Circular economy solutions for improving resilience and reducing environmental impacts of communities

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Based on an inclusive round of discussions on 24 September 2020

General overview

In order to boost the circular economy advances in the region, it is important to foster:
  • digitalisation, which enables faster development of supporting services to the circular transition, and by its very own nature aims at carbon neutrality in business;
  • technological development that can accelerate circular transition, and reduce costs of concrete available solutions. It is important for the region to not only re-create the already existing practices, but also nurtures the know-how to pioneer in the technology fields with comparative advantages. The region is currently still struggling with the appropriate technology, therefore, the external peer-learning and experience exchanges are welcome;
  • reliable data collection, which would enable a thorough evaluation of the state of art, and furthermore support the process of needs assessment for the region and further relevant situation forecasting in the field of circular economy;
  • mindset transformation (of individuals and societies in the region) as the primary cornerstone for the circular transition. It is of utmost importance for the region to gain awareness of circular economy being an effective tool for their economies’ empowerment, and also for the businesses in the region to start perceiving circular economy as a business opportunity, rather than the investment cost. Furthermore, an important emphasis must be given to the centralization tendencies of the countries in SEE – circular transition is needed in both urban and rural areas, but in an adjusted form. While the urban areas should, as the great polluters, focus more on the environmental aspects (such as access to clean water, sustainable mobility, sustainable construction etc.), the rural areas are majorly missing out on the social aspects, with an additional stress on the agriculture. 
The change cannot be accelerated in the right direction without inclusive collaboration – more trans-border partnerships must be made; stakeholders (policy-makers, academia, cities, businesses, NGOs and other civil society representatives) should start connecting with each other on the level of the whole region.  

Circularity in production processes

Challenges Solutions
· Economic positions of SEE countries must be taken into account, as the circular transition require an investment of some sort. · The majority of companies in the regions are SMEs, therefore, it is necessary to include them in the supply chains as well. Yet, their efforts in sustainable business models or circular economy are not encouraged enough by the state. · Brain drain to the EU countries – loss of valuable human potential. · Numerous recycling initiatives are scattered instead of recycling being approached systematically – it is important to have a national strategy. · Foreign direct investments could be considered an option to overcome the financial obstacles for countries. · National or EU subsidies or public grants must not only be available, but also companies and other entities must be made aware of HOW to apply. · Peer-learning and exchange of good practices needed on the EU level. · Mindset shift – trying to figure out what can be offered as a service, instead of a product (sharing model – e.g. car sharing). · Fostering innovation ecosystems and creativity from the region for the region.
 

Empowering consumers and public buyers

Challenges Solutions
· An average consumer in the region is unaware of the need for circular transition. There are also not enough alternative products available for aware or semi-aware consumers. · Public buyers should be the ones setting the example, yet there are still many obstacles to effective green procurement in the region. Even though several countries have adopted the laws on green procurement, there are obstacles in regards to finding local farmers (or other producers) that have a supply, big enough for the public tenders. · Empowering people with knowledge on circularity and need for a greener future (especially working with youth). · Setting common values of sustainability first, letting people know that sustainability also improves our well-being. · (Digital) networks for small producers (online platforms) should be established, as this would enable them to compete with bigger producers (and by that encourage public entities to use the provisions on green procurement in practice). · Tendering processes must not only be cost-driven, but should encompass the factor of quality and reusability as well.
 

Recycling potential in materials used

Challenges Solutions
· Materials with less recycling potential are cheaper (e.g. plastics). · Lack of infrastructure for recycling in rural areas of the majority of countries in the region. · Two biggest challenges remain plastics and batteries (there are no proper collecting facilities or factories that would be able to recycle or reuse the batteries) · Transparency in materials used in order to recycle them easier (e.g. transparency in materials used in construction – when the building is teared down, the materials cannot be recycled if their specifications are unknown) o Construction Building Information Model (CBIM) can be used in order to track and recycle materials used in construction · Initiatives for recycling on the level of individual industries – depending on the negative externalities the latter causes · Wood as an unseized potential of the region. · Seeing recycling as a business opportunity

Waste-management

Challenges Solutions
· Huge differentiation between countries in the region, which calls for a good practice exchange between them. o Lack of infrastructure o Trash not being separated (and therefore cannot be recycled) o Adjusted approaches needed · Illegal landfills that pose fire (and other natural disasters) hazards · Lack of awareness in the field of waste-management on the level of individuals (and households).   · A coordinated systemic approach to dealing with waste (which would eliminate the attempts of governments to build nuclear incinerators or even brining the waste to burn from elsewhere) · Governmental incentives for supporting good practices (e.g. payments for gathering scattered waste etc.).

