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

No one disputes the importance of the circular economy. Dwindling resources, scarce critical minerals, the drive for strategic autonomy, a lighter carbon footprint, more mindful consumption: the reasons are many and compelling. Yet none of this has translated into a more ambitious approach.

The question is no longer whether Europe should pursue circularity, but what kind of circular economy it wants to build: one driven only by resource efficiency, or one that also strengthens industrial resilience, quality jobs and social justice.

Historically, EU member states have implemented circular economy policies unevenly, falling short of Europe’s climate, industrial and social ambitions. In 2024, recycled materials accounted for just 12.2 per cent of material use across the EU — only a slight increase on 2010.

Now, aiming to double the EU’s circularity rate to 24 per cent by 2030, the European Commission is preparing a Circular Economy Act to create a single market for recycled materials, expected in autumn 2026.

Given the pace of change required, this initiative must go beyond recycling and finally tackle the structural obstacles that have limited progress. Europe’s circular transition should become an integrated industrial, environmental and social strategy.

A More Ambitious Circular Economy in Europe

European policymakers face a choice. They can pursue a circular economy that complements the dominant economic model, focused mainly on resource efficiency and market-oriented solutions, or they can embrace a transformative vision of a different society, using circularity as part of a broader industrial and social transformation. Stakeholders call for systemic changes that reshape production, consumption and value chains — yet the focus remains on technical adaptations to our linear model.

These changes are seemingly constrained by the complexity of circular sectors, legislative frameworks and business models. What do sharing-economy start-ups such as BlaBlaCar, re-use and repair cooperatives, engineers setting eco-design standards, authorities managing waste, and companies producing low-carbon steel from scrap have in common?

At first glance, very little. Despite their differences, however, these actors must all confront the same challenges to succeed: the need for quality jobs, resilient industrial ecosystems, fair distribution across the value chain, and long-term economic sustainability. This also links the circular economy to the ongoing debate on the future of the single market, where job quality, workers’ rights and social conditions should play a central role.

Instead of furthering the obsession with the lowest prices, single-market competition must be geared toward the quality of jobs, the quality of goods and the quality of life.

For this, we urgently need more data — and action — on employment, working conditions, health and safety, and wages. How will women be affected by the transition to a circular economy? What kind of employment will it create? What skills will be required, and how will workers be supported through the change?

In short, we need to make the circular economy about people.

Anchoring Social Conditions in the Transition

The circularity transition should be anchored in the wider debate on single-market reform and seen as part of Europe’s broader economic and eco-social transition.

Industrial policy and its highly dynamic geopolitical pressure points — the supply of raw materials, energy and more — remain absent from many discussions within circular economy circles. The same applies to the just transition: its principles must become an integral part of circular economy policy, not an afterthought, including meaningful social dialogue with workers and their representatives. This means anticipating change, ensuring that no worker or region is left behind, and embedding mechanisms for reskilling, upskilling and income security throughout the transition. It also requires strong workers’ rights, high-quality jobs, safe and healthy working conditions, and fair wages across all circular value chains. Ultimately, if the ambition is truly to build a transformative model, the circular economy must deliver quality jobs.

Greater coherence is also needed between internal circularity objectives and international trade. We need stronger rules on waste and secondary raw-material flows to prevent environmental dumping and secure access to strategic resources, while ensuring fair conditions for workers and communities both within and beyond Europe. In 2025, the EU began monitoring exports of ferrous scrap to help retain this valuable resource; that approach should be extended to other recyclable materials.

Ambitious objectives, bold investment, strong social conditions and real democratic participation at work: these four pillars can make circularity a credible and politically viable foundation for a reformed single market.

EU regulators must ensure that products are suitable for the industrialised circular economy, but also follow through on social considerations. By June 2028, the European Commission is due to examine the potential benefits of including social sustainability requirements within the scope of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). In the next revision — but ideally sooner — social considerations such as quality jobs, skills needs, health and safety, and value distribution must form part of the requirements for sustainable products.

The transition also needs to be adequately funded, particularly in sectors that provide social co-benefits. One example is re-use and repair operators, which help integrate workers who are distant from the labour market, often while operating under considerable financial strain. Strong public and private investment frameworks are needed to shield the sector from unfair competition and market pressures. Such investment must come with clear social conditionalities, ensuring that public support translates into quality jobs, respect for workers’ rights, collective bargaining, and safe and healthy working conditions across the circular economy.

To build a transformative circular economy, the role of workers must be recognised across all sectors and business models, and workplace democracy must be strengthened. This includes ensuring meaningful social dialogue, collective bargaining, and worker participation in shaping industrial change.

The transition to a European circular economy will only succeed, and win acceptance, if it delivers for people. That will require more than technical fixes: it calls for sustained investment, strong social conditionalities, and the full integration of just transition principles.

By putting workers, job quality and social dialogue at its centre, Europe can build a circular economy that is not only environmentally effective but also fair, resilient and politically sustainable. The upcoming Circular Economy Act is a much-needed opportunity to place circularity at the heart of Europe’s industrial and social model.