Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček today held a short working meeting with Mr Jean-Marc Boursier, President of the European Federation FEAD (European Association of Waste Management and Environmental Services) to discuss the topic of circular economy. Mr. Boursier came to the Czech Republic at the invitation of the Czech Association of Circular Economy (CAObH), a member of FEAD, and at the invitation of EKO-KOM, the organiser of the Waste and Municipalities 2019 conference. During his visit, Mr. Boursier shared European experience in implementing circular economy and the objectives of the European package of revised legislation on waste and packaging from the perspective of European waste management companies associated in FEAD.
The main topic of the meeting was the possible optimal mix of innovative technologies and sustainable waste management in order to convert waste into valuable raw materials for further production. The meeting therefore discussed what is needed to kick-start the recycling industry. "From my position as President of FEAD, I offer the Czech Republic recommendations and inspiration from those European countries that are already implementing a circular economy strategy in their country. On the other hand, I am interested in the opportunities and programmes that the MIT offers for the development of recycling infrastructure," said Mr Boursier in the discussion.
Minister Havlíček responded with a brief presentation of the MIT's current position and future direction "The efficient use of resources is essential for ensuring the state's raw material security, and therefore it is one of the priorities of the MIT, which is responsible for the state's raw material policy, i.e. for primary and secondary raw materials. The country's raw materials policy was already complemented in 2014 by a separate Secondary Raw Materials Policy and was updated in January 2019 for the period 2019-2022. Important tasks include the promotion of innovative technologies for the extraction, processing and use of secondary raw materials. The MIT in OP PIK has prepared a programme to support innovative technologies for processing and use of secondary raw materials, under which 4 calls have already been announced with an allocation of more than EUR 800 million. In addition to the above, there are also several proposals for the development of secondary raw materials and recycling technologies. For the new programming period 2021-2027, the MIT is already preparing further programmes to ensure sufficient infrastructure of technologies for recycling and production of quality products containing secondary raw materials. Further support is in place for water saving and sustainable water management in industry due to water scarcity". Support is also needed for basic and applied research on techniques and technologies and their accelerated application in industrial production, construction, the service sector, agriculture, transport, health and many other related areas. The FEAD cooperation on offer comes at the right time.
Mr Boursier expressed optimism about the implementation of the newly set targets of the European Circular Economy Package, although he described them as rather ambitious. They require cooperation between the private and public sectors, as well as instruments such as mandatory recycled content in packaging materials, public procurement and financial incentives for recycling, such as tax breaks, etc. It is important not to neglect energy recovery, which follows recycling in the hierarchy and is part of sustainable waste management. At the same time, Mr Boursier mentioned the high rate of landfilling in the Czech Republic, which must be reduced and economic instruments used to develop the recycling industry and other ways of converting waste into resources.
"Changes related to the life cycle of products have an impact on both production and consumption, affecting the economics of the entire production and consumption cycle. Increasing the use of secondary raw materials as a substitute for non-renewable resources and the quality of products containing secondary raw materials is therefore a major challenge and opportunity for the business sector. We are currently preparing an economic strategy for the Czech Republic, which will include new topics such as digitisation and robotization, and these important topics should include the circular economy and sustainable resource management," said Minister Havlíček at the end of the meeting.
Sources: Ministry of Industry and Trade
