The Circular Economy in 2021 The value chain will continue to progress on design for recycling this year â but needs to continue to build cross-industry alignment and will look to regulators to provide a supportive landscape. Tim Sykes surveys the key points on the circularity agenda this year. Though we all found ourselves grappling with the challenges of COVID, last year was a busy one in the march toward a circular economy in Europe. The Circular Economy Action Plan 2.0 was published by the European Commission in March 2020, as a cornerstone of the European Green Deal. In parallel we saw more and more packaging designed for recycling in traditionally hard-to-recycle formats and applications. In the crucial arena of flexibles the CEFLEX consortium published its landmark âDesigning for a Circular Economyâ guidelines in June. Meanwhile, industry extended the functional boundaries of recyclable packaging with a series of product launches, from mono-polyolefin films tackling increasingly challenging applications to barrier papers.