By Nicholas Hodac, Director General, UNESDA Soft Drinks Europe
At a recent event with the European business community, EU Commissioner Jessika Roswall shed some light on the upcoming EU Circular Economy Act (CEA): ‘The Circular Economy Act must be practical. It must be focused and simple by design. And it must make a real difference on the ground. For companies, this means clear rules, less fragmentation, and better market conditions.’
This is the new approach Brussels needs to be taking when legislating: clear, stable and implementable rules to address real problems. If the European Commission translates this into its upcoming CEA proposal, due in Q3 2026, then the CEA will be a game changer for circularity, especially if it also strongly connects circularity with strengthened competitiveness.
Allow existing EU circularity measures to take effect
The EU Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) have already laid a strong foundation for packaging circularity, including ambitious targets on recyclability, separate collection, and recycled content. For both of these legislations, implementing measures have only recently been adopted and many more are still under development. Therefore, these measures should be enforced and given the time to mature, particularly through the wider rollout of Deposit Return Schemes and waste infrastructure upgrades, which will boost collection of beverage containers for high-quality recycling.
At the same time, sectors like the European soft drinks sector, represented by UNESDA, are currently ahead in advancing circularity, largely thanks to voluntary commitments: UNESDA corporate members have already achieved 100% recyclability of soft drink packaging, or are close to. In addition, 51.7% of the PET used in our plastic bottles was recycled PET (rPET) in 2024. This means that our sector has already exceeded its 2025 voluntary target of 50% recycled PET and the mandatory SUPD targets for 2025 and 2030.
Practical solutions to accelerate Europe’s circularity transition
To drive Europe’s circularity ambitions and help the soft drinks sector make further progress, the CEA should ensure a well-functioning market for secondary raw materials by:
- Supporting the fair access principle introduced in the PPWR as a tool to prioritise high-quality recycling, safeguard fair access to rPET for beverage use, and promote closed-loop recycling in other sectors
- Addressing potential market disruptions with targeted measures that ensure a level playing field between virgin and recycled materials, such as fiscal incentives for investments in recycling facilities or tax credits related to the use of recycled content, as well as lowering the costs of rPET production
- Avoiding unjustified restrictions on imported rPET that could result in increased prices in Europe and discourage industry’s commitment to this valuable material: a broad definition of ‘Europe’ (e.g. EU27+EFTA+FTA partners) and appropriate safeguard mechanisms (e.g. in case of supply, quality or price issues) are necessary
- Recognising the value of recycled aluminium (rALU) in driving circularity by supporting high collection and recycling rates and ensuring access to sufficient food-grade recycled material for the industry
The soft drinks sector supports Europe’s ambition to accelerate the transition to a circular economy in a way that also ensures a strong and competitive continent. We see the CEA as an enabling lever to support sectors that are already leading on circularity, like the soft drinks sector, while helping to close the gap in sectors where progress is still lagging.
If the EU wants circularity to succeed, it should provide the conditions that allow businesses to keep investing in circularity and thriving and that means simple, consistent, sound and stable rules.
