Take-away notes from #CEStakeholderEU
On 20 and 21st of February, I attended the Circular Economy Stakeholder conference in Brussels (#CEStakeholderEU) representing the startup Circularise, where I work as a Marketing Manager.
The conference was meant to be a place of discussion between people working to a certain extent into achieving circularity. The circular economy is the alternative of “the current ‘take, make and dispose’ extractive industrial model”, according to Ellen MacArthur Foundation. In order to transition to this economic model, processes such as long-lasting design, maintenance, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishing, and recycling are used.
Circular economy is more than recycling
One of the first things one could notice at the conference was the lack of single-use plastics. No plastic cups or plates, no plastic water bottles. This was a conference free of single-use plastics. As a person that has been involved in organising several conferences in the past five years, I appreciated the broader message the conference organiser tried to send with this decision.
The recycling of plastics was a subject that seemed to be a priority, from the speech of Frans Timmermans, the First Vice-President of the European Commission, and many other experts in the panels. On the other hand, recycling is just a part of what it needs to happen to achieve circularity.
Moreover, the idea of recycling as the main way into achieving a circular economy is dangerous. As mentioned by Aloy Guitton, Director at RSE Auchan Retail,“there is a wrong idea on the market that plastics are easily recyclable.” We should use less plastic, and this can be done easily by avoiding the single-use plastic like plastic plates, cutlery, and cups. So only recycling won’t do for getting rid of the plastics. The concepts of long-lasting design, maintenance, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, and refurbishing need to be under the spotlight and discussed more, as well.
Technology has a role in accelerating the transition to a circular economy — and blockchain is one of those technologies
In the first day, Internet of Things was brought up as a technology that can save resources, make economies more prosperous, but also that plays a role in the acceleration of the circular economy in replacing the linear model.
However, IoT is not the only technology that can prove beneficial — blockchain can also advance this transition. On the first day, Martin Charter FRSA, professor of Innovation & Sustainability at University for the Creative Arts in the UK, mentioned the term of ‘re-industrialisation 2.0’. The term includes decentralisation (a key concept in blockchain) as one of the core pillars. In the introduction of the panel on the ‘role of ICT in advancing the transition to the circular economy”, Michael Kuhndt, the Executive Director of the CCSCP, gave examples of blockchain projects used by a couple of big corporations.
The automotive industry might be the first industry to achieve circularity
The circular economy is about shifting processes and implementing them early on in the stage of life products, not at the end through recycling. Remanufacturing and reconditioning are highly implemented in this industry, and also two important concepts in the arcs of the circular economy. During one of the panels, Jean-Philippe Hermine, Vice-President in charge of Strategic Environmental Planning for Groupe Renault presented their vision and efforts.
Circular economy can mitigate climate change
To my personal joy, many circular economy experts stated that there is growing scientific evidence that implementing the circular economy processes could have an effect in diminishing the climate change we are dealing with in the present.
Sirpa Pietikainen, a member of the European Parliament, stressed that circular economy is by far the most effective way to combat climate change. Moreover, Harald Friedl, the CEO of Circle Economy, gave specific examples of how this can become reality.
In my opinion, the effects of climate change should be used for awareness campaigns, which were also mentioned at the conference. All around the world, the majority of people are not yet aware of the benefits of a circular economy — all they know is the linear model, as well as being educated about recycling. The policies are not yet drastic, and, like many panelists and participants mentioned throughout the conference, we don’t have clear deadlines for when we need to have fully implemented the circular economy.
However, the road is long. There’s a need to educate and translate the benefits of having a circular economy, and not only in economic terms (such as economic growth or costs, which are the real impediment currently for industries facing this transition), but also in social and environmental terms (such as creating more and diverse job opportunities and reducing the effects of climate change). Moreover, we need to understand that recycling is important in the transition phase from the linear economic model to the circular one, but it cannot act by itself.
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Circularise was founded in 2016 by Jordi de Vos, a blockchain aficionado, and Mesbah Sabur, a circular economy expert. In 2017, the startup received funding from EIT RawMaterials, an organisation initiated and funded by the EIT (European Institute of Innovation and Technology), a body of the European Union. EIT RawMaterials is the largest and strongest consortium in the raw materials sector worldwide. Its mission is to boost competitiveness, growth, and attractiveness of the European raw materials sector via radical innovation and guided entrepreneurship. If you want to keep up to date with Circularise, you can follow the startup on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
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This article reflects my personal notes based on what I heard and learned during the two days of the Circular Economy Stakeholder European conference in Brussels, 20–21 February 2018. You can see more on the topic by diving into the tweets with the #CEStakeholderEU hashtag.
