Construction products represent some of the highest energy and carbon intensive products on the EU market, averaging to a carbon footprint of 250 million tonnes every year. In addition to CO2 emissions, construction products require 1.6 billion tonnes of raw materials, representing half of the EU’s consumption, and at end of life a third of EU’s waste generated annually1.
Considering that the most effective way to bring down embodied carbon in buildings is through materials, the CPR represents the main legislative instrument to supply decarbonised, circular and toxic-free construction materials to the EU market. This is all the more important since Member States are and will increasingly set limits to the climate impacts of buildings as part of national building policies.
Moreover, acknowledging that circularity and the effective use of secondary materials is a key pillar towards decarbonisation, a revised CPR is a critical opportunity to bridge the gap between fragmented product and waste legislation to deliver on the joint objectives of the European Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plan.