At the invitation of PES Group President, Catiuscia Marini, President of the Umbria region, the PES Group held its extraordinary meeting on the Circular economy: Innovation in production, consumption, recycling and reuse, on 5 September in Terni, Italy.
The conference was preceded by an extraordinary session on the earthquake which had hit central Italy the week before, with the participation of mayors from the areas affected. During her opening speech, the President thanked the many European regions which had expressed their solidarity with local communities in the three most affected areas, Lazio, Abruzzo and Umbria. "The pain of the people who have lost their families and friends in this terrible event cannot be erased. However, we have now a duty to swiftly start the reconstruction process and restore citizens' hope", she noted. In this context, she also pointed to the role of the European Solidarity Fund which, since its creation in 2002, had been used by 24 EU countries to address the consequences of 63 natural disasters.
In relation to the theme of the conference on the circular economy, Ms Marini noted that one key element of the EU's waste legislation, and a priority under the European Commission's action plan, was the issue of "demolition and construction waste", which counted for nearly one third of waste in the EU in weight and contained many valuable resources. "If we want to move to a circular economy, we need to address demolition and construction waste. The communities which we will rebuild after the earthquake are in this respect a good place to show that we can find new, more sustainable ways of building our future".
The debates were then structured around two round tables, on Transforming Production and Consumption and on Local and regional opportunities, moderated by Dennis Abbott, Managing Director of Communications at Burson-Marsteller.
Speaking in the first panel debate, Karl Falkenberg, Senior Adviser at the European Commission's Policy Strategy Centre, underlined the need for a holistic and integrated approach to the circular economy, and pointed to persistent delays in the implementation of EU legislation in many Member States. Criticising the fact that "in the EU far too much waste is landfilled", he noted that the implementation of EU legislation could create 400 000 sustainable and good income jobs. "We need to move from the macro level where we agree on common rules, to the municipal micro level, if we want to understand why implementation does not work properly: Is it lack of funds, or lack of cooperation? We also need to showcase good practices and be open to learning from each other", he stressed. Mr Falkenberg also pointed to product design as the basic starting point for intelligent waste recycling. "In the EU, we have the technology and the businesses to make investments profitable if we manage to separate the different waste-streams", he emphasised.
Edouard Martin, MEP (S&D/France), member of the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, drew attention to the changing role of employees in the circular economy. "When it comes to globalisation, we often talk only about competitiveness and lower prices. However, moving towards a circular economy is a transition that involves us all and its success depends on 'quality' – both of the products and of the jobs we create. We also need to ensure jobs for less qualified workers", he urged. "At the same time, the EU must also lead this important transition by bringing private and public investors together", he stressed.
Focusing on his experience with Novamont, world leader in the bioplastic and biochemical sector, Andrea Di Stefano, head of Special Projects and Business Communication, drew attention to producer responsibility and internalisation of external costs. "We need to better use the resources which are already included in our products. Research, investment and territorial regeneration must go hand in hand", he stressed. He also pointed to the need for market instruments to assist the transition, and a publically run private finance operator to provide risk capital.
Opening the second roundtable on Local and regional opportunities, Babette Winter, State Secretary for European Affairs and Culture of Thüringen, Germany, reminded the audience that the circular economy was more than only waste management. "It concerns the transformation of the whole economic cycle: from design to production and consumption to waste management and the market for secondary raw materials". As the CoR PES rapporteur on the Circular Economy Action Plan, she underlined that regions and cities had a series of tools that could contribute to the success of the transition on the ground, notably Green Public Procurement, "which must become a mandatory criterion in public procurement procedures and for projects which are financed with public funds". Ms Winter also stressed the need for stronger long-term commitments at the political level, including regular monitoring of progress, to give certainty to businesses and make the most of the role of regions and cities in education and awareness raising measures for citizens.
Professor Federico Rossi, Head of the Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, presented the new specialisation course launched by his university in close cooperation with local companies, the local and regional authorities and other stakeholders: a degree in Industrial Engineering with a special focus on circular design. He agreed that "education indeed plays a major role in the transition to the circular economy", stressing that "100% re-use is not going to be possible, but at our university we try to get as close as possible to that target by equipping young people with the necessary scientific tools and skills".
Noting that "the circular economy is a cultural and economic challenge involving everyone", Stefano Vaccari, the Italian Senate's rapporteur on the circular economy, reported on a consultation with stakeholders, whose main requests were for more ambitious and binding targets in the relevant EU directives, as well as an EU-wide methodology for the calculation of recycling. "We also need to better define the different waste categories and ‘circularity indicators’", he said. He also proposed an instrument which would allow Member States to "reward" companies which performed well, for example through VAT reductions. "We can collect all the separate waste-streams we want, but we need to have the industrial processes to close the loop", he said.
Concluding the debates, Catiuscia Marini observed that "the circular economy offers huge opportunities for regional and local authorities, including for less developed regions". Progressive cities and regions were best placed to lead the transition on the ground, both by putting together their ideas and experiences and by involving citizens, research institutions, and the business community. "As a consequence of the economic crisis, we have lost jobs and competitiveness. The circular economy can help by re-creating both. This is our challenge: to join and reconcile industry and a healthy sustainable way of living".
