June 05 20
Industry

T

EU INVESTS 10 BILLION IN CIRCULARITY PROJECTS

The post-pandemic recovery strategy sponsored by the European Commission, the European Green Deal, predicts the creation of twenty new jobs for every thousand tonnes of textile materials sent for recycling. The programme was unveiled last week and has earmarked up to 10 thousand million euro to promote circularity in the industry, estimating the creation of 120 thousand new jobs in the textile sector over the next fifteen years.

Circularity is, therefore, seen as the major mechanism for the recovery of the textile sector in a post-covid-19 phase, but is also applied by the European Commission to other sectors, aligning the common recovery policy closely with the Green Deal’s goals. “We need a more resilient economy, better equipped for digitalization and, above all, greener”, stated Virginijus Sinkevicius, European Commissioner for the Environment.

The project includes measures to decarbonize the energy sector and promotes clean mobility.

The Commission considers that circularity is essential for the recovery, providing “remarkable economic opportunities and jobs”. Over the past fifteen years, the direct employment generated by waste management increased by 35% up to 1.15 million jobs.

Currently, recycled materials represent merely 12% of the total consumption within the EU – with plastics providing a stark picture: barely reaching 6%. The document was formally presented by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen (in the photo).

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