Despite a growing ecosystem of circular economy (CE) initiatives across Europe, private investment remains limited. High upfront costs, complex regulations, and a lack of visibility continue to hold back many promising projects.
To address this, the RESOURCE project has published a Policy Brief outlining 10 targeted recommendations. Developed through work in the Aragon region and shaped by inputs from startups, investors and policymakers, these proposals offer a roadmap to foster investment-ready ecosystems and accelerate Europe’s transition toward circularity.
From Barriers to Actionable Solutions
The Policy Brief highlights persistent obstacles: investor uncertainty, fragmented regulations, lack of incentives, and poor access to local resource data. To overcome them, RESOURCE calls for coordinated action at both EU and national/regional levels.
Recommendations at EU level
- Support service-based and functional economy models: Encourage circular business models such as leasing, pay-per-use, or product-as-a-service through public procurement and public-private partnerships.
- Develop standardised EU-wide circularity metrics: Create clear and comparable indicators—similar to carbon scores—to guide consumers, improve transparency, and build investor trust.
- Incorporate environmental performance into corporate valuations: Use tools like climate dividends to integrate circular impact into financial assessments, helping direct capital toward low-impact business models.
- Fund territorial diagnostics and mapping platforms: Provide regions and municipalities with tools to identify local circular resources, synergies, and investment opportunities.
- Establish a “Circular Valley” innovation hub: Concentrate expertise, infrastructure, and financing to support circular scale-ups, reduce risk, and showcase viable models.
- Reinforce EU communication and awareness strategies: Launch campaigns targeting citizens, investors and policymakers to raise the profile of circular business cases and support long-term market confidence.
- Create a European high-level expert group on circular economy: Structure and disseminate evidence-based recommendations, improve cross-sector coordination, and anchor CE strategies in credible data.
Recommendations at national and regional level
- Introduce tax incentives for circular actors: Reward companies adopting certified circular practices and offer fiscal benefits to investors supporting CE ventures.
- Mandate Life Cycle Assessments in permitting processes: Use LCA as a standard requirement in construction, industry and procurement to prioritise low-impact, resource-efficient projects.
- Clarify and harmonise regulations around waste and secondary materials: Remove administrative bottlenecks by aligning definitions and simplifying procedures across jurisdictions to enable circular innovation.
A Practical Tool for Policy and Investment Communities
These recommendations reflect the challenges and needs identified during the RESOURCE project—particularly through workshops co-organised with InvestCEC and EBN, and direct engagement with CE entrepreneurs and support organisations.
They offer a strategic yet operational guide for public authorities, investors and ecosystem builders ready to take the circular transition to the next level.