After three years of hard work, the URBANREC project successfully came to an end.

The project aimed to develop and implement an eco-innovative and integral bulky waste management system but also demonstrate its effectiveness in different regions.

The key outcomes of the project, available on the website, include:

• a comprehensive guide on bulky waste management,
• the implementation of demonstration activities on innovative practices for the re-use, collection and treatment of urban bulky waste
• knowledge transfer activities, thanks to regional training sessions and an online interactive tool and
• e-learning modules on cumbersome waste management.

In November 2019, ACR+ organised the UBANEX final conference. An opportunity for 90 participants and speakers to discuss the URBANREC legal recommendations to improve the European framework on bulky wastes and the project outcomes summarised in a policy brief.

Among the recommendations defended by URBANEC partners there was:

• A shared definition
• support for re-use practices via preserving collection,
• a separate target for preparing for re-use,
• extend the legal warranty for bulky products

During that event, experts from project partners also presented the results of regional pilots involving the region of Flanders, Warsaw Municipality, the region of Valencia and the District of Bornova. The event highlighted good practices related to re-use and selective collection strategies and presented the achievements made by the industrial demonstrators for the valorisation of materials like plastics, textile, foam and wood.

ACR+ organised a specific session for local and regional authorities the following day. The objective was to highlight key elements to include in local and regional re-use and recycling strategies, particularly the shared governance involving with local actors and the mix of instruments to be used (legal and economic tools, awareness-raising campaigns).