06/11/2019 – URBANREC final conference

Bulky waste is a challenging waste stream since there are about 19 million tonnes of bulky waste produced per year, 60% of it being landfilled, and we are far from a consistent approach at EU level to address this issue. Valuable products and materials are lost when they could be kept in the loop of product use and resource efficiency, in particular through reuse, repair and recycling.

After more than three years of hard work on identifying and testing solutions for bulky waste management, the URBANREC partners presented the outcomes of the project during a final conference held on 6 November in Brussels within the perspective of circular economy in cities. The conference was hosted at the European Parliament and presented the results of regional pilots involving the region of Flanders, Warsaw Municipality, the region of Valencia and the District of Bornova, as well as legal recommendations to improve bulky waste related legislation. The event highlighted good practices related to reuse and selective collection strategies and presented the achievements made by industrial demonstrators for the valorization of materials like plastics, textile, foam and wood.
See the presentations

Time	Description
10:30-18:30	Circular Economy in Cities – URBANREC final conference
10:30-13:00	Circular Economy in Cities – Policy Dialogue, European Parliament, Room JAN 6Q1
10:30	Registration of participants
11:00	Welcome & overall moderation (ACR+)
11:05	Presentation of URBANREC project (AIMPLAS)
11:10	The policy framework for circular economy in cities: MEP Ms. Maria Spyraki (EPP, Greece) Mr. Antonios Sfakiotakis, Finnish permanent representation (tbc) Mrs. Emmanuelle Maire, European Commission, DG ENV, Unit B1
11:40	Opportunities & barriers: URBANREC within circular economy perspective Panel discussions focusing on policy & legal aspects related to plastics, textile, reuse Topics to be discussed: clarification of scope and monitoring (also place of bulky waste as part of municipal waste, inclusion of non-clothing textile in the textile collection target or not); place of reuse and how to facilitate it (avoiding the waste stage); boosting the recycling market for non-packaging plastics and non-clothing textiles (standards for collection & recycling?) Participants: MEP Ms. Maria Spyraki (EPP, Greece) Mr. Antonios Sfakiotakis, Finnish permanent representation Mrs. Emmanuelle Maire, European Commission, DG ENV, Unit B1 Representatives of the Legal Working Group: Ana Isabel Crespo Soler, AIMPLAS; John Wante, OVAM; Piotr Barczak, EEB; Sebastien Ricard, PAPREC
12:55	Conclusions (ACR+)
13:00	End of Policy Dialogue
13:30-18:30	Circular Economy in Cities: the results of URBANREC and the future challenges for circular economy, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (Rue Vautier 29, 1000 Brussels)
Permanent	Exhibition area (permanent): Stands with Regional demonstrators / Technological demonstrators Posters on selected H2020 projects
13:30	Networking lunch
14:30	Research and competitiveness for circular economy in cities: European Commission (European policy framework) Jiannis Kougoulis, EASME (Horizon Europe programme) VITO (name tbc)
15:00	Presentation of URBANREC key technical results and how they can contribute to circular economy IMOG RAMPF ECOFRAG IOS-PIB
15:50	Networking break
16:20	Panel discussion about perspectives for circular economy approaches for bulky waste in cities - European Commission - URZAD/Warsaw - DV/Valencia - Bornova
17:10	Conclusions (ACR+, AIMPLAS)
17:20	Networking & matchmaking session
18:30	End of URBANREC conference

07/11/2019 – Workshop on circular economy in urban areas: the challenges of reuse, plastics and textile

On 7 November, ACR+ and URBANREC partners animated a working group activity targeting specifically local & regional authorities, in order to facilitate transfer of URBANREC results, share good practices and help improve local & regional authorities’ strategies. The workshop addressed how to develop and implement a step-by-step strategy about reuse, non-packaging plastics, and non-clothing textiles. Experience and approaches from the participants were exchanged and roadmaps for implementation were drafted.

Time	Description
10:00-12:00	Workshop on circular economy in urban areas: the challenges of reuse, plastics and textile, Delegation of Catalonia to the EU | Rue de la Loi 227, 1000 Brussels
10:00	Welcome & introduction of the objectives of the session (ACR+)
10:15	Working group sessions on reuse, non-packaging plastics, and non-clothing textiles Roundtable introduction of each participant Discussion about the following issues: Governance: what stakeholders to involve, how and when Targeting and Monitoring: how to set up quantitative targets, how to ensure that accurate data is gathered, how to make the link with climate policy and carbon impact Citizens’ engagement: how to reach non-motivated individuals and move from awareness to commitment Costs: how to make sure that the costs for the municipalities are covered Public procurement: what tools (criteria, assessment tools) can efficiently support the use of public procurement Preparation of a roadmap for the specific topic of the group (reuse, plastics, textiles)
11:45	Feedback from the various sessions
12:00	End of Working Group session

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement Nº 690103