Green Transition - Environment

With Europe’s society facing a wide range of environmental challenges, Europe's technology industries offer many innovative solutions for a sustainable, resource- and energy-efficient, low-carbon and increasingly circular economy. Not only do Europe’s technology companies support a high level of environmental protection in their own manufacturing processes, they are also committed to continuously improving the environmental life-cycle performance of the products they supply to clients, whether business-to-business or private consumers.

In order to turn challenges into opportunities, Orgalim advocates for a holistic, forward-looking policy framework at European Union level: one that will contribute to building a competitive market for circularity, in which ever more efficient, digitally enabled products and services can optimise how resources are used throughout the economy. We are convinced that with the right policies in place, Europe can ensure our industries continue to maintain a global edge – driving sustainable growth, competitiveness and prosperity both at home and worldwide.

Scroll down for an overview of our advocacy work in this area - and click here to view all Orgalim position papers on environment topics.

Environmental sustainability

Optimising the circular use of resources throughout the economy makes environmental and economic sense and contributes to renewing EU industrial global leadership.  Europe’s technology industries are firm believers in “doing more with less": from the move to a low-carbon, circular economy, to resource efficiency and sustainable consumption and production. Digitalisation can be an important enabler in achieving these goals. Our work in this area focuses on the new EU Circular Economy Action Plan, resource efficiency, raw material and water policies, sustainable finance and advocating for overall coherence across the EU’s product chemicals and waste policies.

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Environmental sustainability

Sustainable products

Europe’s technology industries have a long track-record in continuously improving the performance and overall sustainability of their products, striving for excellence and providing consumers with competitive and innovative solutions targeted to their needs. Our companies aim to minimise life cycle impacts of products on the basis of scientific evidence, and we support them in these efforts through our work on sustainability requirements, ecodesign, energy labelling, ecolabel – and by promoting the message that clear and consistent policy objectives combined with incentives should be at the core of the EU sustainable product policy framework.

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Chemicals policy

A broad range of chemicals is used in the day-to-day manufacturing operations of the technology companies we represent. Both as a key downstream user-industry of chemical substances and preparations and as major producers and importers of finished articles, Europe’s technology sectors are committed to the safe use of chemicals in products and processes and to the implementation of proper risk management measures. This is why Orgalim supports a chemicals policy framework that is harmonised, workable and enforceable. Concrete issues we follow include the new Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive and the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation.

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Chemicals policy

Waste policy

An effective waste policy is key for the development of the circular economy. Measures aimed at waste prevention and proper end-of-life management can help turn waste into a resource and encourage more sustainable consumption and production patterns. Our work in this area centres around the EU Circular Economy Waste Package, including the provisions on extended producer responsibility and the sector-specific Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) that specifically governs end-of-life management for electrical and electronic equipment in the EU.

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