ACR+

The BRINC project assists public buyers in capacity building, needs assessment, market engagement and procurement implementation. The project showcased its activities to facilitate the purchasing of innovative solutions to foster circular economy during a workshop held on 19 March 2024 in Brussels.

Two public buyers presented their procurement cases and gathered useful feedback and inputs from participants on how to move forward.

Institut Català de la Salut (ICS) aims to procure a solution to reuse or recycle single use sanitary materials. However, several factors hamper the search for a suitable technological solution (e.g. lack of capacity to handle the high volume of waste or the legal obligation of sterilization prior to recycling). One of the proposed solutions to overcome these hurdles that came from the BRINC workshop is to begin by a smaller procurement for the recycling of one single group of products.

The City of Copenhagen aims to procure a diaper recycling plant and has run a successful pilot of collecting diapers as a separate fraction. During the workshop, Copenhagen received valuable insights from a working plant in the Netherlands. Participants highlighted the need to futureproof a plant to be able to handle diapers of the future and discussed the possible recycling rates. The need and interest for cross-border collaboration to increase the volume of diapers was also reiterated.

The BRINC project has so far shown the importance of facilitating exchange between market innovators and public buyers, and of building capacity on the topic of procurement. The BRINC workshop featured other initiatives at European and regional level striving towards this same goal. One of them is the Public Buyers Community Platform, a forum aiming at connecting, informing, collaborating, and focusing efforts to promote digital, green, and social transition pathways. Participants also learned about the Flemish Region's Programme for Innovation Procurement and the Brussels Region's Sustainable public procurement strategy, which both aim at supporting local administrations in transitioning to circular and innovative purchasing practices through customised assistance. In addition, the Catalan Government presented the regional Public Procurement Action Plan (2022-2025), outlining the objectives to enhance environmental sustainability in procurement practices.

Lastly, the session closed with the presentation of the C-PRONE initiative, a newly created community on circular public procurement offering avenues for information exchange, a robust knowledge repository, and valuable policy insights to facilitate successful circular procurement endeavours.

Presentations from the day are available on the event’s page.

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To meet the demands of the green transition, there is a pressing need for upskilling and reskilling of workers. The Mastery project is dedicated to amplifying green job opportunities by acknowledging micro-credentials. Micro-credentials, as per the Council of the European Union definition, certify the learning outcomes of short-term learning experiences, for example, a short course or training. They offer a flexible, targeted way to help people develop the knowledge, skills, and competences they need for their personal and professional development.  

Embracing micro-credentials will facilitate quicker responses to skill requirements and enhance adaptable qualification and training in alignment with European trends. In order to help shape the micro-credential system effectively, the project has created a questionnaire aimed at understanding your experiences with capacity-building activities and skills. Your participation in this survey before 17 May, would be invaluable.

Last week, ACR+ took an active role throughout the World Circular Economy Forum, engaging in various sessions and activities aimed at advancing the circular economy agenda. On the first day, our secretary general, Françoise Bonnet, was one of the five guest speakers at the  session titled "The circular economy we want for Europe 2024-2029", along with Ambroise Fayolle (Vice-President of the European Investment Bank), Florika Fink-Hooijer (Director General of DG ENV),  Sandra Dokic (State Secretary, Ministry of Environmental Protection of Serbia), and Pascal Bourguet (COO and Channel Chief of Lenovo International Market). The speakers critically examined the EU's commitment to circularity and identified areas requiring urgent action. This session provided a platform for insightful discussions on the role of the circular economy in addressing climate change and enhancing competitiveness in Europe.

On the second day, the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform held its 2024 conference in collaboration with the WCEF to add a dedicated track showcasing Europe’s progress. One of the sessions, co-organised by ACR+ as member of the ECESP, on effective and inclusive circular transition governance in cities and regions saw the participation of ACR+ members Navarra and OVAM.

Another moment of note during the WCEF was DG RTD’s Accelerator session contributing to the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI) community. ACR+ leads CCRI’s thematic working group on circular resource management, and also participated in the session, which delved into how circular projects can leverage impact measurement practices and alignment with EU regulations to attract investments. The day before, in another Accelerator session, ACR+ member Zero Waste Scotland offered to discover the pivotal role of cities, regions and local governments in translating national circular economy ambitions into action through a place-based approach.

On 18 April, ACR+ actively engaged in discussions at the 6^th  Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform meeting, exploring how Zero Pollution strategies can help cities and regions achieve their environmental ambitions.

Throughout the week, we welcomed in our offices and met with several ACR+ members and project partners, like Afvall Norge, Northern Cities Netherlands, or Hamburg,  who came to Brussels for the event. It is always a pleasure to discuss with you!

Last but not least, we attended several sessions, for example on the built environment, on which we will be reporting in the coming weeks.