EU pushes the circular economy agenda - the Nordics pitch in
In a resource constrained world the move from a linear system, where raw materials are used up, to a circular one where they are reused, is an imperative. That was the underlying theme for the European Commission’s Green Week in Brussels, June 3-5.
- The circular economy is the new order of things and we need to build stronger bridges between industrial and environmental policies, said European Commissioner for Environment Janez Potocnik in his opening speech at the event.
- The linear economy has worked well in its time, but it is not fit for the future in an increasingly crowded world. We cannot use the solutions of the 19th century to solve the challenges of the 21st century, he added.
The Commission will introduce a new circular economy package in a few weeks, focused on creating green jobs and skills while increasing resource efficiency. Green Week provided the starting point for that launch.
Food waste and sustainable building
Two of the core elements in the new EU initiative on circular economy are food waste and sustainable building.
Along with ecodesign and two projects on plastic and textile waste, that was also the focus of the Nordic Council of Ministers’ (NCM) contribution to Green Week,
- - We work on developing a new set of standards for sustainable buildings in an holistic approach, taking social and economic aspects into account. The aim is that the Nordic projects will be the basis for European standards. Through close contact with the European Commission, we also hope to set a Nordic stamp on EU environment policies, stated project leader Einer Ekern from Nordic Innovation, the NCM body in charge of the green growth initiative on sustainable building.
Similarly, the Nordic green growth projects on ecodesign and waste management aim to take Nordic knowledge and innovation in their fields to the European level.
Small things go a long way
A conference on ecodesign held by the Working Group for Sustainable Consumption and Production under the Nordic Council of Ministers along with the EU Commission at Green Week also focused on new solutions for the economy of the future.
- The traditional approach of the Commission has been to regulate via waste legislation, trying to minimize waste. But our new initiative aims to look at production and consumption loops in new ways, said William Neal from the Cabinet of the Commissioner for Environment at the conference.
- This is not a question of the EU meddling in small things, even if what we are dealing with here does have a lot of technical detail. But when you look at the potential impact, we are talking big results for the environment and the economy, he added.
The Nordic green growth initiatives on waste management and ecodesign play into this agenda and met with great interest at Green Week.
- The Nordic Prime Ministers’ green growth projects on waste management are all about finding smarter ways to reuse resources, With our very concrete focus on how to collect and recirculate plastic and textiles I think the Nordic projects will have a great deal to offer in a European context, concluded Sanna Due, Chair of the Nordic Waste Group under the NCM.
A number of new reports have just been published on the Nordic green growth projects on plastic and textile waste to be followed up later this year - see more at www.norden.org/nag.
