EIT RawMaterials at the conference on Bringing the Action Plan to Life: Towards a Fact Based Circular Economy

The EU Circular Economy Package and its implementation will be key issues during the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2018.

The Austrian Water and Waste Management Association (ÖWAV) is pleased to announce that it will co-host an international conference with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism (BMNT) and Altstoff Recycling Austria AG (ARA).

Making the transformation towards a circular economy by 2030 is comparable in scope to the energy transition to a low-carbon economy and the digitisation of industry 4.0: The circular economy transition is nothing less than a sea change in the EU’s approach to raw materials.

Until quite recently, the discussion mainly focused on municipal waste and the legislative proposal to review EU waste legislation. The EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy is broader than that: It looks at the whole life cycle from production to waste management, markets, innovation and monitoring. The Action Plan addresses five priority areas: plastics, food, critical raw materials, construction and demolition, and biomass and bio-based products.

Plenary sessions

• The role of science and research for a circular economy
• Business supporting circularity
• Implementation of a circular economy: Drivers and barriers

Convening high-profile speakers from politics, business, academia and civil society, the conference highlights certain policy fields that stakeholders believe should be prioritized among the issues addressed in the Action Plan. In doing so, the conference aims to foster a fact-based discussion based on concrete research results. It will cover environmental impact as well as resource and raw material aspects of the circular economy.

When Austria holds the EU Council Presidency, the Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism intends to focus on the EU plastics strategy and Ecodesign, among other things. There is no doubt, increasing plastic recycling is essential for the transition to a circular economy. But there are several challenges and obstacles to overcome.

Improvements in product design are key for a circular economy and there is an urgent need for economic benefits for products that can be more easily recycled or reused.ARA will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2018: The foundation of the company in 1993 marks the beginnings of the extended producer responsibility principle for packaging in Austria, a principle which was later set out in the EU Packaging Directive. Today, Austria’s packaging recovery results are among the best in the EU.

Current research findings will be presented at a pre-conference symposium, which will be co-hosted by the Vienna University of Technology, Christian Doppler Laboratory for Anthropogenic Resources and CEC4Europe on 19 September 2018. Stay tuned for more information.

Registration

The conference will be held in English, participation is free of charge.

For organisational reasons, a written Registration is required, since the number of participants is limited. Registrations will be accepted according to the date of receipt and can be submitted until Monday, 3 September 2018. Register here.

EIT RawMaterials participation

Karen Hanghoj, CEO at EIT RawMaterials, will speak about Raw materials and Circular Economy: The EIT Strategic Implementation Plan at the Plenary Session 2 – Business supporting circularity.

More information about the event program will follow soon. Find all the latest update here.