The Bureau of International Recycling welcomes the EU's support for recyclers as laid out in their new Circular Economy Action Plan.

The action plan will benefit the European member companies of BIR, which are collecting, sorting and processing wastes in order to produce secondary raw materials. It will also benefit companies providing services to recyclers as well as recycling machinery and equipment manufacturers.

The action plan supports reuse above recycling. For generations, certain BIR members have collected goods for reuse, principally clothing, accessories and footwear. Driving up the quality, durability and performance of goods will naturally also support reuse, repair and refurbishment. Reuse and recycling will co-exist, after all end-of-life goods will be collected into recycling enterprises. As the action plan will deliver clean material loops, increase recycling capacity and get secondary raw materials to market, BIR members should be encouraged of a healthy future up to and beyond 2050 on a climate-neutral continent.