Join the launch of the Global Action Partnership for Extended Producer Responsibility (GAP for EPR) on 19 October at 14:00 CEST!

GIZ, WWF and the OECD are partnering up to establish the Global Action Partnership for Extended Producer Responsibility, hosted by the PREVENT Waste Alliance. This partnership also receives circular economy support from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and is working closely with UNEP to provide technical support to governments and PROs. Register now for this online event!

Despite growing efforts by political bodies, companies and researchers to support the transition towards a more sustainable and circular economy, we are still behind schedule.

The seminar on 17 October will address the following challenges that are slowing down this transition:

• the need for quantitative but easy-to-handle methods to support decision-making in the product design phase, particularly concerning material selection for sustainability,
• the potential rebound effects that undercut the expected sustainability gains of moves towards circularity.

As part of London Circular Economy Week, CLG Europe’s Materials and Products Taskforce will be hosting a webinar setting out EU circular economy policy.

The FOODRUS first policy roundtable on legal and economic barriers to food waste prevention and reduction will take place online on 11 October at 10:00 – 12:00 CET. During this interactive meeting, barriers identified by FOODRUS partners will be presented and explored with meeting participants.

Public authorities - policymakers, procurement professionals, local and regional authorities, and other public sector actors - have an important role to play in the transition towards a more circular built environment and have a range of policy levers at their disposal to stimulate demand for circular skills. Using circular strategies in the built environment can help reduce the embodied emissions of building materials by 50%.

This interactive webinar will show how to train staff and how local authorities can work with stakeholders to train the whole value chain to promote circularity.

The webinar will present the guidance for policymakers as well as training materials developed by the BUS-GoCircular project. It will also explain how public authorities can use the Fundamentals Training Packs for SMEs in their requirements in tenders.

EU-funded projects CircularInvest and DEFINITE-CCRI are organising an engaging webinar on driving circular innovation in urban environments. It will offer insightful discussions, inspiring stories and opportunities for project development and collaborative networking, as the transformative power of circular practices in cities is explored.

This EC GPP Helpdesk webinar on 27 September will analyse how public procurement can be used as a strategic tool to support the upskilling and reskilling of the construction workforce and help futureproof the European construction sector.

Circular Week, an international series of events dedicated to sustainable development and the circular economy, will take place this year from 23 to 29 October.

Look through the full agenda of events and sign up!

Consumers play a key role in unlocking the potential of the circular economy. This interactive webinar on 18 September 2023 at 10:30-12:00 CEST will address pathways to more sustainable and circular consumption in Europe. A panel of experts from the European Commission, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the Hot or Cool Institute and the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) will share insights into and perspectives on the current debate on policy options for the shift towards sustainable consumption in Europe.

This launch event on Regional Innovation Valleys for Bioeconomy and Food Systems will take place on 13 October 2023. It is organised jointly by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation and the Agricultural University of Plovdiv, in close cooperation with the BIOEAST Initiative. It will be webstreamed and recorded.