Ecopreneur.eu report: An overview of circular economy in Europe

In September 2019, the European Sustainable Business Federation ECOPRENEUR (non-profit, non-governmental organization) has released a report on circular economy which aims at providing an overview of the circular economy best practices, current performance, policies, challenges, stakeholders and opportunities in EU member states (EU MS). The goal is to inspire and accelerate EU MS transition to circularity.  The report includes 28 county profiles using a combination of available quantitative data and qualitative information on specific indicators covering various aspects of circular economy, ranging from the waste generated per person to the voting behaviour on EU proposals concerning the circular economy. As far as Hungary is concerned, it is mostly positioned in the middle for all circular economy indicator rankings, showing positive numbers in waste incineration and energy recovery, increasing recycling rates from last year (35%), however the resource productivity is low, while packaging is a clear weakness for the country and EPR (extended producer responsibility) schemes are also quite limited in scope, low valorisation of waste and by-product materials and low rate of packaging recycling impact the overall country performance. Among the recommendations for the Hungarian case, the formulation of a Hungarian Circular Economy strategy and circular economy roadmap with concrete targets can be mentioned, as well as the application of the waste hierarchy by prioritizing waste prevention and reuse.