The European Union's circular economy plan

Printing companies must understand the EU's Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), part of the European Green Deal. These initiatives drive sustainability, impacting businesses globally, even if not EU-based, through customer requirements. Printers need to be aware of reporting and sustainability expectations to manage risks and retain clients.

Understanding the basics of what is going on with the European Union’s (EU) circular economy plans is unfortunately a must for printing companies. It’s annoying to have to bother with it, but environmental sustainability is central to the EU’s plans for the future. That sharpens your customers’ focus on environmental sustainability and you should follow suit.

Printing is one of the few industries that has the horizontal reach and spread to touch every other industry and aspect of civil society. What affects oil and gas producers and suppliers or the construction industry for instance also affects printers. Commercial printers serving an often unpredictable client base need to be aware of the environmental sustainability rules they may be subject to. It’s not enough to consider yourself exempt because you are not based in Europe or because you are a small business. If you serve companies that place product on the European market, you can expect them to have additional service expectations. You need to be up to speed on the reporting and associated work your customers are required to do to comply with Europe’s rules. But it’s not as bad as it sounds, because with change comes opportunity.

It all started in back in March 2020 when the EU set up a transnational Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP). The CEAP is basically a series of sustainability objectives that, taken as a whole, are the building blocks for the European Green Deal. This was also approved in 2020 and is a series of policy objectives for the EU. So far so dry. But less dry is the fact that these initiatives give the European Commission lots of power to drive growth in the EU. The European Commission is the EU’s executive branch, the bit of the EU’s governing apparatus responsible for getting stuff like the European Green Deal, done. The European Green Deal has two goals: make the continent climate neutral by 2050 with a cut to emissions of 55% along the way by 2030. 

Together the Circular Economy Action Plan and the European Green Deal are expected to reduce pressure on natural resources and create sustainable growth and jobs. They will also halt biodiversity loss and ensure that “nobody is left behind” according to Frans Timmerman in 2019, then Vice President of the European Commission.

The rules and regulations the Circular Economy Action Plan is spawning are many. They include initiatives affecting the entire life cycle of products, targeting product design, circular economy processes, sustainable consumption, and waste prevention and management. For printers having an indepth understanding of all of this is probably not necessary. But having a basic awareness of what is coming down the road is imperative for managing future risks to your business. Your customers are very likely to have to meet some stringent reporting requirements and they will be asking you questions about your business and sustainability activities. Be ready to answer them or be prepared to risk losing the work to a competitor who can