Leadership Groups are tasked by the Coordination Group and comprise both members of the CG and external stakeholders from the circular economy community. The Leadership Groups are organised around specific thematics, aiming at gathering experts and business operators to discuss circular aspects in a very hands-on, practical way, but also with a view to policy implications.

The term of the Leadership Groups 2023 - 2024 runs until the next Annual Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference (tbc - 2024), where they can present the outcomes of the discussion. After the Conference, the Coordination Group members will revisit the groups and decide whether to continue their respective group or adopt a new configuration of Leadership Groups.

A prominent output of Leadership Groups are our regular EU Circular Talks.

Should you want to join a Leadership Group, please contact the ECESP Secretariat

  • LG#1 - Citizen engagement & Circular behaviour

    Coordinated by: CSCP and the Rediscovery Centre

    Changes in consumption behaviours and dominant lifestyles are increasingly recognised as critical levers for the transition to a circular economy, as the success of new circular business models and policy measures largely depend on a social engagement component (EEA, 2019).

    However, the majority of studies and strategies on the circular economy are still framed from a production and business model perspective, while the level of public engagement is still relatively low, and the role of people in the process is largely overlooked (Selvefors, 2019; van den Berge et al., 2021). This overlooking is an issue, as users play an essential role in advancing circular solutions to close material loops – ultimately, the decision lies with consumers on whether they engage in circular behaviours (e.g., repair, reuse) or not (van den Berge et al., 2021).

    In this context, the Leadership Group on Citizen Engagement & Circular Behaviour is about better understanding and fostering centres, spaces and expertise across Europe, both physical and digital, that effectively engage people with circular economy activities, e.g., repairing and sharing, leasing or reusing. The goal is to collect success factors of such initiatives and apply this knowledge to both
    (i) further develop existing centres and
    (ii) help create new ones towards achieving a meaningful and critical mass of citizens adopting sustainable lifestyles for a circular economy in Europe.

    The group will focus on the following priorities:

    • Increase the level of understanding of the success factors of citizen engagement initiatives that manage to advance circular behaviours across Europe;
    • Create a movement of circular economy citizen engagement initiatives, in which such initiatives can flourish further by learning from each other and new initiatives can be created to meet the needs of citizens at the local level;
    • Support the DG ENV Communications Strategy 2030 and the European Green Deal, particularly by sharing learnings and insights from the Leadership Group work about effective ways to communicate with citizens to generate engagement with circular economy activities

    Regular members of this Leadership Group:

    • Circular Change
    • ENEA
  • LG#2 - Textiles

    Coordinated by: RREUSE

    The ever-growing interest and action from stakeholders all along the value chain, policies at EU and national levels taking shape and growing public awareness: That was 2022, the year of the publication of the EU Textiles Strategy. The Textiles Leadership Group aims to open the EU Textiles Strategy to a discussion with a broad stakeholder audience and help bring it to life, which will continue in 2023. The group, coordinated by RREUSE, brings together around 20 member organisations from the textiles value chain. In the past years, it organised EU Circular Talks that reached hundreds of participants and proved how much appetite there is from European and international stakeholders to understand what it means to change the textiles industry and consumption truly.

    While the group priorities of 2022 were to shed light on the upcoming textiles policy and secondly on circular business models, in 2023, the most pressing discussions are expected around Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles and the need for an economic transition beyond growth.

    The overall aim and focus of the group will shift more to exchanges of information and intelligence among the group members, with the view of nurturing the contacts we have built over the past three years.

    As for enriching the group by creating additional connections with other experts, we would like to link to the ECOSYSTEX group, established in 2022 as a group of 17 EU-funded member projects focusing on textile sustainability. There is a potential to channel the knowledge created in EU-funded projects to the LG community and vice versa.

