In a bid to better reflect its priorities, the Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and sustainable Resource management changed its name to the Association of Cities and Regions for sustainable Resource management. Still known as ACR+, the network of over 90 members continues its work of supporting cities and regions in their way towards a more sustainable future.
Brussels, Belgium – Speaking today at the conference “Waste legislation review – regions and cities for a circular economy” organised by the European Committee of the Regions, Françoise Bonnet, ACR+ General Secretary, announced that the network changed its name to become solely the Association of Cities and Regions for sustainable Resource management.
Created in Pamplona in May 1994, the Association of Cities for Recycling (ACR-AVR) became in 2005 the Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and sustainable Resource management, known as ACR+. This change reflected the evolution of the network: from waste to products and resources, from EU-15 to new EU Member States and South-Eastern Mediterranean countries, and from public partnerships to multi-stakeholder ones. Since that time, the context has changed with people becoming aware of the need to abandon the current linear economic model and the consumption-production patterns associated with it. It is clear that producers, consumers, retailers, decision makers and all other stakeholders should aim to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, towards a more resource-efficient Europe and the development of new businesses and lifestyles.
This was a concern for ACR+ since its early days. Keeping its core missions, the network has decided to highlight even more that resource efficiency will not be reached only through recycling but also thanks to the promotion of waste prevention actions, re-use and repair initiatives, the support of eco-design, the implementation of legal and economic instruments, and many other measures at different levels. This is why, as of January 2017, the “recycling” part of the name has been left aside and ACR+ is now the short name for the Association of Cities and Regions for sustainable Resource Management.
Following this announcement, Françoise Bonnet added: “With this slight change, ACR+ just wants to emphasize what it has been advocating since its creation: the first levels of the waste hierarchy, especially prevention should be at the centre of material resource strategies. In the current context, local and regional authorities are key actors in the shift towards more resource efficiency. They have the capacity to boost new economic models with less resource wastage while safeguarding human well-being.”
Commenting on this change of name, Josep Maria Tost i Borràs, ACR+ President, said: “Becoming the Association of Cities and Regions for sustainable Resource management enables ACR+ to be more inclusive and shows that a wide range of solutions is available for local and regional authorities wanting to improve their performances. The best practices developed by ACR+ members and then shared by the network are the proof that circular economy does already exist in some territories and can be implemented, when the political will is there.”