On 2 December 2015 the European Commission launched the second version of the so-called circular economy package [1]. The Commission expects net savings of € 600 billion Euros, or 8 % of annual turnover, for businesses in the EU, the creation of 580,000 jobs while reducing total annual greenhouse gas emissions by 450 million t. The circular economy package suggests to amend the directives 2008/98/EC, 94/62/EC, 1999/31/EC, 2000/53/EC, 2006/66/EC and 2012/19/EC. Many changes refer to municipal waste and packaging waste. However, some of the ideas of the Commission will also show an impact on the use of critical raw materials [2]. In particular the demand for items or components that are “easy to recycle” or show a “long service life” have to be considered for materials such as cemented carbides [3]. The circular economy package is just a proposal and it is not clear if the amendments of EU directives will be as they stand. However, there are several calls within the framework of Horizon 2020 to fund research projects focusing on the circular economy.