Welcome back!
Thank you for taking part in our conference on 22-23 April. Be it in person or remote, your presence was appreciated and contributed to the great success of this year’s event, with full rooms and enthusiastic participants.
The main takeaway for the first day, organised by the European Commission, is that the circular economy will only scale in Europe if it becomes a core part of the single market – with less fragmentation and stronger EU-wide markets for secondary raw materials and circular products. In other words, the EU does not just need more circular economy rules; it needs a more integrated market that makes circular products and recycled materials easier to trade, finance and adopt across borders.
The second day, organised by the ECESP’s Coordination Group members and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), showed that the circular economy must move from policy ambition to practical implementation – and that it will only succeed if it is both competitive for industries and fair for Europeans. Circularity needs to create real business opportunities while also delivering local jobs, skills, affordability and inclusion.
Recordings of most of the sessions are available on our webpage!
The conference was also an opportunity to gather input for the opinion on the Circular Economy Act, to be adopted by the EESC in June. Cillian Lohan, an EESC member and one of the founding fathers of the ECESP, is at the helm, assisted by Ladeja Godina Košir, Founder and Executive Director of Circular Change and Co-Chair of the ECESP Coordination Group, who is lending her expertise on the topic.
One of the opinion’s recommendations is to consider the platform as a strategic partner. It also underscores the platform’s role in promoting the circular transition by bringing together stakeholders to align priorities and identify barriers to implementation.
On that point, the website is open to all, so don’t hesitate to reach out to the Secretariat if you want to share what’s holding your circular business or project back, what would really help and what is actually working!
We’ll add your comments to the website so that they can help other people and feed into the debate.
Speaking of the website, we’ve added a good selection of events, good practices, toolkits and other resources. You can read about some of them here: a new call for the Circular City Centre - C3 advisory programmes, a request to contribute to the European Reuse Barometer, opportunities to apply for funding or support, events on digital product passports and recycling glass, a report on second-life applications for batteries, how Scotland aims to reshape its economy – and more!
As always, please do tell us about your own circular activities and initiatives - just fill in the 
