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This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dive Brief:<\/p>\n Dive Insight:<\/p>\n One of CEA\u2019s priorities will be ensuring collection, recycling and demand for electronic waste, of which less than 40% is recycled in the EU, according to the call for evidence. <\/p>\n The CEA could also make changes to extended producer responsibility schemes, criteria that allow waste to be reclassified as secondary raw materials and public procurement criteria in order to \u201cfoster the single market for waste, secondary raw materials and their use in products.\u201d Such laws are gaining steam in the U.S., and at least seven states have EPR laws for packaging<\/a> on the books with compliance deadlines over the next few years.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Act is also meant to support other circularity initiatives in the Clean Industrial Deal, such as the Waste Framework Directive, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation<\/a> and Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation<\/a>, the Commission said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThese initiatives cannot unfold their potential unless the barriers to circularity in the single market are removed and there is sufficient and cost-effective supply of high-quality, verifiable secondary raw materials,\u201d the Commission said in the evidence call.<\/p>\n It is too early for the Commission to speculate on the CEA\u2019s potential impacts on third countries, a spokesperson said in an email to ESG Dive. But the text of the Clean Industrial Deal notes that the CEA could include \u201cmeasures to make recycling of critical raw materials waste within the Union more attractive than their export\u201d to support the Critical Raw Materials Act.<\/a> Additionally, the European Parliament asked that the Clean Industrial Deal\u2019s circular economy provisions include \u201cexport monitoring\u201d of \u201cthose secondary raw materials that are strategic\u201d and to \u201ctackle any imbalance in their supply and demand, including by exploring export restrictions,\u201d in a June statement addressed to the Commission<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n European recycling industry groups have also called on the EU for increased protections for the European market. Plastics Recyclers Europe released a May report<\/a> noting that their industry saw slowed growth in 2023, down to 6%, compared to 17% in 2021 and 10% in 2022. In a subsequent position paper,<\/a> the group demanded that \u201cthe persistent threat of low-cost, unverified imports of both virgin and recycled plastics be addressed urgently, as they distort the market, erode competitiveness and pose a risk to the EU\u2019s circular economy,\u201d according to a press release.\u00a0<\/p>\n An April 2025 position paper on the CEA by the European Recycling Industries\u2019 Confederation<\/a> echoed that sentiment: \u201cThe EU market is being flooded with both imported virgin and recycled plastics \u2026 from third countries with lower environmental and labour standards.”<\/p>\n\n