Leadership Groups
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 topics, with a view to bringing together experts and business operators to discuss circular aspects and policy implications.
The term of the Leadership Groups 2023 - 2024 ran until the 2024 Annual Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference, where they presented the outcomes of their discussions. 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:
- Enabling circular behaviours among citizens;
- Fostering hubs of circular citizen engagement;
- Further disseminating knowledge about the topic through their podcast series.
Regular members of this Leadership Group:
- Circular Change
- ENEA
Coordinated by: RREUSE
The Textiles Leadership Group aims to open up the 2022 EU Textiles Strategy to a broader stakeholder discussion and help bring it to life, continuing its efforts in 2024. Coordinated by RREUSE, the group brings together around 20 member organisations from the textiles value chain. In the past years, it organised #EUCircularTalks events that reached hundreds of participants, demonstrating the significant appetite among European and international stakeholders to understand what it truly means to transform the textiles industry and consumption patterns.
In 2024, the group will continue focusing on the priorities identified in 2023: the revision of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, as well as the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). The overall aim is to facilitate information and intelligence exchange among group members, nurturing the contacts built over the past four years.
The group will focus on the following priorities:- Ecodesign - Upcoming ESPR Delegated Act on Textile Products (durability, recyclability, recycled content);
- Waste Framework Directive - Targeted revision of the WFD and EPR schemes;
- End-of-Waste criteria for textile waste;
- Circular business models.
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
Coordinated by: INNOWO
The circular bioeconomy and biobased value chains are crucial to the transition to the circular economy, decarbonisation and the green transition. The sectors have significant potential for closing the loop in the circular economy.
The Leadership Group on Circular Bioeconomy will continue to highlight the importance and complexity of the circular bioeconomy as a driver of the transition towards a circular economy in Europe.
The leadership group will have four key priorities:- Industrial symbiosis: the bioeconomy as an important element of the value chain, an enabler of and barrier to building the ecosystem in the most efficient way;
- Promotion of biobased products, especially in packaging and textiles;
- Education on how to minimise food waste and how to build Circular Food Hubs as integral components of the bioeconomy;
- Promotion of bioremediation as a tool for the clean environment.
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 - Circular built environment
Coordinated by: Circular Flanders
Considering the sector’s significant environmental footprint, 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 to enhance energy efficiency and renewable energy 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’, this is estimated to be responsible for a minimum of 10-20% of construction-related emissions within the EU, representing a real challenge for decarbonisation in the built environment.
This leadership group will have three key priorities:- Focusing on higher R strategies in the building sector (rethink, refuse, reuse);
- Translating circular principles into pragmatic educational programmes for construction workers;
- Highlighting the link between climate change and circular construction.
Regular members of this Leadership Group:
- ENEA
- OVAM
LG#5 - Biodiversity and climate
Coordinated by: IUCN
The current unprecedented environmental crisis drives biodiversity loss and climate change on top of the environmental issues which can only be remedied by drastic societal and systemic change. The circular economy is a crucial tool for tackling a fundamental root cause of these issues: our current unsustainable linear economic system.
The Leadership Group on Biodiversity and Climate aims to keep up the discussions on the circular economy, biodiversity and climate.
The group will focus on:
- Engaging with the international dimension of the circular economy;
- Utilising online tools to track the implementation of biodiversity strategies and advance towards set targets;
- Enhancing collaboration with other leadership groups to look further into examples, case studies and good practices to better illustrate solutions that embrace the circular economy-biodiversity-climate nexus;
- Engaging with stakeholders from the environmental and biodiversity domain more strongly in circular economy discussions;
- Introducing measures to facilitate transformative change in biodiversity governance.
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 and EU Competitiveness
Coordinated by: Circular Flanders
The European Commission mentioned in the Circular Economy Action Plan that public authorities’ purchasing power represents 14% of 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 GPP without creating an unjustified administrative burden on public procurers. Furthermore, the Commission will continue to support capacity building with guidance, training and good practices. Public procurers are not the only ones to have a significant impact, so this leadership group will not limit its activities to public authorities. Integrating circular procurement ambitions and strategies into public or private tenders is crucial to delivering the circular economy transition.
This leadership group will have three key priorities:
- Scaling up the insights and results from all relevant EU projects and helping implement the recommendations from those experiments;
- Exploring the impact of effective communication on the environment;
- Delving into the broader implications of digitalisation on circular procurement.
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 - Towards a European Network of Circular Economy Hubs
Coordinated by: Holland Circular Hotspot
Circular hubs (or platforms or hotspots) are catalysts for the circular economy. They exist at city, regional, national and even international level. They consist of frontrunners and connect up all stakeholders needed for the circular transition (government, knowledge institutes, businesses and civil society representatives). They are coalitions of the willing and can combine top-down governance and bottom-up initiatives. The hubs translate ideas into action in line with the 10-R circularity model. This refers to circular systemic actions geared to the region’s metabolism. From hub networks, dedicated communities emerge that start up initiatives that can scale up to viable business value chains.
This leadership group aims to better understand these Hubs’ working mechanisms and incentivise them by mapping and analysing emerging and existing national, regional and local hubs, along with their governance models and tools.
The group will focus on learning opportunities and facilitate effective collaboration among the hubs and their stakeholders.
The group will identify potential synergies geared to the development and implementation of systemic circular solutions through:
- The exchange of good practices and processes on how to tap the grassroots energy of circular economy entrepreneurs and link them to other stakeholders such as industry, knowledge institutes and civil society;
- Sharing toolboxes allowing us to work alongside the government on regulation and incentives that actually work to remove barriers and stimulate opportunities.
Coordinated by: INNOWO and IUCN
Economic incentives take different forms. They can be tax-based, market-based (EU Emissions Trading System) or a mix of both (Extended Producer Responsibility schemes). They aim to level the playing field by rewarding the environmental benefits that the circular activities bring, which can include resource efficiency, climate neutrality and energy savings.
Unfortunately, policymakers do not make adequate use of economic incentives. It is therefore essential to explain their importance in the shift to a circular and climate-neutral economy.
This leadership group will have two key priorities:
- Systemic approach to advancing the circular transition using economic incentives. This can include promoting circularity as an economic model rather than as an addition or change to our inherited linear economy;
- Assessment and examples of the failures of linear model modification and providing justification and arguments for the comprehensive implementation of circularity in statistics, taxation system and overall macroeconomic goals.
Regular members of this Leadership Group:
- Circular Regions
- Ecopreneur
- EEA
- ENEA
- European Environmental Bureau
- Ex Tax Project
- EXPRA
- Holland Circular Hotspot
- INEC
- INNOWOUNESDA
- ZWE