LIFE (“The Financial Instrument for the Environment and Climate Action”) is a programme launched by the European Commission and coordinated by the Environment and Climate Action Directorates-General. It serves as a funding instrument for the environment and climate action and since its implementation in 2014 a number of publications have been released on the LIFE website, featuring different packages.

This 2017 Circular Economy Package provides an EU framework for the transition to a circular economy, in which the value of products, materials and resources is maintained, while waste is minimised. It features more than one hundred LIFE projects that illustrate how circular economy can work in practice and how they have mobilised some €270 million in favour of the circular economy while increasing citizens’ awareness.

The package consists of an action plan with concrete actions that can be implemented during the mandate of this Commission and revised proposals for waste legislation. It's organised into five key areas of action and priority sectors, with measures covering the whole life-cycle of products, from production and consumption, to waste management.
All of these actions intend to bring benefits in terms of biodiversity, climate change mitigation, and the reduction of air, soil and water pollution.