Category: Projects and initiatives

Circular regions: Cross-border capacity building for developing circular regions

Posted on by Tatiana

Despite the fact that several activities have been carried out in Slovakia and Hungary since the adoption of the EU Strategy and Circular Economy Action Plan in 2015, both countries still significantly lag behind the circular economy and eco-innovation leaders as well as the EU-27 average. In 2018, Slovakia and Hungary ranked 23rd and 22nd in the Eco-Innovation Index, being among the poorest performers in EU-27. Both countries deliver poor results in terms of material efficiency, municipal waste management, scientific research and innovation activity of small and medium-sized enterprises.

In order to accelerate the transmission of circular economy principles to the business sector, the partner organizations arranged multiple activities to deal with the shortcomings. Partners conducted a mapping of the cross border regions and collected sector-specific insights and information about the main barriers in closing the loops on the side of companies. Further to that, they prepared training materials on topics related to circular economy and about the ways to assess a circularity level of an organization. As there is a constant lack of circular economy experts and their concentration is mainly in the capitals, the partners organized training workshops with selected professionals from the field. These also served partner organizations to extend their portfolio of services and advise the organizations on how they can improve their circularity level. Based on specific meetings with SMEs and stakeholders, the partners identified concrete measures, which were integrated into reports with best practices that can serve the public. On top of that, partners strengthened the network of stakeholders with potential to apply principles of circular economy. For that purpose, they also developed a concept of the circularity service, which brought these principles closer to the regions.

Partners: Slovak Business Agency, Institute for circular Economy, Magyarországi Üzleti Tanács a Fenntartható Fejlődésért, IFKA Közhasznú Nonprofit Kft

Vedúci partner

Slovak Business Agency (SK)

Projektový partner

Inštitút cirkulárnej ekonomiky (SK)

Projektový partner

Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary (HU)

Projektový partner

IFKA Közhasznú Nonprofit Kft (HU)

CR Trends driving circular economy
Circular economy basics & why go circular
Working with the Circularity Check
Supporting the CR consulting process

Textile and clothing industry: problems and solutions (2020)

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The nature of clothing production has changed radically. With the development of the textile and clothing industry, the company’s approach to clothing has completely changed. A few decades ago, people went shopping for clothes once a season, but later came a change in the form of so-called fast fashion – fast fashion. The fashion industry brought with it a number of negatives and became a dirty and cruel industry. Although it brings a livelihood to many people, incomparably more is earned by the owners of fashion brands. Cheap clothing brings the exploitation of workers and poor working conditions, the suffering of a number of animals, the accumulation of waste in landfills and in the wild, the release of pollutants into the environment, or the production of greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change. So it’s time to change this business and make it more sustainable.
The document is intended for all who want to make a comprehensive overview of current problems and potential solutions in the textile and clothing industry in the world and Slovakia.
The publication is part of the Coherent Europe for Sustainable Development project supported by EuropeAid and a coherent Europe for Sustainable Development: Supporting policies that will bring about a change supported by SlovakAid funds. It was compiled and published by Ambrela – Platform of Development Organizations and Institute for Circular Economy.

Offices without a trash bin

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Project “Offices without a trash bin” was created to reduce the negative impact on the environment through proper prevention of waste at work, especially in office environments.

In the office, many of us spend up to a third of our lives. That is why it is important that we reflect on the consequences of our daily functioning in this environment as well. The ideal would be not to create any waste in the office and therefore not to have any bins. We know that in today’s world it may be a utopia, but every change for the better counts!

The pilot project took place at CURAPROX in 2017.

Later, it took over this concept under the auspices of INCIEN and began to reshape the offices of other companies, organizations, and institutions. Important graduates to whom we have tailor made circular and waste free concepts are for example, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Bratislava, the Office of the President of the Slovak Republic, Corwin, Berlin Brands Group Slovakia, 365 Banka. We also follow the principles for less waste in our mansion, where there is a community of people who sincerely care about the environment. In autumn 2019, with financial support from the Green Education Fund within, we launched a series of workshops. During these, we trained ambassadors for less waste from 16 selected companies, institutions, and organizations. They were tasked with educating their colleagues and introducing changes in their working environment. Within this project, a project manual was created, as well as workbooks, which we provide to other organizations after completing the course with our organization.

The partners of this project are: the Green Educational Fund, the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Environment Agency
We continue to develop the concept with other organizations. The project moves to the next stages of measuring the overall environmental impact, carbon footprint etc.

