At Zero Waste Europe (ZWE), Theresa Mörsen works as Waste & Resources Policy Officer and acts within the EU institutional bubble advocating for more ambitious legislation on waste prevention and resource consumption. She covers areas such as textiles, food waste and organic material, along with the broader field of municipal waste. Before joining ZWE, she worked as regulatory affairs manager in the private sector monitoring EU environmental policies, especially on electrical appliances. She also has experience working in the German and European parliaments.
Zero Waste Europe is the European network of communities, local leaders, experts and change agents working towards the elimination of waste in our society. ZWE advocates for sustainable systems and the redesign of our relationship with resources to accelerate a just transition towards zero waste for the benefit of people and the planet.
ZWE is also part of the Rethink Plastic alliance, an alliance of +10 European NGOs working with European policy makers to design and deliver policy solutions to tackle plastic pollution.
TEXroad is a foundation set up to collect and manage data on textiles as efficiently and effectively as possible. The purpose of this collection is to promote and enable circularity in the textiles industry.
They have set up programmes on Paving the way to 2025 and Circular textile data flow, and published reports describing their activities.
The FOODY EU project promotes entrepreneurial skills and employment of young people, using circular economy principles to combat unemployment. It provides comprehensive information on the management and environmental impacts of food waste, using the food industry and waste management sector to instill in young people the value of resource conservation.
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network of more than 1 750 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development. Active in over 100 countries, ICLEI influences sustainability policy and drives local action for low emission, nature-based, equitable, resilient and circular development.
Simon Clement joined ICLEI Europe in 2002. As Head of Circular Economy, he is responsible for ICLEI's activities in this field, including managing the European Circular Cities Declaration. For over 20 years he has worked for, and on behalf of, local, regional and national governments in project, policy and strategy development on sustainability issues such as circular economy, procurement, transport and smart cities.
Ms Ettinger is a lawyer in Germany and holds a Master of Law degree from George Mason University (USA). Before joining EuRIC, she worked at a Brussels-based consultancy, advising multinational companies on environmental, health and safety matters.
EuRIC is a confederation which represents the interests of European recycling industries within the EU. It spans the majority of waste streams, and so can facilitate cooperation between national recycling and resource management federations and companies from over 23 European countries, operating both locally and globally.
EuRIC represents:
5 500+ companies generating an aggregated annual turnover of about €95 billion, including large companies and SMEs involved in the recycling of and trade in various resource streams
300 000 local jobs which cannot be outsourced to non-EU countries
a million tons of waste recycled each year (metals, paper, glass, plastics, WEEE, ELVs, tyres, textiles, construction & demolition, etc.).
By turning waste into resources, recycling loops recycled materials back into value chains. Recyclers play a key role in bridging resource efficiency, climate change policy and the industrial transition.
The transition towards the circular economy entails complex economic and social changes. Using a survey, the EDUCIRC project will provide policy recommendations on rural development, with particular emphasis on women and young people.
It will devise a new methodology for assessing the capacity of rural areas to deliver this transition and identify the main obstacles, strengths and problems, as well as possible solutions.
As a growing community of European frontrunner festivals, Green Deal Circular Festivals strives for fully circular and climate neutral festivals, as festivals can play a guiding role in inspiring a green movement and accelerate society’s transition.
The Albanian social enterprise RecycAl reuses textile waste such as leather or canvas by turning it into heavy-duty bags that could be produced at industrial scale.
Parma Municipality, the Confederazione Nazionale dell’Artigianato e della Piccola e Media Impresa (National Confederation of Crafts and SMEs) and La coperta di Linus have launched a project called Arteinborsa (A-Bag-from-Art). This project uses old posters from local exhibitions to create bags and accessories.
