European recyclers have expressed strong support for the "Made in Europe" preference, which puts materials produced in the EU at the center of Europe's industrial and economic strategy, while maintaining open and unfettered markets for recycled materials.
According to Recycling Europe, formerly known as the European Recycling Industries Confederation (EuRIC), an active European preference policy is essential to strengthen the EU industrial base, ensure access to strategic raw materials and achieve the EU target of achieving a 24 percent material utilization rate under the Clean Industry Agreement.
Recycled materials are inherently "Made in Europe"
Recycling Europe emphasized that recycled materials are inherently "Made in Europe" as they originate from waste collected, sorted and recycled in the European Union.
Maria Vera Duran, policy director at Recycling Europe, said formal recognition of this reality would be a simple but powerful tool to strengthen Europe's industrial sustainability. She argued that such recognition would allow industrial policy to be more closely aligned with the circular economy principles already embedded in EU climate and resource strategies.
Incentives preferable to trade restrictions
The organization stressed that the 'Made in Europe' preference should be designed around targeted incentives rather than restrictive trade measures According to Recycling Europe,
