Circularity
The Commission contributes to the circular economy by implementing green public procurement (GPP) principles in its goods, services and work contracts and its everyday operations.
Improving waste management and sorting
On the left side, under the heading “Year 2019,” the total amount of non-hazardous waste is displayed as 8 343 tonnes. Below this, a waste bin graphic illustrates the composition of waste: 35% residual waste (shown in orange) and 65% sorted waste (shown in teal).
On the right side, under the heading “Year 2024,” the total non-hazardous waste is shown as 4 908 tonnes. A similar waste bin graphic indicates the updated composition: 20% residual waste (orange) and 80% sorted waste (teal).
Between the two years, a central panel highlights key changes. A red downward arrow indicates a 41% reduction in total waste in tonnes from 2019 to 2024. Below this, a green arrow shows an increase in sorted waste from 65% to 80%.
Overall, the infographic communicates that total non-hazardous waste significantly decreased over the five-year period, while the proportion of waste being sorted increased and residual waste decreased.
One of the Commission's main objectives is to generate less waste and improve recycling.
Non-hazardous waste generation increased slightly in 2023 mainly due to a higher office presence after the Covid pandemic, and remained at a similar level in 2024 as shown in the figure below. Since the Covid pandemic waste generation has fluctuated year to year but is at a far lower level than in pre-Covid years owing to increased teleworking. The 2019-30 waste reduction target has already been met.
The evolution in hazardous waste generation and waste sorting is presented in the figures below. While hazardous waste generation shows a downward trend, per capita residual waste generation exhibits a small rebound but the overall longer term trends are encouraging.
Non-hazardous waste (tonnes)
Evolution of hazardous waste generation (tonnes)
Evolution of residual waste (tonnes/person)
The framework contract for out works signed in 2019 applies the principles of circularity, paying special attention to:
- reusing and repairing construction products;
- improving the construction waste sorting and recycling (the 2024 result was that 81,57% of generated waste was diverted from incineration or landfills);and
- using low environmental impact materials, such as products containing recycled materials (i.e. wall tiles, suspended ceiling plates, carpet tiles) and products with environmental certifications (i.e. cradle-to-cradle certified wall partitions, water based eco-labelled painting, FSC certified wood).
As a best-practice, OIB manages a stock of dismantled and recovered construction materials (mainly in DAV1, NOHE and BERL buildings). In 2024, more than 100 tonnes of construction elements have been dismantled and stored for future re-use at EC premises in Brussels. In the same period, more than 15 tonnes of construction materials have been reused in OIB fitting-out works (including partition walls, carpet tiles, glazing and bike racks), thus contributing to both avoiding waste and reducing the need for new materials.
In 2023, following the obligation to collect organic waste in the Brussels Capital Region, the Commission started a pilot project for the collection of organics in the kitchenettes of buildings L-41, CHAR,B-28. The pilot was extended in January 2024 to CSM1, L-51, L107, MO15, MERO buildings. The increase in waste volume in 2023 and 2024 is due to the return to the office following the Covid pandemic, the opening of new canteens and construction waste due to works in buildings.
In 2024, a project sought to equip each cafeteria with organic waste bins. After an in-depth analysis, a more coherent and systematic approach will be implemented from September 2025 with the deployment of new sorting stations.
In 2024 waste production decreased by 26% compared to 2023, while residual waste accounted for 24% of total waste reaching 2030 targets.
233 empty fire extinguishers were decommissioned by a specialist contractor and added as hazardous waste for 2024.
OIL is making continuous efforts to improve waste management by undertaking 'waste visits' to all buildings and through ad hoc interventions when waste issues are detected through information from various stakeholders (staff, cleaning personnel, etc.). A waste task force will be established and begin operations to monitor and improve waste management in 2025.
JRC Geel: Although the total waste volume increased slightly (by 2,5%) mainly due to higher amounts of segregated recyclable materials such as metal, glass, wood, and plastics (PMD, foil, etc.)—a positive development is the decrease in residual waste, indicating improved waste sorting practices. The increase in waste is partly due to the disposal of cleared "potentially radioactive material"—such as electrical equipment, metal, wood, and similar items—that were previously stored in supervised areas and, following radiological assessment and clearance, are now processed through conventional waste streams.
JRC Geel is highly committed to effective waste management, with a particular focus on waste segregation in line with stringent Flemish regulations. Regular awareness-raising sessions are held during monthly 'What’s up?' meetings to refresh and strengthen knowledge on proper sorting practices. A mandatory hands-on waste segregation training was also organized at the end of 2024 to support this objective.
The non-hazardous waste produced at the Ispra site 2024 increased by 23% compared to 2023, mainly due to the production of scrap metal (+58%) and demolition waste (+219%) coming from buildings refurbishment. Demolition waste mainly comes from the decommissioning activities of Directorate J which has recently increased significantly. It should be noted that waste deriving from demolitions fluctuates significantly in time.
