During the Baltic Circular Procurement Congress held on 2 and 3 September, ACR+ and its member OVAM/Circular Flanders co-hosted a workshop on “Supporting circular procurement for construction, furniture and ICTs” introducing the ProCirc project and some of its recent developments. The workshop gathered about 40 representatives of public authorities, suppliers or other experts. It presented the stakes and challenges faced by the three sectors of construction, furniture and ICTs, the main activities foreseen within the ProCirc project, existing cases of circular procurement in those sectors.
Moreover, ACR+ has had several meetings with some EU federations active in the sectors targeted by ProCirc, including EFIC, EBC and FIEC, with the objective to introduce them to ProCirc and have preliminary discussions about potential cooperation. Involving federations’ members in local Communities of Practice, sharing of case studies and business models as well as getting feedback for improving the EU framework on circular procurement are on the menu of these planned cooperations.
On 22 September, several ProCirc partners including ACR+ members Zero Waste Scotland and Rijkswaterstaat co-organised a webinar on circular procurement in the corporate furniture sector. This transnational event explored why circular economy approaches are beneficial for the environment and society, as well as the financial benefits for the organisations that buy furniture in this way, and how procurers and suppliers can adapt to meet the challenges which this presents.
In order to keep being updated with ProCirc progress and news, don’t hesitate to subscribe to its newsletter. The 1st issue of the newsletter featured the lead partner of the project, Rijkswaterstaat, as well as one of the Belgian pilots focusing on construction and an animated video prepared by Zero Waste Scotland on circular procurement.