Circular economy: potential for trade between the EU and China

The EU is seeking greater cooperation in international trade toward its goal of a circular economy. In bilateral trade agreements, which regulate around 40 percent of the EU’s total trade volume, the circular economy has so far rarely been explicitly mentioned. However, there is great potential with trading partners such as China, especially for plastics and textiles. This is according to the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) in a policy briefing published yesterday.