Recommendations for the region

  1. Improve the domestic investment environment via an Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans in a way that it will be more susceptible for foreign direct investments.
  2. Establish an online learning platform where different stakeholders could meet, get additional information, apply for different courses held by practitioners and experts and exchange good practices.
  3. Establish a region-wide platform that is financed within the new Economic and Investment Plan for the development of national strategies for circular economy with SMART goals.
  4. Facilitate a platform of youth professionals and practitioners in the field of circular economy and enhance regional mobility and connectivity.
  5. Encourage cooperatives among the small producers in order to be more competitive on their country’s market (green procurement related), and common European market.
  6. Encourage and finance the so-called mini-Schengen initiative in order to develop a common regional market that runs under the EU-driven rules and procedures.
  7. Finance through the new Green Deal regional collecting facilities that would be able to recycle or reuse plastic and batteries.
  8. Establish an online learning course on recycling potential that is based on the good practices that exist in the EU.
  9. Develop a national strategy that envisages the labelling of recycling materials and encourages companies to recycle and reuse the materials that are currently in usage.
  10. Develop national strategies on how to import and export waste in order to avoid building nuclear incinerators.
  11. Establish a regional awareness-raising campaign on the problem of waste management.
  12. Finance through the new Green Deal bottom-up projects that aim at socialising the consumers what improper waste-management does to the environment and their local communities.
  What can be done within the weBuildBackSmart Initiative in order to accelerate the implementation of recommendations?
  • weBuildBackSmart Initiative can start forming regional consortiums that can apply to different projects within the new financial perspective that will be devoted to further consolidate the Green Europe narrative. Such projects, recognized through the inclusive round of discussion on circular economy should concretely focus on:
    1. creation of inter-regional online platform aimed at promotion of awareness-raising activities on sustainability and circular economy;
    2. creation of national online platforms for local food consumption that would enable local producers to establish collaborations for public tenders (green procurement related);
    3. creation of online platform that would enable businesses that are producing excessive waste to find other businesses (or other types of stakeholders), which could make use of their waste, by creating a business opportunities out of it (creating local/regional circular solutions). Aiming especially at the SMEs;
    4. waste-management (infrastructural and other) improvements in the region.
 
  1. Final Policy Roadmap, which will derive from the weBuildBackSmart Initiative and in cooperation with different regional actors, will be disseminated to relevant EU stakeholders through short but precise contextualisation, state-of-the-art and recommendations.
  1. weBuildBackSmart Initiative will establish an on-going live platform for circularity and sustainability with variety of activities (online courses, columns, commentaries, etc.) in order to become the first regional contact point for the decision-makers.
 

Participating organizations 

Country Organisation
North Macedonia Business Confederation of Macedonia
North Macedonia Macedonian Chambers of Commerce
North Macedonia Department for Local Economic Development (Municipality of Skopje)
North Macedonia Elipsa
North Macedonia Journalists for Human Rights
Serbia Agencija za zaštitu životne sredine
Serbia UNDP
Croatia Humana Nova  
Serbia Ministry of Environmental Protection
Croatia Fakultet ekonomije i turizma
Bosnia and Herzegovina Fond za zaštitu okoliša Federacije BiH
Bosnia and Herzegovina Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia Ministarstvo gospodarstva i održivog razvoja
Albania ECO-Partners for Sustainable Development
Montenegro Green Eye / Zeleno oko
Bosnia and Herzegovina Energis
Serbia NGO Association of young ecologists of Niksic
Croatia IRMO
Slovenia SMART center d.o.o.
Italy OBC Transeuropa  
Bosnia and Herzegovina CZZS  
Bulgaria BSDI
Kosovo EU Office in Kosovo
Montenegro Green Home
Austria ZSI
North Macedonia YfoE Macedonia
Slovenia Circular Change
Slovenia Wcycle Institute
North Macedonia Rural Youth
Albania Resource Environmental Center
Albania EDEN Centre
Albania Faculty of Natural Sciences
Albania Co-PLAN
Italy EcoSurge
Serbia Neuman-Stiftung Institute
Slovenia Complementarium
Slovenia Environmental College, Velenje
Slovenia National Youth Council
Italy EcoSurge