The European Commission’s Circular Economy Package recognises the role of innovation and new technologies in improving production and consumption patterns. Digital solutions can be key enablers for the transition towards the circular economy, encouraging better use of resources and increasing the efficiency of processes. They can provide knowledge on materials and behaviours and facilitate partnerships between different stakeholders, helping to promote a joined-up approach. In order to harness their full potential, it is essential to remove obstacles to their uptake and ensure that EU policies provide an adequate framework for action.

Speakers at this Policy Dialogue discussed how digitalisation and innovative technologies can contribute to the transition towards the circular economy and how EU policies could support this aim. The event served as a launch for a new EPC Task Force ‘Digital Roadmap for a Circular Economy’, which is open to interested EPC members. The Task Force will look at the linkages between digitalisation and the circular economy, the opportunities offered by new technologies, as well as the barriers, with a view to drawing up a roadmap for action that can boost the synergies between the two.

Speakers included: Annika Hedberg, Senior Policy Analyst at the European Policy Centre (EPC), Aurore Maillet, Member of Cabinet of the European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Aire Rihe, Adviser, Department of Environmental Management, Ministry of the Environment of Estonia, Carsten Wachholz, Senior Policy Officer for Resource Conservation and Product Policy at the European Environmental Bureau, Helen Versluys, Expert for Environment at Agoria, Sigrid Linher, Director of Energy & Environment at Orgalime