Business

The development of the circular economy requires a transformation in the operating models of companies to provide goods and services with reduced resource consumption. From a business perspective, the new circular economic paradigm offers benefits by decoupling profit from the downside risks of natural resource depletion, pollution and climate change, while also delivering improved competitiveness and responding to changing customer demands.

Assessment

• European companies are displaying signs of adopting circular approaches in their business models, as evidenced by a strong growth in registrations to the European Ecolabel.

• Increased production and consumption of chemicals suggests that the EU is not moving towards cleaner material cycles for its products.

Eco-Innovation scoreboard outcomes

+21%

increase in ecoinnnovation across the EU, with an increasing trend seen for most Member States.

EU Ecolabel certifications

+121%

increase in product certification between 2014 and 2024.

ESG Performance of EU Companies

80.6

is the average ESG performance of EU companies, highlighting their leadership position on sustainability issues.

Production and consumption of chemicals

+8%

after decreasing trends, production and consumption have been rising in recent years.

SMEs offering green products or services

32%

of SMEs in the EU offer green products or services.

Employment in the circular economy

4.3

Million people in the EU are working in the circular economy.

Products evaluated against the French repairability index

1,434 products

Products scored by the French Repairability Index. Smartphones are the product category for which more products have been scored