficiency, or one that simultaneously strengthens industrial resilience, promotes the creation of quality jobs, and guarantees social justice.

Historically, European Union member states have implemented circular economy policies quite unevenly, falling well short of Europe’s overarching climate, industrial, and social ambitions. This stagnation is clearly reflected in statistical data: in 2024, recycled materials accounted for just 12.2 percent of total material use in the EU, which represents a negligible increase, barely above the margin of error, compared to the 2010 baseline data. To reverse this negative trend, the European Commission is currently preparing a new Circular Economy Act, which is scheduled to be unveiled in autumn 2026.

The new regulation aims to create a truly functioning single market for recycled materials and to drastically double the bloc’s current circularity rate to 24 percent by 2030. Given the rapid pace of change required by the climate crisis, this initiative must go well beyond traditional recycling and radically address the deep-rooted structural obstacles that have limited progress up to now. The circular transition must thus become an integrated industrial, environmental, and social strategy.

Europe at a Crossroads: Technical Efficiency or Systemic Transformation?

European policymakers face a major political and economic choice. They can choose to pursue a pragmatic circular economy that is merely a minor addition to the dominant, profit-driven economic model, focusing exclusively on resource efficiency and market-oriented solutions.

The other, more difficult but more effective path is to embrace a transformative vision of a completely different, new society, where circularity emerges as an integral part of a much broader industrial and social transformation. While the majority of stakeholders urge systemic changes that transform production, consumption patterns, and entire supply chains, the EU’s focus often remains on superficial, technical adaptations of the existing linear model.

These indispensable industrial changes often seem hindered by the complexity of circular sectors, convoluted legislative frameworks, and new business models. It is fair to ask: what do digital startups in the sharing economy like BlaBlaCar, grassroots reuse and repair cooperatives, engineers fine-tuning eco-design standards, municipal authorities managing local waste, or heavy industry companies producing low-carbon steel from scrap metal have in common?

At first glance, very little. Despite their significant differences, however, to achieve success, they must all face strictly the same macroeconomic challenges: they need stable, quality jobs, crisis-resistant and resilient industrial ecosystems, fair distribution along the value chain, and long-term economic sustainability to operate.

The Situation of Workers and the Role of Quality Jobs

The authors of the analysis emphasize that job quality, workers’ rights, and social conditions must play a central, rather than marginal, role in the debates on the future and reform of the single market. Instead of chasing the lowest possible prices and cost-cutting, market competition must be steered toward the quality of jobs, manufactured goods, and citizens’ quality of life.

This paradigm shift requires transparent data and immediate action on employment, working conditions, occupational health and safety, and fair wages. It is necessary to closely examine how women are affected by the transition to a circular economy, what new types of employment are created in the process, what modern skills will be needed in the future, and how companies support workers during this transformation.

The circular transition must be treated as an unavoidable part of the universal economic and eco-social transition. Contemporary industrial policy and its geopolitical pressure points—such as the stable supply of critical raw materials and energy—are often entirely absent from debates on the circular economy. The same isolation applies to the principles of a just transition: they must become an integral part of political decisions on the circular economy, maintaining a meaningful, continuous social dialogue with workers and their representative bodies.

In practice, this includes consciously anticipating economic changes, ensuring that no region or worker is left behind, and incorporating reskilling and professional upskilling mechanisms. Income security must be guaranteed throughout the transition. Ultimately, a true transformative model can only be viable if it guarantees high-quality employment at every point of the circular economy.

International Trade and Social Standards in Value Chains

According to the analysis, far greater coherence is needed between the EU’s internal circular objectives and the rules of global international trade. Stricter, more accountable frameworks are needed for the flow of waste and secondary raw materials to reliably prevent environmental dumping. Furthermore, unhindered access to strategic resources must be ensured while also guaranteeing fair conditions for workers inside and outside Europe.

As a significant step toward practical implementation, in 2025 the EU began closely monitoring ferrous scrap exports to keep valuable resources on the continent. According to experts, this useful and well-functioning approach should be extended to other key recyclable materials.

EU regulators must focus not only on the physical and chemical parameters of products but must also ensure that social considerations are enforced in industrialized systems. According to the roadmap, by June 2028, the European Commission is required to examine the potential and desirable benefits of adding social sustainability requirements to the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR).

During the next official revision of the legislation—and ideally as soon as possible, according to the authors—considerations regarding quality jobs, specific skill needs, worker health and safety, and the fair distribution of value must be integrated into the mandatory requirements for sustainable products.

Financing the System and the Political Significance of the New Act

The green transition can never be successful if it is not adequately and predictably financed. This is especially true in vulnerable sectors that provide direct social co-benefits to the community. One of the most obvious examples is the reuse and repair sector: these actors do a great deal to help integrate long-term unemployed individuals who are far from the labor market, yet they often face very significant financial and market pressure during their operations.

Strong and transparent public and private investment frameworks are needed to effectively protect these sensitive sectors from unfair international competition. However, state aid must come with strings attached: clear social conditionality must be assigned to investments. This is the only way to guarantee that public funds genuinely create quality jobs, support collective bargaining, respect for workers’ rights, and safe working conditions across the entire circular economy.

The transition to a European circular economy will only succeed and gain true support from society if it brings tangible, positive results to people in their everyday lives. Instead of merely engineering, technical solutions, and efficiency quotas, targeted, continuous investments, strong and enforced social conditions, and the complete and comprehensive integration of the principles of a just transition are required.

Strengthening workplace democracy and meaningfully involving workers in shaping industrial processes is not an optional bypass. The upcoming Circular Economy Act is, according to the authors, an indispensable and unrepeatable opportunity for the EU to finally place the idea of circularity into the true, human-centric heart of the European industrial and social model.

References and Sources:

• Original Source of the Analysis (Social Europe): Europe’s Circular Economy Must Be Built for Workers, Not Just Resources

• Official EU Background (European Commission): Circular Economy Action Plan