Brussels, 28 May 2026 – Unlocking the full potential of e-waste circularity will be essential for Europe’s clean transition, industry leaders, policymakers and recyclers concluded this week at Recycling Europe’s high-level event “Securing Europe’s clean transition through e-waste circularity”. Discussions highlighted the need for stronger markets, smarter rules, better product design, efficient EPR systems and closer alignment between product and waste legislation to scale circularity and strengthen Europe’s resource security and competitiveness.

Opening the event, Olivier François, President of Recycling Europe, stressed that Europe is at a critical moment for WEEE policy, highlighting that stronger demand for recycled materials, particularly technical plastics, will be essential to make circularity economically viable. Complementing these remarks, Susie Burrage, President of Recycling Europe’s Non-Ferrous Metals branch, highlighted that Europe’s clean transition is also fundamentally a materials challenge, and noted that many of the resources needed to support Europe’s competitiveness and resilience objectives are already present within e-waste streams, stressing the importance of improving collection, strengthening markets for recycled materials and supporting investments across the recycling value chain.

Opening the event, Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea (European Commission), confirmed that the upcoming Circular Economy Act (CEA), expected by the end of September 2026, will include major reforms to strengthen Europe’s circular economy framework, including the harmonisation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, faster development of End-of-Waste (EoW) criteria, improvements to WEEE collection systems, and the transformation of the WEEE Directive into a Regulation to strengthen the EU single market.

During the first panel discussion, Kerstin Lichtenvort (European Commission), highlighted that WEEE collection rates in the EU remain critically low, despite relatively strong recovery rates. She also confirmed that the Commission is assessing possible scope extensions under the WEEE framework, including photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, large industrial cables and data centre equipment. Bruno Tobback (MEP) stressed that Europe is not doing enough to recover critical raw materials from e-waste and described urban mining as one of the fastest and most strategic ways to strengthen Europe’s resource security. He also called for non-prof EPR across the EU, greater transparency and better enforcement, while underlining the importance of building European markets for recycled materials. Representing the home appliances industry, Korrina Hegarty (APPLiA), pointed to the significant leakage of valuable WEEE streams across Europe and stressed that improving collection rates requires shared responsibility across the value chain, including consumers, retailers, municipalities and producers. From the NGO perspective, Fynn Hauschke (EEB), stressed that the revision of the WEEE framework should go beyond collection and recycling targets by integrating stronger waste prevention and reuse measures. He called for dedicated waste prevention targets, obligations for reuse preparation and greater alignment between ecodesign legislation and waste policy. Representing the recycling industry, Tess Pozzi (Derichebourg), emphasised that recyclers have already made major investments in advanced treatment technologies, particularly for plastics recycling, but warned that Europe still lacks sufficient demand for recycled materials. She stressed that quality requirements should not be fixed in legislation and that, if they are, recycled content requirements should be mandatory and aligned in terms of timing.

The second panel focused on recovering critical raw materials from e-waste and scaling Europe’s recycling capacities to support resilient supply chains. Fabrice Mathieux (JRC) stressed that while Europe already has advanced waste management systems, further scaling up recycling capacities for critical raw materials remains essential, alongside stronger links across the entire value chain and policy instruments that support market uptake. Jan Tytgat (Umicore) underlined the importance of industrial scale in metallurgical recycling and warned against “one-size-fits-all” approaches for critical raw materials. He stressed that Europe needs long-term feedstock certainty, harmonised systems and faster waste shipment procedures to remain globally competitive, while also emphasising that refining capacities remain one of Europe’s key bottlenecks, particularly for battery recycling.

Addressing the strategic importance of rare earth magnets, Erick Petit (MagREEsource) warned that Europe remains overwhelmingly dependent on China for permanent magnets and stressed the importance of recycling to secure access to rare earth elements. He called for stronger local content measures, investments and industrial scaling to support Europe’s strategic autonomy objectives. Closing the discussion, Emmanuel Katrakis (Galloo) emphasised that recycling has become a strategic pillar of Europe’s autonomy agenda amid growing geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions. He called for faster intra-EU waste shipments, stronger lead markets for recycled materials and policy measures capable of de-risking investments in Europe’s recycling sector.

The event also showcased innovation projects supporting Europe’s circular transition. Presenting the EU-funded by Horizon Europe SOPHIA project, Yasen Naydenov (Recycling Europe) highlighted digital solutions to improve the repairability, traceability and recyclability of photovoltaic panels through Artificial Intelligence, digital product passports and advanced recycling technologies.

All presentations, photos and additional event materials will be made available here.