Hazardous waste production decreased 7% in 2024 compared to 2023 mainly due to a reduction of asphalt mixtures (-83%) and used oil (-69%), and a minor reduction of medical waste (-22%) and paint (-12%).
- In JRC Karlsruhe, for the category "unsorted waste" (or residual waste), the German ordinance on industrial waste (Gewerbeabfallverordnung) defines different criteria for waste separation to those applied under EMAS. This consequently leads to different values so those presented here are for informational purposes only and are not intended for comparison with other sites.
For JRC Petten, the waste data is provisional as some invoices are pending for collected waste. Already since 2023 the waste company has not provided the invoices. In 2024 this problem continues with invoices missing. Therefore, hazardous and non-hazardous waste are based on "Weegbonnen", which are estimations and not based on invoices.
The site has made considerable efforts to encourage more timely and complete delivery of waste collection documentation.
- In JRC Seville, the global per capita waste production has decreased by 64% between 2019 and 2024. However, it is important to note that this indicator is significantly influenced by the large-scale removal of items such as archival documents, furniture or IT equipment among others, which may vary from year to year.
Waste generation is an environmental aspect with significant impact. The decrease in 2024 compared to 2023 was nearly 4%. The main factor was the drop in plastic/cans waste (0,98 tonnes compared to 1,29 tonnes in 2023), as a consequence of an Irish authorities initiative plastic bottle/cans return scheme. Indeed, the Grange Social Club collects all plastic bottles and cans on site and the money collected from the scheme is donated to local charities.
Compared to 2023, the total non-hazardous waste decreased or was unchanged in absolute values across Houses (except in Copenhagen), but remained stable or reduced per person in most (Valletta, Nicosia, Budapest, Sofia). Overall, non-hazardous waste saw a decline in tonnes since 2019 across the Houses of Europe, with peaks mirroring office presence levels. Data from Vienna shows a steady decline in the proportion of residual waste since 2019. Past efforts such as replacing capsule coffee machines and enhancing kitchen sorting infrastructure continue to support waste management.
Hazardous waste currently monitored and reported by the Houses of Europe consists of batteries, waste from electrical and electronic equipment, printing devices consumables (toner paint and cartridges) and cleaning products. The usage of these items has decreased due to reduced office presence and progress in digitalisation. Other categories of hazardous waste could be added in the future as system improvement. Spikes in a given year could result from the disposal of waste accumulated over a Covid period, or from office decluttering.
CO2e emissions from waste management
The CO2e emissions associated with waste disposal are calculated based on the the following main categories of waste management processes and waste types:
- Incinerated waste - 1. residual waste, 2.food
- Methanisation - food
- Composting - food
- Recycled/reused - 1. paper, 2. cardboard Recycled/reused - wood, 3. glass, 4. plastic PMC, 5. others
- Hazardous waste - all types
- Landfill - residual waste
Conversion factors are proposed by specialist carbon footprint consultants to convert the mass (by waste type described above) into emissions. The factors are derived from the ADEME Bilan Carbone database.
The evolution of total waste emissions is shown in the figure below and shows an improvement in waste management despite the increase of total quantities.
Emissions from waste management (tonnes CO2e)
'Greening' contracts
The Commission recorded the number of contracts including some additional specific environmental criteria (Figure below: Procedures with some green criteria) and in 2025, after using the European Court of Auditors’ recommended grading scale decided to simplify the collection of data, also in line with the Greening Progress Review discussions, and monitor only the following categories:
- Procedures with some specific greening/environmental criteria: Tender documents with any environmental considerations or having clauses with an environmental impact on purchasing approach including Green by nature (where the primary purpose is “green”, for example construction of a green roof, or consultancy services to improve environmental performance).
- Procedures applying EU GPP criteria: Tender documents applying the DG ENV GPP criteria
Under this approach, data in the figure below indicates that 11% of the total procedures applied some sort of environmental criteria in 2024.
Staff can also access the GPP helpdesk.
Procedures with some green criteria (number)
'Greenness' of procurement procedures related to operations
The figure below provides an overview of the presence of 'green' products in the office supply catalogue, which has accounted for over half the expenditure since 2020, with the overall Commission trend shown in below.
Evolution of 'green' products in office supply catalogue
Site level data is provided in Annex 6, open in this tab.
In 2026 the Commission will further develop its tool for monitoring procurement procedures to facilitate the reporting of Green Public Procurement elements.
As we are moving to more efficient and sustainable practices at the workplace, circular economy has evolved including the role of office supplies or reusing outdated furniture.
OIB took measures in 2024 to reduce the consumption of office supplies and offer almost only eco-labelled items in a new catalogue. Therefore, in 2024, out of 59 offered items, 46 are eco-labelled. In 2019, less than 50% of the items in the catalogue had such a designation. Since 2021, OIB managed to donate over 10 000 binders to schools and NGOs to give them a second life.
