As up to 50% of European municipal waste is organic, valorisation of biowaste is a key tenet of a circular economy. However, numerous regulatory bottlenecks hinder the full deployment of revolutionary solutions in the field.
In this framework, five Horizon 2020 projects have teamed up to promote innovative solutions and bring down the regulatory barriers blocking a more sustainable future. This joint initiative is named ROOTS – circulaR pOlicies for changing the biOwasTe System.
On 27 September the ROOTS group will host a Policy Conference in Brussels to present their recommendations and discuss them with European policymakers and stakeholders.
The event will see the participation of several European companies and Cities involved to various degrees in the Five organizing projects, they will present their experiences and achievements related to different topics, from biowaste prevention to insect for feed production, up to citizen awareness. These actors will also expose their concerns and thoughts about the barriers limiting the uptake of circular economy solutions. The event will therefore be important for EU policymakers to learn lessons from the ground, in order to improve the regulatory framework.
Agenda
09:30-09:45
Institutional welcome
Adrián Zittelli, (Region of Murcia – CoR alternate member)
09:45-10:15
Introduction to the ROOTS projects and initiative
ValueWaste & HOOP: Gemma Castejón, Martin Soriano (CETENMA)
SCALIBUR: Cesar Aliaga (ITENE)
CITYLOOPS: Simon Gresset (ICLEI)
WaysTUP!: Belen Miranda (SAV)
ROOTS initiative: Giulio Poggiaroni (EUBIA)
10:15-11:00
PANEL 1 – Recycling targets and treatment plants
Pedro Gustavo Rodríguez (Prezero)
Paula Marozzi (FCC)
Yeray Asensio Ramirez (Aqualia)
Q&A
11:00-11:15
Coffee break
11:15–12:30
PANEL 2 – Waste and by-products
Maria Nicolas (SAV)
Toraf Igelsund (BIR)
Ainhoa Bilbao (GAIKER)
Michael Jensen (UNIBIO)
Q&A
12:30-13:30
Lunch break
13:30-14:30
PANEL 3 – Insects for animal feed
María Cámara (Uni Alicante)
Alba Cerisuelo (IVIA)
Diego Amores & Juan Cortés (ENTOMO)
Valeria Paganizza (UNIMORE – KOUR ENERGY SRL)
Q&A
14:30-15:10
PANEL 4 – Biowaste prevention
Gloria Sanchez (AMB Barcelona)
Daniel Freitas (City of Porto)
Simon Gresset (ICLEI)
Q&A
15:10-15:50
PANEL 5 – Citizen awareness
Carina Diedrich (CSCP)
Lola Vicente-Almazán (Las Naves – City of Valencia)
Mercedes Hernández (Murcia City Council)
Mar Escarrabill (Science for Change)
Q&A
15:50-16:30
PANEL 6 – Investment needs
Jorge Rodrigues de Almeida (RdA Climate Solutions)
Yannis Fallas (CluBE)
Q&A
16:30-17:00
Closing speech
Circular Cities and Regions Initiative