Five months into a three-year term, Kerstin Lopatta has stepped down as Chair of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) Sustainability Reporting Board (SRB), the body that drafts the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) used by listed companies to disclose waste outputs, recycled content and circular-economy performance.

EFRAG confirmed the departure but declined to comment on circumstances. German financial daily Börsen-Zeitung reported that governance disagreements drove the decision, without specifying which SRB positions had been contested.

Lopatta joined the SRB in 2022 and was named Chair in April 2026 after the European Commission put her forward in consultation with the European Parliament and the Council. Her resignation ends a mandate scheduled to run through 2029.

EFRAG installed Kristian Koktvedgaard as Acting Chair until a permanent successor is named. Koktvedgaard has sat on the SRB since its 2022 establishment, heads VAT, auditing, accounting and reporting at the Confederation of Danish Industries, and chairs the BusinessEurope Accounting Sounding Board.

Why does this matter for circularity disclosure?

The SRB carries EFRAG's full sustainability mandate, including the ESRS that operationalise the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Under those standards, listed EU companies disclose material circular-economy indicators such as waste generation, resource outflows and recycling rates.

A leadership change mid-cycle introduces continuity risk for filers preparing integrated annual reports for the 2026 financial year. ESRS as published in 2023 remains the binding standard set. What shifts is the body driving technical interpretations, draft amendments and implementation guidance over the next reporting cycle.

Georg Lanfermann, President of the Accounting Standards Committee of Germany (ASCG), said the organisation "deeply regretted" the resignation, and added that "the circumstances surrounding Kerstin Lopatta's resignation should be thoroughly reviewed by EFRAG and taken into account as part of a wider governance reform, which is urgently needed."

Lopatta had served on the ASCG's Sustainability Reporting Technical Committee from 2021 through early 2026.

What did EFRAG say?

In a written statement, EFRAG thanked Lopatta for her "significant contribution to EFRAG's sustainability reporting work and her commitment to the development of European sustainability reporting, as a result of her involvement in leading positions in the EFRAG SRB since 2022."

What does this change for waste and recycling filers?

For waste operators, recyclers and packaging producers now in CSRD scope, the immediate consequence is procedural rather than substantive. The SRB's work programme through 2027 covers further refinement of cross-cutting standards, sector-specific datapoints and the treatment of upstream and downstream value-chain information.

Each of those streams affects how recyclers report material recovery, recycled-content inputs and end-of-life treatment across their own operations and supply chains.

What happens next?

The Commission, Parliament and Council must decide whether to launch a fresh nomination process, extend Koktvedgaard's acting mandate, or initiate the broader governance review that Lanfermann and ASCG have requested. That decision sets the framework for any ESRS amendments or implementation clarifications issued before the next CSRD reporting wave.

For waste, recycling and packaging operators, the practical question is whether the SRB maintains its current standard-setting timetable during the transition, or whether the leadership gap defers guidance on circularity disclosures that filers need before the 2027 reporting season.