Funseam, the Chair of Circular Economy and Sustainability of the TecnoCampus (Mataró) and the UNESCO Chair on Sustainability at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, with the collaboration of Accenture and Jaime Ferrer (project director), have developed the project “Circular Economy Spain” whose objective is the Identification of Opportunities and the elaboration of an Action Plan directed to companies and of the administrations, jointly with more than 100 companies and sectorial entities.
The document analyzes the current situation and opportunities in circular economy models in different business sectors, in addition to detecting barriers to change, identifying instruments and proposing practical recommendations to administrations, sector associations and companies.
The project has been coordinated by Jaime Ferrer and has had the collaboration of Accenture. In total, about 100 companies and sector associations have participated, belonging to 11 branches of activity: energy, agri-food, automotive, logistics, construction, tourism, textile, water cycle, cities, ICT sector and banking.
The research addresses the relevance of business models and best practices in each of the sectors when applying the circular economy. Needs are analyzed in matters such as: regulatory changes, key technologies, training and employment skills, as well as the stimuli and public aid necessary to make the circular economy more profitable than the traditional linear economy by motivating the actors (society and business).
The objective of this initiative is to contribute to the achievement of the measures included in the Spanish Circular Economy Strategy 2030 (EEEC) announced by the Spanish Government.
According to Jaime Ferrer, “companies agree that circular economy models have a different importance depending on the sector; we refer to issues such as ecodesign, the use of renewable resources, the recovery of materials, the extension of useful life, the business models of “servitization” or the platforms of shared consumption ”.
Mar Isla, researcher at the TecnoCampus Chair of Circular Economy and Sustainability, at Pompeu Fabra University, believes that: “if we aspire to meet the EEEC 2030 goals, measures will be needed to promote the incorporation of recovered materials in the production cycles in all sectors and, in addition, the principles of repairability and extension of the useful life of products will have to be integrated into business models. "
Jordi Morató, researcher at the UNESCO Chair on Sustainability at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, is surprised at the level of awareness of companies when facing this change and the clarity when it comes to identifying the barriers that make it difficult: " We will only achieve the objectives of the EEEC 2030 if regulation and incentives mobilize private capital to develop a state network for the collection and recovery of both domestic fractions and industrial waste. Next Generation funding from the EU will not be enough. "
Joan Batalla, CEO of Funseam, emphasizes: “The new regulations promote renewable energy and waste recovery, but the transition towards the circular economy will require new adjustments, particularly in terms of stimulating private capital. We must promote business models that promote energy saving, waste recovery and renewable energy generation networks, as well as projects for industrial and energy symbiosis between complementary sectors ".
The document provides administrations with some proposals for the design of regulatory measures, as well as specific assistance programs for the real needs of companies. Jaime Ferrer highlights, for example, that “the measures to support the electric vehicle should be complemented with measures that facilitate the industrial reconversion of the sector towards activities such as the development of new materials, the conversion of internal combustion vehicles into electric vehicles and the remanufacturing of components for their reincorporation in the productive processes of the manufacture of vehicles and other industrial goods. "
The conclusions of the project are being made known to companies and administrations. The reports related to 8 sectors (energy, water cycle, textiles, tourism, transport and logistics, automotive and industrial goods, consumption and food and construction) have been finalized. The 11 sectorial reports derived from the investigation as well as a general report are expected to be published at the beginning of 2022.
Download the Document: Here
Contact information:
Jaime Ferrer, project coordinator: jferrer@iberflavours.com
Mar Isla: mislap @ tecnocampus
Joan Batalla: jbatalla@funseam.com
Jordi Morató: jordi.morato@upc.edu