NEWS SEARCH RESULTS ( 41 - 44 from 59 )

Innovating to tackle plastic waste in Europe’s cities

13 March 2019

On 16 May, ICLEI Europe and the PlastiCircle project will join forces to host the special conference ‘Circular Cities – Innovating to tackle plastic waste’.

More than 100 stakeholders from across Europe will gather at Scotland House in Brussels (Belgium) to assess European Union policies on the circular economy for plastics, the role of cities in tackling plastic waste, and the industry innovations driving circularity in Europe’s urban areas.

The event will be held during this year’s EU Green Week, among a host of other partner events drawing attention to not only environmental legislation in the EU, but also the bloc’s commitment to circular economy objectives in light of a busy 2018-19 legislative calendar.

‘Circular Cities’ will welcome policy makers, civil society, business, cities, academia and a clutch of Horizon 2020 stakeholders from across the continent to address the big questions of the day. It will feature three plenary panel sessions, an ‘Innovation Space’ and three parallel interactive workshops on new materials and ecodesign for plastics in a circular economy, digitalisation for a circular economy, and measuring the circular economy with a local approach.

The conference will welcome speakers from the cities of Utrecht (The Netherlands) and Copenhagen (Denmark), organisations such as Zero Waste Scotland and Veolia, and also policy makers from the European Commission’s DG Environment, the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME), the European Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).

The lunchtime ‘Innovation Space’ will provide an excellent information-gathering and networking opportunity for all conference goers. Exhibitors include European projects such as FORCE, CIRC-PACK, BioVoices and UrbanWINS, as well as France’s PlastiPolis plastics industry cluster, Veolia, Zero Waste Scotland and the Association for Valencian companies in the plastics industries (AVEP).

The parallel workshops will provide ample opportunity for in-depth discussions and exchange. Led by the European Horizon 2020 CIRC-PACK project, 'New materials and eco-design for plastics in a circular economy' (workshop A) will be animated by speakers from the European Commission and Spanish consumer organisation OCU. Workshop B, 'Digitalisation for a circular economy' will be moderated by experts from the Wuppertal Institute and University of Bologna, as well as the PlastiCircle and Waste4Think projects. Meanwhile, workshop C, 'Measuring the circular economy - a local approach' will be led by ICLEI Europe with expert input from Circular Flanders, the city of Turin and the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

The official media partner for the conference is the sustainability news portal Innovators Magazine.

The programme for the conference is online at www.plasticircle.eu.

 

PlastiCircle to highlight recycling reward scheme at Waste in Progress forum

19 February 2019

The PlastiCircle project is set to feature at the International Forum on Waste Management, Waste in Progress, on 6-8 March 2019 in Girona.

This is the third edition of the Waste in Progress international gathering, with this year’s line-up featuring a host of topics ranging from technological solutions for collection of municipal waste, to pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) solutions, to lab spaces for municipal waste management innovations.

On 6 March, during the first round of Innovation Labs, PlastiCircle lead partner ITENE will present the project’s innovations in rewarding good recycling practices with the use of smart containers. This is one of several innovations that PlastiCircle is developing across the plastics value chain – with pilots in three cities across Europe.

The Waste in Progress forum will also feature other PlastiCircle partners such as Ecoembes and a host of municipalities from across the globe, including Seattle (United States), Leipzig (Germany) and Bern (Switzerland).

Additional features in Girona include a business expo and workshop series, featuring a host of public and private actors with an interest in innovative municipal waste solutions.

Future participants can register online, with a 10% conference fee discount for PlastiCircle partners. The event can also be followed live via Twitter at @wasteinprogress with the hashtag #wasteinprogress.

 

PlastiCircle and ICLEI Europe to host ‘Circular Cities’ conference

5 February 2019

On 16 May, PlastiCircle and ICLEI Europe will host a special conference in Brussels on the circularity of plastics in Europe’s urban environments.

The collaboration between ICLEI Europe and the PlastiCircle project will gather EU policy makers, cities, industry and civil society for a full-day interactive conference at Scotland House – in the heart of Brussels’ EU quarter.

‘Circular Cities – Innovating to tackle plastic waste’ will look at the key questions of the day: the future of plastics in Europe, the potential for turning waste into resource, what EU policies on plastics mean for cities, businesses and consumers, and the role of innovation in bringing circularity to urban Europe.

The conference will bring policy makers, cities and innovators together with three plenary panel sessions and a series of parallel workshops on plastic packaging innovations, digitalisation for a circular economy and circularity in cities. The conference will also feature a lunch-time ‘Innovation Space’ – a great way for stakeholders to network and meet with multiple organisations doing work in these areas.

Further information and registration forms will be posted soon on the PlastiCircle website, the ICLEI Europe website, and via Twitter and LinkedIn.

“We have set something which is irreversible” – European Commission’s Katainen on circular economy agenda

31 January 2019

On 31 January, European Commission vice-president for jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness, Jyrki Katainen, addressed an international panel on the next steps for Europe’s circular economy and plastics agenda - beyond the 2019 European elections.

Also looking back at the last five years of European institutional action, Mr Katainen said that the European Union had set an “irreversible” agenda on the circular economy, with strong progress on a series of circular economy actions since the beginning of the current Commission’s mandate five years ago.

“As part of the Circular Economy Action Plan, we have had legislative changes in areas such as waste legislation, single-use plastics and fishing gear – and these will have a significant impact on the sustainability agenda,” said Mr Katainen.

“But now we have to focus on the implementation of what we have achieved. Legislation is a big challenge for many of our member states so we have to help them with this legislation.”

 “We have eight months to influence the agenda of the [current] Commission” Mr Katainen added, referring to the time remaining until the next European Commission begins its mandate in November 2019.

“The Circular Plastics Alliance is a tool for the Commission to [engage with] all aspects of the value chain. The Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform is also helping,” said Mr Katainen. The Circular Plastics Alliance, an alliance of private sector actors active in the EU, was established in Brussels in December 2018.

Revealing specific objectives for the coming years, Mr Katainen also hinted at efforts to engage with China and Japan on the circular economy agenda and on plastic packaging.

“My dream is that we create a quality standard for plastic packaging, and that China and Japan would have this too. We are working on this at the moment.”

Looking ahead beyond the EU elections and change of Commission this year, Mr Katainen said the “next flow of actions [by the European Commission] must be fed in already now.”

“Circular economy will be on the agenda of the next European Commission,” he said. “We have set something which is irreversible.”

Launched in December 2015, the Circular Economy Package put in place the conditions for Europe-wide progress on circularity in a range of areas. The package was followed by the very first Europe-wide plastics strategy, published in January 2018.

As the strategy was published, European Commission first vice-president Frans Timmermans said: “The only long-term solution is to reduce plastic waste by recycling and reusing more. This is a challenge that citizens, industry and governments must tackle together. With the EU Plastics Strategy we are also driving a new and more circular business model. We need to invest in innovative new technologies that keep our citizens and our environment safe whilst keeping our industry competitive."

The panel debate ‘Beyond the 2019 Elections: what next for Europe’s circular economy and plastics agenda?’ was organised by the Aldersgate Group, and also featured representatives from SUEZ, Nestlé, Ramboll and Sky plc.

For more live updates from future events in Brussels and beyond, follow us on Twitter via @circ_economy.