Spain and the EU strengthen the circular economy agenda: new PEMAR 2025-2035 and new measures on plastics

The end of 2025 has been marked by a new regulatory and strategic push in the field of circular economy and waste management at national and European levels.

On the one hand, the Council of Ministers has approved the National Framework Plan for Waste Management 2025-2035 (PEMAR), which sets the guidelines for waste policy in Spain for the next decade. On the other hand, the European Commission has published a Communication on a first pilot to accelerate the circularity of plastics, conceived as the prelude to the future EU Circular Economy Law. Both initiatives share a common goal: to move towards more circular production and consumption models.

New roadmap for waste policy in Spain

PEMAR 2025-2035 is configured as the planning instrument that will guide waste policy in Spain during the period 2025-2035. The plan is aligned with current European and national regulations, and reinforces the waste hierarchy, insisting on separating collection at source and improving monitoring through environmental indicators.

The document is structured in 26 chapters (16 of which refer to specific waste streams, such as municipal waste, packaging, WEEE, construction and demolition waste, used oils or non-packaging single-use plastics), as well as incorporating guidelines for the preparation of regional plans and local entity programs.

The plan includes provisions on waste shipments to landfills, contaminated soils and other horizontal aspects of waste policy. It also incorporates provisions relating to single-use plastics, by-products, end-of-waste status and eSIR.

While the packaging reuse objectives of the new EU regulation are yet to be applied, PEMAR assumes those of Royal Decree 1055/2022. Additionally, since the mandatory establishment of the DRS is in process of being implemented, the plan contemplates its inclusion as a qualitative objective.

European push for plastics circularity

In parallel, the European Commission has presented a communication focused on accelerating the transition to a circular economy in the plastics sector, one of the most relevant industries in terms of volume of waste and potential for environmental and economic improvement.

The initiative represents the first pilot that aims to create a more integrated internal market for recycled plastics, combining environmental objectives with measures aimed at strengthening legal certainty, investment and a levelled environment for competition. Among the courses of action announced we must highlight:

• The development of harmonised end-of-waste criteria for recycled plastics at EU level.
• The introduction of common standards for the calculation, verification and reporting of chemically recycled plastic content.
• The relaunch of the Circular Plastics Alliance with the aim of coordinating the main actors in the value chain and identifying priority actions.
• The adoption of measures to strengthen market surveillance and import control, with particular attention to the prevention of competition distortions in the internal market.
• The promotion of investment and innovation through European financial instruments and pilot projects linked to circularity.