Circular Economy Transition in the Eastern European Member States

In this study, we focus on four Eastern European Member States – Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia – to explore the policies toward circular economy transition in these countries (within a broader EU circular economy transition context). While most of the existing literature has global coverage, future progress in the area of circular economy transition would likely depend on a country level action. Thus assessment of the regional/local measures, including identifications of the potential economic implications and policy trade-offs of such transition is of a high importance for policy makers. This paper: > Introduces additional sectoral splits to the GTAP 10 Data Base. This includes explicit representation of the primary and secondary production activities for aluminum, copper, iron and steel, and other metals processing. Recycling activity and plastics are also disaggregated in the newly constructed database. Such splits are introduced for all 141 regions of the GTAP 10 Data Base. > Using the dynamic computable general equilibrium model ENVISAGE , develops the global baseline scenario of the material use accounts with the specific focus on four Eastern European Member States – Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia. Climate mitigation policy scenarios consistent with the Paris Agreement targets and the European Green Deal are further assessed in the context of their impacts on the material use patterns. > A set of the additional policy measures (e.g. environmental taxes, subsidies, etc.) geared toward a more ambitious circular economy transition targets (consistent with the EU circular economy action plan) is modeled and explored in the paper.