Overview
The circular economy keeps materials in productive use for as long as possible. Instead of the linear take, make and dispose pattern, products and their parts are reused, repaired, remanufactured and finally recycled, so that what would have been waste feeds back into new production. Less ends up in landfill and less virgin raw material has to be extracted.
This is the thinking behind a whole cluster of EU rules. The Waste Framework Directive sets the overall hierarchy, WEEE and ELV target electronics and vehicles at end of life, the Ecodesign Regulation pushes circular design from the start, and the SCIP database tracks substances of concern so that recyclers know what they are handling.
Circularity is not just recycling at the end. The bigger gains come earlier, from designing products to last, to be repaired and to be taken apart, which is why design-stage rules like the Ecodesign Regulation matter so much.
How the pieces fit
The waste hierarchy ranks options from best to worst, and the circular economy is essentially that hierarchy applied across a product's whole life.
Note: general educational information, not legal advice. Check the official source before relying on it.