Cepi statement: Made in Europe’ starts in our forests and recycling system

A ‘Made in EU’ competitiveness model should be anchored in sustainably sourced biomass, high quality recycled materials, and European technological leadership across these sectors.

While other regions rely on coal, gas and other fossil reserves to build competitiveness on cheap energy, Europe can build a more resilient, futureproof growth model around the materials it has in abundance: sustainably managed forests, efficient recycling systems, and the industrial know how that powers them. This pragmatic approach aligns industrial policy with Europe’s bio based, circular strengths and advances some of the Clean Industrial Deal’s original ambitions.

Recent EU policy momentum points in the right direction. The Clean Industrial Deal (CID) set an ambition for Europe to lead the circular economy by 2030, describing circularity as ‘key to maximising the EU’s limited resources, reducing dependencies’ and enabling ‘a more sustainable industrial model that benefits the environment and enhances economic competitiveness’. The CID also paved the way for the updated EU Bioeconomy Strategy to ‘tap the significant growth potential of bio based materials substituting fossil based materials, and related industries’, further cutting dependence on imported raw materials and contributing to EU sovereignty.

Europe already leads the world in circular material use. Paper packaging, for example, is recycled at an 87% rate across the EU, according to Eurostat. To fully convert this leadership into competitiveness, Europe needs a genuinely frictionless single market for circularity. Key enablers include mainstreaming the separate collection of paper and board and ensuring predictable, efficient waste shipment rules supported by digital tracking that facilitates, rather than hinders, intra EU flows.

Because no material cannot be recycled infinitely, Europe’s circular economy also requires a steady flow of new input, such as sustainably sourced biomass. Similarly, ‘fresh fibre’ is essential to keep paper and board recycling systems operating at quality and scale. According to FAO’s latest report Europe’s forest resources, both forest area and growing stock have been steadily increasing since the 1990s, underpinning the bioeconomy’s long term European supply. Within the pulp and paper value chain, around 90% of raw materials are sourced within the EU.

Europe also leads in related technology. In pulp and paper machinery, components and manufacturing equipment, Europe is not only self‑reliant but a global reference, the world depends on European technology and expertise in this area. Pulp and paper producers are also key actors in a broader industrial bio revolution, already representing 6% of the sector’s added value and delivering bio based textiles and plastics, green chemicals and innovative construction products. The proposed Industrial Accelerator Act will accelerate this momentum by promoting production and sales of substances of Union origin derived from sustainable, bio based carbon sources.

Across the real economy, biomaterials are scaling. Automakers are deploying bio based components to reduce weight and lifecycle CO₂. In renewables, the world’s first wooden wind turbine blades were installed in Germany in 2024; wooden PV racking is gaining ground; and lignin, a natural polymer from wood, shows promise in next generation batteries.

Quotes by Jori Ringman, director general of Cepi, said: ‘There is nothing more European than circular bio based materials. If Europe wants to outcompete others on its own terms, it should double down on where it already leads: sustainably managed forests, world class recycling systems, and industrial machines designed and built in Europe. A smart, WTO compliant ‘Made in EU’ approach will give manufacturers the confidence to invest, scale and create quality jobs here at home.

‘Whether made in Europe or made with Europe, minimum EU content rules can reinforce a system that already performs best in class.’