Author: Gorka Ibañez Eizaguirre and Nora Scantamburlo
The 4th coordination and support workshop organised by Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI) took place last June 6, which supposed a great opportunity to lean valuable insights for the project. FRONTSHIP attended the event as one of the project funded under the Horizon 2020 Green Deal 3.2 Call and member of the Thematic Working Group (TWG) for Circular Industries and Industrial Symbiosis: TWG Circular Industries and Industrial Symbiosis | Circular Cities and Regions Initiative.
The event opened with a panel discussion of several experts on circular economy, who highlighted significant progress and ongoing challenges in advancing the circular economy across Europe. Participants shared insights on circular economy, circular buildings and construction, circular resource management, circular industries and industrial symbiosis. Key takeaways included the need for a mindset shift, policy and tax reforms, and greater transparency.
Reflecting on the achievements of CCRI’s working groups, participants noted the importance of regulatory support, investment, and ongoing research, particularly in construction materials. Building group identity and maintaining open dialogue were also seen as crucial. Looking ahead, participants also envisioned more targeted peer learning, increased pilot funding, broader engagement (especially of students and communities), and stronger ties with other EU initiatives. The first part of the event concluded with a call for improved methods, support mechanisms, and strategic focus to scale up circular practices effectively, followed by an engaging workshop that made participants reflect on all the lessons learnt throughout the event and their previous experience on circular economy field.
After that, the event shifted towards a focus on concrete policy recommendations for driving Europe’s circular transition, tackling thematic blocs like regulation and implementation, financial and economic aspects, technical aspects, stakeholder interaction and collaboration, awareness and skills. Following FRONTSH1P’s circular systemic solutions (CSS), and connecting them to all the discussed measures, the following valuable conclusions were extracted from the event:
Regarding wood packaging (CSS1), the transition towards circular wood packaging involves promoting eco-design and reparability, enabling longer product lifespans and reuse. It would be advisable to applying harmonized end-of-life criteria, particularly for bio-based and treated woods, to enhance safety and recycling feasibility. Leveraging Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes would also ensure that environmental impacts are internalized by producers, encouraging circular design. Furthermore, Green Public Procurement (GPP) should prioritize reusable and recyclable wood packaging, stimulating market demand for circular products.
Moreover, the food and feed system (CSS2) must follow the circular hierarchy of “food before feed before energy”, which prioritizes human consumption of surplus food and only then redirects suitable by-products into animal feed. Policies should enable food redistribution networks, upcycling food waste into high-quality feed, regulatory clarity on hygiene and animal by-products. Changes to labelling rules and expiration dates can reduce premature disposal, while valorising agricultural residues supports both environmental and rural development outcomes. These measures directly align with the EU Farm to Fork Strategy.
About circular water and nutrient flows (CSS3), the policy recommendations could be focused on nutrient recovery from manure, sludge, and organic waste, safe wastewater reuse under the EU Water Reuse Regulation and the promotion of bio-based fertilizers and digestate. Moreover, coherence across the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive is vital to scale up these practices, and investment in nutrient recovery technologies and recognition of circular practices in farming policy could also help close nutrient loops and reduce reliance on synthetic fertilizers.
Finally, plastic and rubber waste (CSS4) are still persistent and resource-intensive challenges. The recommendations emphasize phasing out non-recyclable plastics, setting recycled content requirements, eco-modulating EPR fees to reflect recyclability and toxicity, and accelerating implementation of the Single Use Plastics Directive. Furthermore, to reduce reliance on incineration, an EU-wide cap on plastic waste burning is proposed, coupled with infrastructure investment for advanced recycling. Greater cross-border collaboration and robust secondary raw material markets will help scale circular plastic value chains.
Beyond the above, the session also stressed that achieving systemic circularity requires regulatory harmonization across Member States, digital Product Passports for product traceability and lifecycle data, EU funding instruments (Cohesion Policy, NextGenerationEU) to support innovation and infrastructure. These enablers create the foundation for effective and scalable circular strategies across all material streams.
In sum, the CCRI 4th coordination and support workshop was a great opportunity for FRONTSH1P and all its partners to get valuable lessons that can foster the execution and development of the circular systemic solutions and the objectives by which the project was created.
