The European Commission’s circular economy action plan of March 2020 is one of the main building blocks of the European Green Deal. The EU’s transition to a circular economy will reduce pressure on natural resources and will create sustainable growth and jobs. The action plan announced 35 actions along the entire life cycle of different product groups. It targets how products are designed, promotes circular economy processes, encourages sustainable consumption, and aims to ensure that waste is prevented and the resources used are kept in the EU economy for as long as possible.

These illustrations show the production cycle of Spanish footwear company Vesica Piscis and its partners. The LIFE project REWEART (a 100% real circular economy process for vegane-organic-recycled footwear) aims at improving waste management in the production of footwear in the EU, starting with companies based in Spain, Italy, and Romania. Better resource selection and the use of new technologies in designing footwear will lead to more resource-efficient recycling and waste management. Since the start of this project 2000 pairs of shoes have been manufactured.