    The group will focus on the following priorities:

    • Extended Producer Responsibility
    • Degrowth and Economic transition


    Regular members of this Leadership Group:

    • Benelux Recycling Network
    • Circle Economy
    • CSCP
    • Dutch Circular Textile Valley
    • Ecopreneur
    • ECOS
    • Ellen MacArthur Foundation
    • ENEA
    • EuRIC
    • EuroCommerce
    • European Environment Agency
    • European Environmental Bureau
    • European Investment Bank
    • Generation Climate Europe
    • INEC
    • INNOWO
    • Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO)
    • OVAM
    • Policy Hub
    • SMEunited
    • Tekstilrevolutionen
    • The Scandinavian Textile Initiative for Climate Action
    • UNEP
    • Zero Waste Europe
  • LG#3 - Bioeconomy
    Coordinated by: INNOWO

    Circular bioeconomy and biobased value chains are crucial to the circular economy transformation, decarbonisation and the green transition.
    Bioeconomy refers to production based on biotechnology and biomass to create various types of goods, services and energy. Society depends on the bioeconomy for food or ecosystem services and as a supplier of parts for consumer goods.

    Bioeconomy and food value chain systems are valuable sources of green raw material streams. They are currently a sector with huge development potential that is becoming a key factor in closing the loop in the circular economy.

    Since 2020, the Leadership Group on Food waste, food systems, and the bioeconomy aims to highlight and raise awareness of the importance and complexity of the circular bioeconomy as a driver of the transition toward a circular economy in Europe.

    This year, the Leadership Group led by INNOWO will focus on circular bioeconomy and bio-value chains based on four pillars: industrial symbiosis, green transition, climate change and biodiversity. The Leadership Group will touch on the business perspective - how to build a marketplace of bio-based products and implement new technologies for waste from agriculture, food processing and many other branches of industry to extend the chain of biomass products.

    The group will focus on the following priorities:

    • Creating effective urban food hubs to prevent food loss;
    • Promoting regenerative agriculture and agri- ecosystems, safe biofertilisers;
    • Close Biowaste cycle, industrial symbiosis implementation e.g., bio-plastics, packaging, construction materials, textiles.

    Regular members of this Leadership Group:

    • ACR+
    • Alchemia Nova
    • Asociación de la Industria Navarra
    • Bioeconomy & Environment Cluster (Western Macedonia)
    • Chambre de Métiers et de l’Artisanat des Pyrénées-Atlantiques
    • Copa Cogeca
    • CSCP
    • EEA
    • EIT FOOD
    • ENEA
    • European Centre of Excellence for Sustainability
    • European Environmental Bureau
    • Generation Climate Europe food task force
    • Holland Circular Hotspot
    • Innozent
    • Interreg
    • IRCEM
    • ISFOOD – Institute for Sustainability & Food Chain Innovation Edificio
    • Polish Bioeconomy Claster
    • SAFE Safe Food Advocacy Europe A.S.B.L.
    • SMEunited
    • UNESDA - Soft Drinks Europe
    • Unito Italy
    • VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
    • Zerowaste
  • LG#4 - Built environment
    Coordinated by: Circular Flanders (OVAM) as of 1 July 2023

    Considering the significant environmental footprint of the sector, the EU’s 2050 carbon neutrality goals will not be achievable without a sustainable and circular built environment. If we account for all direct and indirect emissions during both construction and usage phases, buildings alone cause +35% of EU emissions and +40% of its primary energy consumption. Additionally, 15% of building materials are currently wasted in construction, causing additional emissions. Environmental policies have traditionally aimed at enhancing energy efficiency and renewable energies in the use phase of buildings while neglecting material efficiency in construction. This focus, however, fails to tackle the considerable emissions associated with the materials and construction processes. Referred to as ‘embodied carbon, the latter is indeed estimated to be responsible for a minimum of 10-20% of the construction-related emissions within the EU, representing a real challenge for decarbonisation in the built environment.

