The transition towards a circular economy is central to global sustainability objectives. The legal implications of this fundamental shift within production and consumption processes have faced little scrutiny to date. Increased "circularity" will require increased innovation, collaboration and emphasis on design and re-design of products and processes to meet sustainability objectives - all processes which innately involve IP issues.
The United Nations (UN) has sustainable development goals, with a target to substantially reduce waste generation by 2030 through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse. The European green deal sets out a strategy to transform the EU economy in line with its ambitions to achieve net-zero carbon emissions, in particular by mobilising industry efforts for a clean and circular economy (https://sdgs.un.org/goals; http://www.practicallaw.com/w-023-7583; https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/communication-european-green-deal_en). National governments are also increasingly looking to regulate production processes in order to encourage the private sector to design out waste within their value chains.
Our article, published in the August 2021 edition of PLC Magazine, sets out key legal considerations for businesses in the private sector that are engaged with these goals, in the journey towards circularity and examines, in particular:
- The concept of the circular economy, the various business models that can help to achieve circularity and current industry practices in the field.
- The legal risks and consequences associated with the adoption of circular business models (including IP, know-how, collaboration, competition, supply chain and contractual risks).
- The regulatory landscape relating to the circular economy, both in the EU and the UK.
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