European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform

Circul'R is an international network of circular economy startups.

Its mission is to unlock the circular economy's potential by connecting innovative startups with companies so that they can co-create solutions to accelerate their transition towards the circular economy.

Its main services are:

• raising awareness (conferences to explain circular economy by presenting the most innovative circular solutions),
• learning expeditions (bringing people on the field to meet with circular economy entrepreneurs and their projects),
• consultancy (business opportunities, funding, etc.),
• Circul'R Club (bringing together large companies and startups with the objective of co-creating concrete projects in the field of circular economy: waste management, eco-design, new business models, etc.).

The ECO.NOMIA portal, created in 2016, is one of the components of the Portuguese Action Plan for Circular Economy (2017), adopting the role of a knowledge-sharing space. It is a one-stop-shop for all things circular, in Portuguese, aimed at citizens, companies and investors. Not only does it explain the principles, advantages and opportunities of the circular economy, it also provides examples and information on financing, learning opportunities and national and international events.

The Italian Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ICESP) is the mirror initiative launched at national level by the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) - the only Italian member of the ECESP's Coordination Group.

The ICESP is bringing together Italian circular economy initiatives, experiences, critical issues and perspectives to be represented at European level. Its objective is to promote the Italian way for circular economy at national and international level.

The ICESP acts through six working groups: 1) Research and eco-innovation, 2) Policy and governance, 3) Measuring the circular economy, 4) Sustainable and circular design, production, distribution and consumption, 5) Cities and territory, 6) Good practices.

Valdelia is a non-profit simplified joint stock company (SAS) founded in 2011 by 13 companies specializing in the manufacture of non-household furniture in order to set up a joint service for the management of non-household furniture waste.

Valdelia was approved by the French authorities in December 2012 for the management of non-household furniture waste. Valdelia supplies professional furniture marketers with a shared, turnkey solution enabling them to meet new regulatory obligations for furniture waste management. It favours upcycling whenever possible and in the process is actively contributing to social entrepreneurship in the sector.

LOOP-Ports aims to facilitate the transition to a more circular economy in the port sector, providing an innovation ecosystem around port activity fostering circular economy initiatives, and facilitating the exchange of experiences and good practices. This network will focus on high-emitting materials, mainly metals, plastics, cements and biomaterials and has begun the following activities:

• Compilation of a wide range of examples of circular economy activities already implemented in the port sector at EU level as well as some additional best practices around the world;
• Analysis of the main drivers (legal, policy, finance, market structures,...) to identify the opportunities for intervention and to formulate specific recommendations in order to boost the development of circular economy activities in port ecosystems;
• Preparation of tailored training materials and development of training pilots to improve skills, knowledge and innovation capacities both within and among different port clusters;
• Establishment of a database with all the information collected from the EU ports (following the variables considered relevant to map EU ports in terms of circular economy);
• Developing a web tool for circular economy showing project results, enabling the exchange of information among the members of the network, stakeholders and the general public;
• Creation of a pan-EU network of ports focused on circular economy activities, including workshops/roundtables with stakeholders to gather interests, points of view and expectations;
• Development of business models - real-use cases selected during the project - analysing their replicability in other ports with similar characteristics.

All port stakeholders are welcome to join the Circular Economy Network of Ports, which is funded by the EIT under its Climate-KIC Programme.

The Polish Circular Hotspot is a public-private platform bringing together national and local government bodies with businesses, entrepreneurs, the scientific community and civil society to jointly develop and apply the concept of a circular economy in Poland.

The hotspot has begun the following activities to develop and implement circular innovations:

• organising events (sectoral, regional, national) to analyse specific problems and legislative issues such as workshops on circular procurement for public agencies

• assisting with drafting strategies and roadmaps while supporting the establishment of sectoral partnerships for practical circular solutions

• networking businesses to exchange knowledge, showcase innovations and connecting Polish entrepreneurs with partners abroad, e.g. through study visits and B2B monitoring sessions with the support of the Dutch, Swedish, German, French and Danish Embassies.

• educating those interested in the circular economy concept, for example by organising the national educational campaign ‘Polish Circular Week’

Becoming a member of the Polish Circular Hotspot enables you to work with Polish and foreign partners in building innovative solutions and exchanging best practice across sectors. The hotspot also provides its members with opportunities to shape the debate on emerging circular economy legislation and collaborate in funding projects through partnerships.

