Description

In the light of the European Commission’s new Circular Economy Package, published on December 2nd 2016, stakeholders from business, civil society and public authorities across the EU will discuss challenges and opportunities for a circular economy in Europe and the impact of the new proposals from the EU Commission.

You are kindly invited to pre-register for the conference “Unwrapping the Package – towards a Circular Economy in Europe”, hosted by the government of The Netherlands in cooperation with the European Commission, in the light of the Dutch EU presidency in 2016.

Objective of the conference

In a circular economy, the value of materials is maintained during the product cycle, resource use is minimized and waste does not exist. The transition towards a circular economy requires action at all stages of the product life cycle: from the extraction of raw materials, through material and product design, production, distribution, consumption, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, recycling and sustainable waste management.

Wednesday 2 December the European Commission has published the Circular Economy package, consisting of proposals for waste legislation and an EU circular economy action plan. During the Netherlands’ Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2016, this proposal will be discussed in the Environment and Competitiveness Council.

In order to gain insight into the views of European stakeholders regarding the challenges and opportunities for a circular economy in Europe, the government of The Netherlands will organize a European stakeholder conference in cooperation with the European Commission.

Programme outline

January 25th: for stakeholders and policymakers (9.00-16.30)

On the 25th of January the programme is aimed at stakeholders with hands-on experience from business, civil society and public authorities across the EU, as well as policymakers from national Member States and the EU Commission.

The objective of the Stakeholder Event on 25 January is to discuss challenges and opportunities for the circular economy in Europe, based on practical experiences. These discussions should facilitate identification of common priorities for national and EU policy, and provide input for discussions in the Council of Ministers on the Commission proposal for a circular economy.

The event will open with a plenary session on the circular economy in Europe and the CE package, including speeches by high level officials. After that, stakeholders will be given the opportunity to share and discuss experiences and lessons learned in doing business, changing behavior and developing capacities for a circular economy. In a world-café setting (group discussions), a story of one of the participants will precede the discussions. If you would like to present your story, please send your proposal with a summary of the story to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

From the discussions, key-messages will be derived that can form a basis for dialogue with policymakers on needs in national and European policy. Members of European Parliament will be invited to participate as well.

January 26th: closed session for policymakers (9.00-12.30)

In an exchange between policymakers on January the 26th, policymakers from national Member States and the EU Commission will be invited to consider how national and EU policies, as proposed in the Circular Economy package, will help to achieve common objectives at the national and EU level. The session should enable sharing best policy practices, raise awareness of different policy approaches, and facilitate enhancing existing policies, tools and mechanisms.

Pre-registration

If you are interested to participate in one of these events (January 25th for all stakeholders, January 25th and 26th for policymakers only), please pre-register by using the following link: https://datalinx.eventsair.com/unwrapping-the-package---towards-a-circular-economy-in-europe/jan2016

Please note that participation will be limited to 350 persons. It is the aim to involve a balanced group of stakeholders (business, civil society, local authorities) from different backgrounds, sectors and Member States, as well as policymakers from Member States and the European Commission. This means that after pre-registration a selection will be made by the project organization to secure the balanced representation of stakeholders.

With regard to policymakers, we aim for a maximum of three policy-makers per Member-State.

Venue

The event will take place in the Van Nelle Factory, Van Nelleweg 1, 3044 BC Rotterdam - http://www.vannellefabriek.com. More detailed information will follow after confirmation of participation.

Request for stories and experiences

During the event on January the 25th, stories and cases will be shared by entrepreneurs and other stakeholders with hands-on experience in developing and implementing activities that contribute to the Circular Economy. About 30 stories can be presented as a starter to the discussions in the world-café set-up. For this, stakeholders are invited to bring forth their story on doing business, changing behavior and developing capacities for a circular economy in the following categories:

A.    Production and products for circularity (including eco-design and waste prevention, reuse, repair, refurbishment and recycling

B.    New markets and business models (including product-to-service, lease, pay-per-use, production-on-demand, and 3D-printing)

C.    Bio-based economy for circularity  (materials oriented)

D.    Promoting change in consumer behavior and life-style for circularity

E.    Operating in the secondary resources market

F.    High value recycling (including take-back schemes, cascading and upcycling)

G.    On the edge of waste or no-waste

H.    Food is no waste

I.     Sustainable sourcing

J.     Natural capital and nature-based solutions

K.    Other topic of interest related to circular economy