Circularity applies to outdated furniture in the Commission also. Upcycling initiatives, such as creating waste sorting stations or water fountains furniture from old office desktops have been developed.
OIB also supports some communities affected by natural disasters. For example, schools in Belgium (2022) and Spain (2024) received some of our unused furniture after these two countries had been heavily impacted by floods.
In 2024, 5 out of 11 new contracts (over 15 000 EUR) encountered challenges in incorporating EMAS related clauses. Those include vehicle donation contracts, child insurance and a grey electricity contract, which will be complemented by a Guarantees of Origin (GoO) contract and another for Power Purchase Agreements (PPA), so that the result will be a contract for electricity that is Green by nature in 2025.
There is a systematic consultation of the GPP helpdesk and inclusion of GPP criteria wherever possible however it was not feasible to report for tenders from 1 000 EUR to 15 000 EUR as they lack of the usual formal workflow.
Although JRC’s core business (e.g. contracts for research studies, freelance services) is different than the GPP priority products - making it challenging to reduce the percentage of non-green contracts - the JRC is a pioneer in putting in place a system to flag procedures that have an environmental dimension through the Public Procurement Management Tool (PPMT). In addition, and coherent with the Green Deal, green aspects are proposed in some contracts even when no specific GPP guidance is published.
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JRC Ispra started to green its contracts and check the application of EU GPP criteria in 2014. To extend the field of application, in 2019, additional requirements applying circular economy principles (circular procurement) were included to contracts that could potentially be “greened” further. Contracts falling in this category are called “special mention” contracts.
In 2024, GPP criteria were implemented wherever they could be applied, i.e. to 100% of the 15 contracts (>15 000 EUR). In addition, 14 other contracts were classified as “special mention” where circular economy principles were applied. These accounted for 70% of the so-called potential “special mention” contracts, i.e. those contracts where it was thought that they could be further greened. The objective in future years is to further broaden the field of application of special mention contracts, i.e. to increase the % of contracts that are actually greened further from the potential special mention contracts. In 2024, data on contracts from 1 000 EUR to 15 000 EUR were also provided, indicating which of these contracts could potentially benefit from greening practices.
To raise staff awareness, the Ispra site GPP Correspondent delivered training addressing GPP and related implementation aspects. These addressed the internal procurement networks: reaching 22 members of staff in 2024. The above-mentioned framework is complemented by the use of the Interinstitutional framework contract of the European Parliament: 'GPP helpdesk for Buying Green'.
- To promote sustainable practices in catering services at JRC Seville, special attention has been given to greening the contracts regardless of their price, such as catering services associated to scientific (and other) events. The success of this practice stems from swift communication channels between the environmental officer and the operational units. Besides, a new framework contract for events set environmental clauses by default.
In 2024 all tenders for the Grange site incorporated GPP. The tender for the provision of facilities management services included a clause where the legal compliance aspects of EMAS will be managed by the contractor entirely, representing a significant innovation for the site.
Supported by training and procurement templates organised by central services, as well as by the inter-institutional GPP Helpdesk, Representations aim to apply GPP to any suitable contract where the market will support it. Examples from the seven Houses of Europe in 2024 include communication and catering services, event organisation, transportation equipment and services, consultancies, installation of LED lighting, electricity supply and office space transformation.
Evolution of IT inventory and recycling
The evolution of main categories of new IT equipment at Commission level are shown in the figure below. The categories show a reduction in all categories other than those that permit mobile working (laptops, docking stations, flat screens and routers).
The reduction in notably larger IT equipment numbers has helped to reduce the embodied emissions part of the Commission's carbon footprint that is associated with IT.
Where possible, Representations donate decommissioned, yet still functioning equipment to local charities or schools, occasionally contributing to international initiatives (laptops for Ukraine, furniture for schools in Gambia); only unwanted or unusable equipment is sent for recycling and reported as hazardous waste. EPLOs return obsolete equipment to their HQ for handling according to the Parliament's recycling arrangements.
Evolution of the new IT inventory from 2018 to 2024 at Commission sites*
Recycling of IT inventory
Three framework agreements with OXFAM, Close the Gap and South Cluster have been in force since December 2023 for a maximum period of 6 years. They are inter-institutional agreements with all other major EU institutions – notably the Parliament, the Council, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors. Until 2021 DG DIGIT managed other contracts for the collection and recycling of IT equipment from Brussels and Luxembourg.
Temporary arrangements were introduced in 2022 and until December 2023. Historically, as indicated in in the figure below, a high percentage of the equipment was sold for second hand use. The lower amount of equipment collected in 2021 compared with other years reflects a transition period during part of which no contact was in place.