Inclusivity is at the heart of a circular economy. For a circular transition that is just and equitable, no one should be left behindโan urgent imperative echoed in the EU Green Deal. Right from the start, stakeholders’ views must be accounted for by policymakers to design a system that is cognisant of the environment, economy, and society’s wellbeing, while being mindful of the limits to growth.
This intention was made amply clear at the high-level Circular Economy Stakeholder Dialogue organised by the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ECESP) in Brussels on April 10. International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), the communications and dissemination partner in the W2W project, represented the EU-funded project consortium at the event.
The purpose of the dialogue was to provide a forum for stakeholders to share views and offer feedback on ongoing legislative proposals and gather insights that will contribute to EU Green Week in June.
As an EU-funded project, participation in the dialogue was crucial for Wood2Wood as we are developing a wood waste classification framework that will help to improve material flow management and support the transition towards a more circular wood supply chain in the European Union. This carries the potential to reduce Europe’s strategic dependency on global supply chains and build greater autonomy and resilience, which is critical for maintaining the competitiveness of European industry.
However, this requires consistency in legislations.
Thus, the dialogue was the right platform to raise this question to policymakers and other stakeholders.
The event kick-started with some high-level remarks from European Commission officials followed by a discussion on the Clean Industrial Deal, and four thematic breakout sessions focusing on the EU Bioeconomy Strategy and the Circular Economy Act.
Luis Planas Herrera, DG Environment, emphasised the bioeconomy strategy which is key to European resilience and competitiveness.
“๐๐ข๐จ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐’๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ฌ. ๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ญ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ค๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ข๐จ-๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ฌ, ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐๐ก ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ค๐๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฑ๐ญ,” said Herrera.
This speaks directly to our project, as our core objective is to use a wood waste cascade upcycling valorisation approach. By efficiently utilising resources using residues and recycled materials for material use, we will ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐โin our case, the EU’s wood-based industries.
Wood2Wood project aims to increase use of secondary raw materials like wood waste derived from construction and demolition (C&D) and furniture sectors to make high-value products and reduce waste that ends up in landfills or incineration facilities.
We will demonstrate the efficient and sustainable value chains for the production of:
- Wood without pollutants
- Biocomposite building materials
- Biopolymers
- Polyols
- Chemical detergents
- Recovery of nutrients, through the use of technologies and tools that allow the selection of optimal cascade paths for further uses of wood products and their materials.
This is how W2W will support the transition towards a circular economy by promoting closed-loop systems where materials are continually repurposed and reused, extending their useful life.
As mentioned earlier, W2W asked this question on Green Skills and that speaks to our recently held REACT Cluster Webinar series: “How can industries attract and retain top talent in today’s rapidly evolving landscape?”
Our engagement at ECESP is important because:
- We recognise that automation and digitalisation is reshaping the industrial sector
- Upskilling and talent retention are key to ensuring a future-proof workforce.
But how to start this process?
Earlier last month, Jorge Tiago Martins from VTT designed a Horizon Scanning Survey asking for feedback from Circular Economy stakeholders with the same question: What are the emerging future green skills required to drive these circular strategies and processes for a circular transition?
The Breakout Session 2 on “๐๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ซ ๐๐ข๐จ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐ง ๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐’๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ข๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐” at the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform invited the audience to reflect on this key question: “What would you like to see in the bioeconomy strategy from the competitiveness perspective?”
From Wood2Wood’s perspective, our project wants to understand the best practices for engaging with stakeholders across different sectors for successful project scaling, especially given the EU’s strategic focus on embedding the circular bioeconomy in the value chain.
Wood2Wood project actively engaged with the forum, including policymakers, industry leaders, civil society, and researchers, with a pressing question:
“๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐จ’๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป, ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ณ๐ถ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐จ-๐น๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ-๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ณ๐๐น ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด?”
While not directly related to our main question, increasing possibilities of green public procurement and creating a more level playing field between bio-based alternatives and other products were mentioned multiple times, and this could find its way into the EU’s Bioeconomy Strategy going forward.
On a broader level, however, Wim Haentjens suggested that sustainable supply of biomass is crucial, and knowing that there will be demands on food, energy, and materials sectors, looking at every source of biomass will be very importantโso that will be the pillar of the bioeconomy strategy to ensure sustainable supply.
Thanks to Akrivi Korba from I-SENSE Group/ICCS for coordinating the questions to ask!
For a truly Circular and Just Transition, meaningful stakeholder engagement prior to framing policies is imperative.
The European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform ECESP in Brussels was a step in that direction.