This project is now a part of the initiative of Slovakia’s Presidential Office – Green Institutions. The aim of this initiative is to inspire other organizations to implement different criteria and create the whole network of sustainable institutions.

Bioplastics or end of convention plastic (2019)

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The authors’ efforts were to summarize available information and data on bioplastics in the world, the EU and Slovakia. The study touches on the problems of conventional plastics, bioplastics as a solution to these problems, their performance or relevant legislation, as well as their application on the market, their handling or the overall advantages and disadvantages of these materials. It analyzes processing capacities for processing bioplastic waste in the territory of the Slovak Republic as well as proposals for an effectively set system from production to processing of bioplastic waste.

The study was prepared with the support of the Tesco Foundation Fund and provided to the Ministry of Environment as a professional basis for the preparation of strategic documents of the Slovak Republic. The study is co-authored by Professor Paul Alexy, STU.

Circularity of expanded polystyrene in slovak conditions (2019)

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The main objective of the analysis within the project of circularity of expanded polystyrene (EPS) in the territory of the Slovak Republic was to map the available information and data on the material in question related to its production, application, evaluation or disposal and to propose effective solutions to achieve the recycling target of 50% for this material by 2025 and by 2030 to ensure the complete circularity of EPS in the EU.

The study was financed by the Association of producers of expanded polystyrene.

Workshops and seminars

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For the general public, employees and as well as expert groups, we offer workshops on the implementation of CE principles on topics such as:

  1. How to live without waste
  2. Truths and myths about waste sorting
  3. Fashion or waste
  4. Office without trash bin
  5. Local government challenges

We have carried out workshops, seminars, lectures for the general public in various events as well as for companies (switch workshops for companies here).

Methodology of analysis of residual waste (2019)

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Mixed municipal waste is not mechanically sorted in Slovakia, but goes directly to a landfill or incineration plant. Therefore, its content is unclear and, on the other hand, extremely important for the development of waste management and the transition to a circular economy. Analyses of mixed municipal waste are very important to support exact data in the field of waste management. Since our inception, we have implemented several dozen analyses. In our analyses, we used a new methodology such as Friends of the Earth – SPZ and JRK Slovakia. Therefore, our analyses are also a credible basis for strategy papers.

The Ministry of the Environment has decided to prepare a uniform methodology for analyses of mixed municipal waste. As one of the professional guarantors, we were part of the team of its preparation.

Circular schools

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http://circularschools.eu/en/

The project was implemented within the framework of the Cooperation Programme Interreg V-A Slovak Republic – Hungary and was financed from the ERDF and the state budget of the Slovak Republic. The project started in September 2017 and was completed in October 2019. The aim of this project was to present the essence of the circular economy in schools in Slovakia and Hungary.

The role of the project “Circle of Circular Economy” was to bring principles of CE to schools – to familiarize a new generation and show them how practical solutions work in everyday life. The objective was to show this system change to students not only in theoretical form, but to apply in practice and everyday life of school, students, and teachers as many principles of circular economy as possible. The essential and visible step was the decrease of mixed municipal waste by introducing separated waste collection and composting at school. The project also included the cooperation of students from the Slovak Republic and Hungary. The result was so-called “Circular Schools”.

The project involved 40 secondary and primary schools. 20 schools from Slovakia (Region of Bratislava, Trnava, Nitra) and 20 schools from Hungary.

Educational activities included lectures, workshops on topics of: Circular Economy – Waste as Source, Biodegradable Waste Management – Composting, Renewable Energy Resources, Water Management, Transportation, Clothing Industry, Green Buildings – Sustainable Buildings. The project also included tours to the facilities.

Partners: The Regional Development Agency Komárno, Institute for Circular Economy, The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation Rába – Duna – Vág.

Material efficiency of packaging (2018)

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The aim of the study is to increase the material efficiency of packaging, reduce the harmfulness of packaging and design a system to support materials derived from recycled packaging waste. The aim of the study was to obtain information on the following areas:

  • the integration of material efficiency criteria into product standards with regard to natural resources and waste generation throughout the lifecycle of the product and the generation of hazardous waste;
  • the material composition of the packaging in relation to the possibility of recycling it when it becomes waste;
  • the efficiency of the use of packaging in relation to the packaged product;
  • support for packaging ekodizajn.

Study prepared for Ministry of Environment, 2018