    Priorities:

    •    Integrate circularity in existing or upcoming legislation. Check opportunities to integrate circular aspects in the existing or upcoming legislation, i.e. EU Renovation Wave, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), EU’s Strategy for a Sustainable Built Environment, the revision of the Construction Products Regulation, the revisions of the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR), the new Emission Trading System (ETS). The revision of the Waste Framework Directive is expected to impact EU recycling and reuse practices for construction waste. A concrete action could be to strive for more specific targets on building and demolition waste (e.g. different targets for stony and non-stony materials or stimulation of reused materials in public procurement…).

    •    Standardisation of material and building passports all over the EU. After the work on « Digital Building Logbooks », the next step is to create standards so the passports can be used in all countries and for all products. The environmental impact should be clear for all and throughout the whole lifecycle. The availability of accurate data is an important initial step for the circular transition. In this LG, we should also look at new opportunities like AI for reverse logistics challenges.

    In relation with the first priority, the link between climate change and circular construction should become obvious. By helping local, regional and national authorities integrate circular strategies in their climate action plans, we can upscale circular principles and stimulate the transition to a circular economy. Since the impact of the construction sector on climate change is so big, the strategies to reduce this impact will bring short-term and long-term effects on climate action goals.

    Regular members of this Leadership Group:

    • ENEA
    • OVAM
  • LG#5 - Biodiversity and climate
    Coordinated by: IUCN

    In the mildest case, the current unprecedented environmental crisis is threatening our existence or our well-being and lifestyle. This crisis drives biodiversity loss and climate change on top of these environmental issues, and the solution can only come through drastic societal and systemic change.

    The circular economy is one of these crucial tools to tackle a fundamental root cause of these issues: our current unsustainable linear economic system. The Leadership Group on Biodiversity and Climate, led by IUCN, aims to help maximise the circular economy and contribute to achieving the biodiversity and climate targets. By connecting key actors in the circular economy and the nature conservation and climate debates, the group aims to help identify opportunities and ways to overcome potential challenges.

    In the past year, the Leadership Group has focused on shining a light on and highlighting the importance of the circular economy-biodiversity-climate nexus. This has included a series of reports published by its members, with another still upcoming, and it has included bringing the discussion to several high-level fora, including COP27 and COP15. At the same time, the last annual Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference dedicated an important segment of the event to this issue.

    The Leadership Group is now able to build on this solid foundation and seize the opportunity to get more concrete on specific issues and concrete examples to accelerate the transition to a circular economy that can help us meet our fast-approaching environmental targets.

    The group will focus on the following priorities in 2023:

    •    Getting concrete towards the transition would entail looking further into concrete examples, case studies, and best practices to illustrate better solutions that embrace the CE-biodiversity-climate nexus. These would help support businesses, industry, and other stakeholders on the ground better understand the steps they could take.

    •    Focusing on key sectors, especially the bioeconomy: This would entail looking into the role of biomass and the limits of the economy and furthering the understanding and uptake of a circular bioeconomy. This would also entail looking into regenerative production and contextualising that in terms of regenerative v. renewable, which would be helpful in the context of standards and standardisation, where guidance on leveraging renewable resources to meet societal needs while regenerating ecosystems is lacking. (This would involve close coordination with the LG on food and bioeconomy, and other experts in the field.)

    •    Further engaging the biodiversity and climate communities would bring the CE discussion to NGOs/grassroots organisations working on environmental action, but they need to become more familiar with the CE.

    •    Engaging with the international dimension would involve capitalising on recent developments, such as the new GBF, and engaging more closely with GACERE.

    •    Promoting policy coherence: In terms of EC packages or initiatives, while the work of the LG group would naturally feed into CE policy, it would also seek to align with crucial (upcoming) environmental policies, such as the Nature Restoration Law, as well as crucial sectoral policies linking to the bioeconomy, such as the RED, the Sustainable Food Systems Framework Initiative, and the current/future CAP (among others).

