Tuesday

6th Jun 2023

Interview

'Paradigm shift' needed for circular economy

  • Pietikainen says the circular economy requires rules (Photo: European Parliament)

Sirpa Pietikainen is going to buy a new smartphone soon because the applications on it don't function properly and it needs rebooting several times a day.

But the centre-right MEP from Finland has mixed feelings about the purchase.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

“I'm not going to buy a new phone because I want new glass; or because I want new aluminium; or because I'm craving for acrylic. I don't want new aluminium. I want to have a faster, better functioning telephone”, said Pietikainen in an interview with EUobserver.

“Because they need to sell new phones, the lifetime is shorter every year. My life quality is not better now that I'm buying a new mobile phone every third year”, she added.

Pietikainen's criticism of the phone industry's “linear” business model extends to the entire economy.

It is time to move towards a 'circular economy', she said.

Circular economy refers to a system in which materials are maximally reused, repaired, and recycled, and waste is reduced to a minimum.

On Wednesday (17 June), the European Parliament's environment committee adopted her report - "Resource efficiency: moving towards a circular economy".

'Strong signal'

The text calls on the European Commission to present by the end of the year an “ambitious proposal” on circular economy, and to propose a binding target to make the use of resources more efficient by 30 percent in 2030, compared to 2014.

The report is non-binding, but praised nonetheless by environmental NGOs as sending a “strong signal” to the commission, which indicated shortly after taking office it would scrap a legislative proposal on recycling and waste.

Will the commission, which has promised to publish its circular economy strategy before the end of the year, deliver?

It depends on who the commission listens to? Will it listen to businesses that think they will benefit from the circular economy, or to “those unprofitable coal mines”, who argue that new legislation is “destroying my business and the European economy”, said Pietikainen.

“Businesses need to change sooner or later. The longer you wait, the harder it is.”

The current way resources are being used in the economy is unsustainable, Pietikainen wrote in her report.

Paradigm shift

What is needed, is “a true paradigm shift like with Copernicus or Galileo Galilei”, said Pietikainen, referring to Polish and Italian astronomers whose ideas changed how the world is viewed.

“We are not in a neutral regulatory environment … Our regulation is always a reflection of our world view. If our world view has been 'abundant, without limits', our regulation is accordingly. It disincentivises these kind of resource-efficient ways”, she noted.

To counter that, the EU should “abolish all environmentally harmful subsidies” and make sure that EU funding is provided to the most 'resource efficient' projects.

Citizens also have a role to play.

We should eat less meat, buy more locally produced food and reduce food waste. And we should rethink if we really want to own a car.

“We need to change the pattern of ownership”, said Pietikainen, adding that the idea of owning things is “very territorial”.

“It's very deep-rooted in us. My phone is my phone, it's not a leased phone, no one can take it away from me. No matter that I already have three phones - as I do at home - that I don't use because they are all outdated.”

She adds that consumers can only improve their behaviour if the regulatory, legal and commercial environment allows them to.

“Voluntary actions and consumer awareness is important, but it’s not enough if you don't have good products to choose from.”

A case in point is the two 330ml plastic bottles of sparkling water Pietikainen grabbed just after leaving the parliament's committee room.

“I need to drink something”, she said, adding she would rather the parliament installed a water dispenser.

“Your life is not better if you can use every day 10 plastic bottles with water and throw them away. … We have to be aware why we make the wrong choices.”

Being green in the EPP

Pietikainen, who was environment minister in Finland in the 1990s, is not a typical member of the centre-right EPP group, the largest in the European Parliament.

One EP source called her “the greenest member of the EPP”.

“I wouldn't take the credit of being the most green”, she said, adding the 218-strong group has “a number of us who think very much in these lines”.

“I hope it’s gradually changing,” she says of those who have yet to be convinced.

Opinion

Europe’s Kodak moment and the circular economy

If I were a business leader, I would be on high alert to ensure my company not become the cassette tape, correction fluid, or photographic film manufacturer of our time.

Analysis

Final steps for EU's due diligence on supply chains law

Final negotiations on the EU due diligence law begin this week. But will this law make companies embed due diligence requirements in their internal processes or incentive them to outsource their obligations to third parties?

Latest News

  1. Final steps for EU's due diligence on supply chains law
  2. Top EU court rules Poland's court reforms 'infringe law'
  3. Sweden's far-right is most anti-Green Deal party in EU
  4. Strengthening recovery, resilience and democracy in regions, cities and villages
  5. Why Hungary cannot be permitted to hold EU presidency
  6. Subcontracting rules allow firms to bypass EU labour rights
  7. Asylum and SLAPP positions in focus This WEEK
  8. Spanish PM to delay EU presidency speech due to snap election

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us