The yearly European event Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference took place on March 6th and 7th in Brussels and was organized by the European Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee. 2015’s outcome of the Circular Economy Action Plan was presented and the challenges to come for the circular economy were outlined.

EDUCA Business Association was present at this appointment about the circular economy through Maribel Barrante and Pilar García, who brought out the good results from the Circular Economy Action Plan adopted three years ago. The 54 actions that were established on this plan have already been accomplished or are being developed currently.

The circular economy has contributed to job creation in the European Union. According to available data, it has also created new business opportunities during these three years due to the arrival of new business models and the promotion of emerging markets. Data is clear: in 2016, “circular” activities such as recycling, reusing and repairing produced almost 147,000 million euros and represented the target for a great inversion.

There’s still so much to do in terms of the circular economy! One of the ongoing challenges after establishing contact with different companies is researching on fields that were not considered in 2015’s Action Plan, taking inspiration from the example of the European strategy for plastics within a circular economy. Thus, following this model, other sectors with a high environmental impact of circularity (such as mobility, mining, furniture, food and drinks or textiles) could also benefit from the circular economy.