    Regular members of this Leadership Group:

    • ACR+
    • Circular Change
    • Circular Regions
    • Copa Cogeca
    • Covestro
    • CSCP
    • ECOS
    • EEA
    • Ellen MacArthur Foundation
    • ENEA
    • EuRIC
    • Foundation Earth
    • Fundación Biodiversidad
    • Holland Circular Hotspot
    • INEC
    • INNOWO
    • IUCN
    • OVAM
    • Rediscovery Centre
    • Sinnen-Wandel
    • Sitra
    • UCA
  • LG#6 - Circular Procurement

    Coordinated by: OVAM

    The European Commission mentioned in the Circular Economy Action Plan that public authorities’ purchasing power represents 14% of the EU GDP, which can serve as a powerful driver of the demand for sustainable products. To tap into this potential, the Commission will propose minimum mandatory Green Public Procurement (GPP) criteria and targets in sectoral legislation and phase in compulsory reporting to monitor the uptake of Green Public Procurement (GPP) without creating an unjustified administrative burden for public procurers. Furthermore, the Commission will continue supporting capacity building with guidance, training and disseminating good practices. Not only public procurers have a significant impact, so this leadership group will not limit its initiatives to public authorities. Integrating circular procurement ambitions and strategies in public or private tenders are crucial to achieving the circular economy transition.

    •    Link social and circular economy principles in procurement, and not see them as competing. The social and environmental impact of the European transition to a circular economy is often left behind in policymakers’ discussions. As a LG, we want to look at the broader, global scale of impacts, benefits and risks, in link with the LG on international circular diplomacy.

    •    Stimulate mandatory circular (starting from GPP) criteria to support innovation in the market and to take away the risk of the individual procurer. We aim to support the work of the EC's GPP Helpdesk and initiate a discussion within member states and contracting organizations to create the will to implement the objectives of CEAP. Through cross-fertilization on examples, publications, upcoming events between the group and the GPP Helpdesk, optimal information sharing and alignment is obtained. Bottlenecks are brought to the surface and existing examples are used to guide policy makers and private procurers.

    •    Link with other Leadership groups and initiatives so criteria or strategies for circular procurement can be translated to specific sectors. The biggest challenge for a huge topic as the circular economy is breaking down silos and getting people interested in topics, they think are far from their domain. To make circular procurement mainstream, it has to be clear how to implement the strategies for each product group (textile, construction, electronics…). But also links with the LG on Climate, economic incentives, cities and regions could bring different stakeholders together via a shared circular talk or a combined communication initiative (article, social media post, …)

    Regular members of this Leadership Group:

    • Aalborg
    • ACR+
    • Business in the Community
    • Circular Flanders
    • Circular Regions
    • CSCP
    • Ellen MacArthur Foundation
    • ENEA
    • European Environmental Bureau
    • European Plastics Converters (EuPC)
    • Haarlem
    • ICLEI
    • IRCEM
    • Kamp C
    • Kolding
    • Malmö
    • Norwegian Agency of Public and Financial Management
    • OVAM
    • Rediscovery Centre
    • Rijkswaterstaat
    • Sustainable Global Resources Ltd
    • Zero Waste Scotland
  • LG#7 - Critical Raw Materials in a Circular Economy
    Coordinated by:  EIT/EuRIC/HCH/Conseil Européen de la Remanufacture/Generation Climate Europe

    The main objective of this LG will be to facilitate relevant input from its members to different Commission Services (DG Grow, DG RTD, DG Env, JRC) to support efficient implementation of various European Initiatives linked to Critical Raw Materials (CRMs), for example, the Critical Raw Materials Act, EU Green Deal, Horizon Europe, etc.

    While all raw materials are essential for the functioning of the European economy, some are more concerned than others regarding secure and sustainable supply. The list of critical raw materials (CRMs) for the EU and the underlying European Commission (EC) criticality assessment methodology are key instruments in the EU raw materials policy context. CRMs are both of high economic importance for the EU and have an increased risk of supply disruption. Examples of CRMs include rare earth elements, cobalt and niobium. Following the publication of the draft CRM Act, this leadership group will provide access to a network of experts concerning circular economy aspects, for example, the service-life extension of products and components containing CRMs, collection and recovery of such products to meet the proposed 15% recycling rate, circular design, consumption reduction, etc.