What is the Circular Economy Industry Platform about?

Circulary is a web tool managed by BusinessEurope and its national members that contributes to the EU’s agenda on circular economy.

It continuously brings new examples of innovative ways in which industry, SMEs and other business add to the circular economy in Europe, and features over 150 prime examples of industrial best practice in circular economy as of November 2018. At the same time, it highlights the regulatory and non-regulatory challenges these businesses still face to upscale their current initiatives or to start new ones. As such the platform is a unique bottom-up business-led hub of knowledge and expertise.

Why should your company engage?

• To showcase what your company is already doing on circular economy. By showing the extent to which business is already engaged into this transformation process, you will help make EU policy fit-for-purpose.
• To raise your concerns on barriers and obstacles. The analysis of common trends in barriers and obstacles that you and other companies face to become circular will help draw the attention of policymakers.
• To make your voice heard on upcoming EU policy initiatives. By gathering your “on the ground” practical experiences, BusinessEurope will be in a stronger position to advocate the business voice towards European institutions.
• To develop your network. The platform is a unique way for you to connect to other companies on circular economy, either by being contacted by others because of your expertise or by being able to see what is happening elsewhere.
• To access the EU / Brussels debate on circular economy. Based on what we receive from you and others, BusinessEurope intends as much as possible to organise events, consultations and promotion of the platform and its participating community.

The NoAW project is dealing with innovative approaches to turn agricultural waste into ecological and economic assets. The NoAW Knowledge Exchange Stakeholder Platform aims to:

• provide a forum for knowledge, information exchange and discussion with agro-food businesses, farmers, biogas processors, food companies, scientific community, authorities relating to agro-waste management and valorisation issues in the light of their needs and expectations.
• foster an understanding of what is new in agriculture waste management from technical, environmental and business concepts / cross-chain valorisation aspects, including development opportunities and potential applications of innovative bio-processes and bio-products.
• provide guidance to NoAW based on the key activities of the members of the KESP, their needs and problems to ensure that the project activities and outcomes are focused on priority areas and the proposed processes and technologies will meet the expectations of the stakeholders.

The NoAW project is coordinated by INRA (France) and the consortium involves 32 partners from universities, public research organizations and other institutions from a dozen countries.

The Communication on Circular Economy, adopted in 2015, calls on the Commission to establish a Platform dedicated to food waste prevention. Thus the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste (FLW) was established in 2016, as an informal European Commission expert group bringing together EU institutions, international organisations, experts from Member States and actors in the food value chain including consumer and other non-governmental organisations.

The Platform aids the Commission in identifying and prioritising actions to be taken at EU level in order to prevent food losses and food waste and supports all actors in identifying and implementing appropriate actions to take at national, regional and local levels. Its work is of a horizontal nature, aiming to identify opportunities for food waste prevention across the food production and consumption chain and facilitate inter-sector cooperation.

The most recent estimates of European food waste levels (FUSIONS, 2016) reveal that 70% of EU food waste arises in the household, food service and retail sectors, with production and processing sectors contributing the remaining 30%. The EU and Member States are committed to meeting Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, adopted in September 2015, which targets to halve per capita food waste at the retail and consumer level by 2030 and reduce food losses along the food production and supply chains.

All relevant documents related to the work of the Platform (such as agendas, minutes and participants' submissions) can be found on the Commission's dedicated food waste website

The Luxembourg EcoInnovation Cluster, managed by Luxinnovation, the National Agency for Innovation and Research, is an active network that brings together and supports various players of the clean technologies sector with the ultimate goal of turning the concept of circular economy into a reality in Luxembourg. The cluster's objectives are the following:

• diversify the activities of the Luxembourg companies thus allowing them to gain and to develop new capabilities in the clean technologies field;
• contribute to the development of new environmental solutions in the field of eco-technologies and sustainable construction;
• raise public awareness to the uptake of “green technologies”;
• build public-private partnerships in order to develop new collaborative projects of common interest;
• encourage networking between public and private actors at the national and international level.

The cluster provides the following services:

• access to practical and technical information related to specific questions on eco-innovation;
• advice on national and European funding opportunities for clean technologies;
• value-added information on emerging technologies and markets.