This report summarizes the key findings of the CIRCULAR IMPACTS project and provides an impact analysis setting out impacts of circular-economy transitions on the macroeconomy and society. The results of case studies conducted within the project are included as are results from modelling done by external parties, accompanied by an overview of the methodologies used. This report thus provides an overview of presently available quantitative evidence on the macroeconomic and societal impacts of the circular economy. In addition, an overview of recent policy development on EU level in relation to the circular economy is provided, as are the key conclusions and policy messages from the project. Lastly, recommendations for future circular economy research are given, with the aim of improving scenario-based impact analyses for the European policymaking context.

This report summarizes the results of the case studies in the CIRCULAR IMPACTS project and derives some main lessons from these case studies. The case studies are on concrete recycling, phosphorus recycling, car sharing, and recycling of batteries from electric vehicles.

This case-study paper focuses on concrete recycling in France as a means of understanding circular-economy transitions in the building-materials sector. The EU, including France, produces large volumes of construction and demolition waste (CDW) per year and aims to increase the re-use of these materials, reducing landfilling and negative environmental impacts. Recycling concrete is seen as a way to contribute to these objectives by ensuring that a portion of this waste is turned into a product with value. Currently, France does not recycle CDW as much as some other Member States. This case study paper carries out a scenario analysis comparing two future scenarios for 2030, providing insights into important environmental and economic impacts of an increased concrete recycling rate in France.

This case-study paper examines future scenarios for car sharing in Germany, analysing drivers and impacts. Enabled by disruptive technological changes, car sharing is an example of a "product as a service" and becoming an increasingly viable alternative to the private ownership of cars. By intensifying the use of vehicles, car sharing has the potential to provide mobility using fewer physical and energy resources.

This infographic provides guidelines to policy-makers, interest groups and researchers who want to explore the potential of circular-economy transitions by conducting case studies. It visualizes the step-by-by step methodology developed within the CIRCULAR IMPACTS project in an intuitive way. It also highlights the most important aspects to consider when preparing such case studies.

This infographic focuses on how the circular economy can be integrated into the European Semester. It illustrates the European Commission's role within the process and identifies obstacles to integration, along with possible suggestions to address these obstacles. Additionally, it provides a checklist for successful integration.

This infographic illustrates the strengths and weaknesses of various methods for measuring the impacts of circular-economy transitions.

The conference "Impacts of the circular economy transition in Europe" took place in Brussels on 5 September 2018, organised as part of the CIRCULAR IMPACTS project. Around 150 people attended the event, including officials from the European Commission, national ministries, the public sector, industry, and NGOs. Ecologic Institute, as project lead, and the CIRCULAR IMPACTS project partners presented their findings on the impacts of moving towards a more circular economy in Europe, one that uses resources efficiently and maintains the economic value of materials. In addition to discussing their insights regarding the policy frameworks necessary for fostering a resource-efficient economy, team members presented evidence on the impacts and potential benefits of moving towards circular-economy approaches in three sectors: electric-vehicle batteries, car sharing, and building materials.

The workshop "Car Sharing in Germany" took place on 8 March 2018, hosted in Berlin by Ecologic Institute. In the first part of the workshop experts addressed the current state of affairs of car sharing in Germany, confirming the dynamic nature of the industry and the difficulties involved in assessing its size and effects. In the second portion of the workshop they focused on future developments as well as the importance of policy for a societal transition away from privately owned vehicles. Ecologic Institute co-organized the workshop as part of the CIRCULAR IMPACTS project and in collaboration with Service Innovation Labs.

The CIRCULAR IMPACTS project website has been updated with an evidence library on the circular economy. The Circular Impacts online library created by Ecologic Institute centralized information related to the circular economy transition. The library helped policy professionals in conducting impact assessments on the transition to a circular economy. It was a useful resource for policy-makers, journalists, scientists, NGOs and anybody else interested in increasing their knowledge of circular-economy concepts. The library formed an integral part of the website and was an important project outcome.

Transforming the linear economy, which has remained the dominant model since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, into a circular one is by no means an easy task. Such a radical change entails a major transformation of our current production and consumption patterns, which in turn will have a significant impact on the economy, the environment and society. Understanding these impacts is crucial for researchers as well as for policy-makers engaged in designing future policies in the field. This requires developing an in-depth knowledge of the concept of the circular economy, its processes and their expected effects on sectors and value chains.

Circular Economy promises a lower resource and energy use, new employment sector and economic growth. However, can an European circular economy fulfill these expectations and what environmental, social and economic impact does a transition to such an economy bear? The project CIRCULAR IMPACTS will answer these questions by collecting and assessing the existent knowledge base. On 27 October 2016, Lucas Porsch from Ecologic Institute presented the goals of the project. The slides are available for download.

CIRCULAR IMPACTS will assist the EU and its policy makers in realizing the transition from its current predominantly linear economy to a circular economy, by establishing a flexible and accessible evidence base with concrete data on macro-economic, societal, environmental and labour market impacts of this transition, and by adding relevant knowledge to that evidence base. For this purpose a web platform will be designed, which facilitates easy access to data repositories and fills up the existing knowledge gap in the European Commission’s impact assessments by mapping the benefits of a circular economy for both environment and economy. Furthermore, these identified benefits should convince member states to implement the required changes in order to 'close the loop' in the context of the European Semester.