    The group will focus on the following priorities:

    • Circular Economy talks
    • Small discussion forums between Commission Services and the CRMs LG
    • Coordinating activities relevant to CRMs by stakeholder members.

    Regular members of this Leadership Group:

    • ENEA
    • EuRIC
    • European Environment Agency
    • Holland Circular Hotspot
    • Remanufacturing Council
  • LG#8 - Economic incentives

    Coordinated by: EuRIC

    Economic incentives take different forms. They can be tax-based, market-based (EU Emissions Trading System) and a mix of both (Extended Producer Responsibility Schemes). They aim at levelling the playing field by rewarding the environmental benefits, be it in terms of resource efficiency, climate neutrality, energy savings, etc., that the circular activities bring.

    Unfortunately, economic incentives are not sufficiently used by policymakers.

    Thus, it is essential to explain their importance in transitioning towards a circular & climate-neutral economy.
    After completing the first paper on green taxation, the work focuses on EPR Schemes.

    The group will focus on the following:

    • Green taxation: further raising awareness to factor in the environmental benefits of circular activities and level the playing field with linear ones;
    • Paper on how EPR Schemes could, when needed, boost circularity
    • Circular Talks on Economic Incentives with an angle to be defined.

    Regular members of this Leadership Group:

    • Circular Regions
    • Ecopreneur
    • EEA
    • ENEA
    • European Environmental Bureau
    • Ex Tax Project
    • EXPRA
    • Holland Circular Hotspot
    • INEC
    • INNOWOUNESDA
    • ZWE
  • LG#9 - Cities and Regions

    Coordinated by: ACR+

    Local and regional areas are key levels to launch and implement systemic changes that are needed for the transition to a circular economy. Being a level of governance that is close to citizens, city authorities have a strong potential to support and influence the development of circular economy business models on their territory. On the other hand, goods are mostly produced outside of cities, in regions where synergies and symbiosis can be created both for food and industries. Interaction and mutual influence of cities and regions is therefore key.  The specific focus of this ECESP Leadership Group is the territorial approach to circular economy transition at local and regional level, therefore cities, villages and the interaction with regional areas. Participants to LG activities will meet with other participants, experts and various stakeholders to exchange knowledge and practices.

    The main objective of these activities is to help the participants to develop and implement circular economy solutions within their territory and to learn from the experience. The Cities & Regions leadership group addresses macro themes which can be seen as enabling factors for circular transition in territories. The territorial approach of the LG will look at those themes highlighting cross-cutting entry points that will facilitate a solution-oriented mutual exchange, such as: governance, enabling the development of efficient strategies and facilitating the involvement of the various kinds of stakeholders; indicators and monitoring frameworks for the transition at territorial level, from resource and environment, economic and social perspectives; testing, replication and upscaling of circular practices at territorial level through legal and economic instruments.

    Through these cross-cutting entry points, this LG will allow to exchange practices, ideas and experiences of cities and regions designing and implementing circular systemic solutions. It will particularly focus on:

    •    Local policies for sustainable and resilient food systems: addressing food, food losses and food waste in an attempt to make food systems fairer, healthier, and carbon-neutral. Food production, consumption, and waste and their connection with environmental challenges like soil, air and water quality, biodiversity loss, resources scarcity and climate change;
    •    Urban and regional circular systemic solutions on plastics and textiles: exchange of expertise and knowledge on local practices and strategies for which plastic and textile waste reduction was monitored and documented;
    •    Monitoring the impact of policy, legal and economic instruments on production and consumption, waste management, secondary raw materials, innovation. How cities follow up the implementation of policy instruments and which data they collect to assess results.

    Regular members of this Leadership Group:

    • Circle Economy
    • Circular Change
    • CSCP
    • Ecopreneur
    • ENEA
    • Eurocities
    • European Environmental Bureau
    • ICLEI
    • INEC
    • IRCEM
    • OVAM
    • RREUSE