Cases of circular economy

1. Circular economy
and innovative business cases,
job creation and growth potential
Kenty Richardson
International Relations &
Strategic Development, REC

2. www.rec.org
Regional Environmental Center (REC)
• “… is an international organisation with a mission to
assist in solving environmental problems (…)”
• The REC is legally based on a charter signed by
30 countries and the EC
• Multi-stakeholder international Board
• 190 staff (some 30 nationalities)
• Offices in 17+ countries
• 100% project based organization
• over 200 running projects
• 10 – 12 million € annual turnover
• Operates in various regions:
• EU Members of Central and Eastern
Europe
• EU Enlargement countries, candidates
and potential candidates
• Eastern Partnership Countries
• EU27
• Operation beyond the REC Country
Office Network

3. Context
Source: EEA

4. Study:
Cases of implementing
resource efficient policies by
the EU industry

5. Aims of the study
21 case studies addressing:
• how industry has improved its resource
efficiency
• motivations
• obstacles
• links with policy framework

6. Selection criteria
• scale of initiative
• type of resource affected
• critical raw materials affected
• potential to reduce resource use
• cost reduction potential
• risk mitigation potential
• job creation potential
• SME perspective
• up-scaling potential
• maturity of the initiative

7. Why is gypsum interesting?

8. • gypsum is fully and eternally
recyclable
• one of the few construction
materials for which closed loop
recycling is possible
Why is gypsum interesting?

9. Gypsum Recycling
International A/S
(Denmark)

10. Gypsum Recycling
• developed an innovative recycling system
• product: recycled gypsum powder
• deals with all types of gypsum waste from demolition and
reconstruction activities (plasterboard waste, drywall and
gypsum wallboard waste)

11. Gypsum Recycling
Mobile recycling unit:
• to lower transport costs by servicing more recycling facilities
• could be transported to each of the countries and facilities
where the company wanted to set up the business
• 1,5 million EUR investment cost saved per facility

12. Gypsum Recycling
Future prospects:
Gypsum-based waste stream will certainly grow in
the future: plasterboard was introduced in the
market in the 1950s, and the lifetime of a
plasterboard system is estimated at 50 years.

13. Cobiax
(Switzerland)
lightweight concrete
structures

14. Idea: how do birds fly?

15. assembly of the modules

16. concrete casting

17. Janssen
Pharmaceutica
(Belgium)
solvent leasing

18. Janssen Pharmaceutica
Source: based on De Bruyn et al. 2014, p. 20

19. Janssen Pharmaceutica
Source: A. Priyadarshi

20. Janssen Pharmaceutica
• 20% reduction of used materials
• reduction of water use due to more efficient upcycling phase
• energy efficiency gains in the upcycling stage
• investments paid back in 2-3 years

21. Solvic NV
(Belgium)
chemical leasing

22. Solvic NV
Source: based on De Bruyn et al. 2014, p. 20

23. Enablers
• material and cost efficiency (Cobiax)
• ambition to reduce environmental footprint (GRI, Janssen)
• customer demand for resource efficiency (GRI)
• legislative pressure (GRI)
• high landfill taxes (GRI)
• entering niche markets to develop a competitive edge
• improving security of supply of raw materials
• corporate strategy targeting sustainability (Janssen)

24. Obstacles
Gypsum Recycling International:
• varying level of landfill tax across MSs
• strong price fluctuations
• reluctance of the industry to change production processes
Cobiax:
• construction sector is very traditional, not sensitive to innovations
• complexity of decision making process

25. Obstacles
Janssen Pharmaceutica:
• difficulties to obtain end-of-waste certificates
• compliance with REACH regulation
• different interpretation and implementation of EU Waste
Framework Directive across MSs
• technical feasibility: ensuring quality of upgraded solvent
other cases:
• high investment costs
• perceived lack of policy support
• frequently changing laws, regulations, interpretations
• access to finance
• specialized know-how needed

26. Job creation potential
A circular economy creates economic value by using more labour and fewer resources.
Based on a study from the UK (Green Alliance):
• Circular economy can generate jobs for a range of skill types.
• The recycling and waste management sector offers a larger proportion of low and
intermediate skilled employment in the area of collection, handling and processing
materials.
• Remanufacturing, in common with original manufacturing, tends to require more skilled
workers. The growth of remanufacturing sector is likely to require significant investment in
training to develop the right skills.
• More extensive development of the circular economy, involving more remanufacturing and
repair, could create employment near existing manufacturing sites where unemployment
tends to be higher.

27. Job creation potential
Estimates of current jobs in circular economy across Europe:

28. Growth potential
Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation and McKinsey Center for Business and Environment, 2015

29. Policy implications
• The success of the measure and business viability can be strongly
determined by policy instruments.
• Diversity of implementation of the Waste Framework Directive, the
Landfill Directive, Green Public Procurement practices hinder
upscaling of CE measures across Europe.
• A regulatory instrument coupled with an effective economic
incentive can stimulate intensively the development of CE measures.

30. www.rec.org
Thank you for your attention!
Kenty Richardson
Krichardson@rec.org