A key solution to climate change: sustainable materials management

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With the upcoming COP21 event in Paris and in anticipation of the imminent publication of the second Circular Economy package by the European Commission in December 2015, ACR+ highlights in a position paper the importance of supporting the three first levels of the waste hierarchy within public policies.

Brussels, Belgium – Due to security measures in connection with the alert level in Brussels Capital Region, the European Committee of the Regions cancelled an event that ACR+ was organizing yesterday in its premises, in cooperation with Zero Waste Europe and Zero Waste France. The conference was offering to discuss the transformation of the EU into a low carbon economy, building on the recent publication of a report, “The Potential Contribution of Waste Management to a Low Carbon Economy”.

Although the conference has to be postponed, ACR+ wants to insist on the role of sustainable materials management as a key solution to climate change. It is therefore publishing today a position paper calling decision-makers to better acknowledge the potential of local and regional authorities (LRAs) to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by providing direct support to LRAs circular economy plans and initiatives.

“True resource efficiency and the adoption of a life-cycle perspective when elaborating public policies represent a tremendous potential in GHG savings, which is still not fully considered,” explains Françoise Bonnet, ACR+ Secretary General. ACR+ calls to set enabling conditions for a transition to a circular economy by applying the best possible regulatory approaches and economic incentives that will catalyze and scale-up the implementation of climate actions.

As a conclusion, ACR+ reminds that applying circular economy principles would, besides climate change gains, provide economic, energy and resource savings, as well as boost job creation.

ACR+ position paper is available here.

Download the full press release