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CityLoops is a new EU-funded project focusing on organic waste and construction and demolition waste.

Høje-Taastrup and Roskilde (Denmark), Mikkeli (Finland), Apeldoorn (Netherlands), Bodø (Norway), Porto (Portugal) and Seville (Spain) are the seven pilot European cities that will conduct a series of demonstration actions and activities. involving construction and demolition waste (RCD) and organic waste (RO) with the aim of making these materials circular. As part of CityLoops, more than 30 new tools and procedures will be tested in this project, which is an EU-funded project involving 28 partners, which started on 28 October and will run until September 2023.


S. João da Madeira, November 8th, 2019

Construction and demolition waste (RCDs), including soils, and organic waste (RO) are two of the most significant urban streams of urban materials, with a remarkable environmental impact on European cities. The EU-funded CityLoops project will develop a range of innovative open access procedures, approaches and tools to incorporate circularity in the planning and decision making processes for RCDs and ROs in cities, with the ultimate goal of leading the transition to a circular economy.

The seven pilot cities - all small and medium-sized on a European scale - will structure their pilots in three phases:

  • early and preparatory phase, including a series of preparatory reviews and stakeholder mapping and participatory planning;
  • demonstration phase, when solutions will be implemented and tested;
  • replication phase, when CityLoops measures will be replicated at regional and European level.


Solutions and actions range from tools for predicting potential soil movement and RCD production, awareness campaigns, circularity decision support tools, impact simulation, 3D visualization tools, and purchasing guidelines for organic products. A total of ten demonstration actions will be implemented, testing more than 30 new tools and processes.

At the same time, a sector-wide circularity assessment and an urban circularity assessment will be carried out in each of the cities. The first will help to optimize demonstration activities, while the second will allow cities to effectively integrate circularity in planning and decision making.

Another key aspect of CityLoops is circular shopping: the seven pilot cities will explore how public sector shopping can create markets for innovative circular economy products and solutions - from a more circular design, increasing the use of recycled materials in products. , to ensure the proper repair, reuse and recycling of products and materials as well as the promotion of maintenance models for products and / or equipment. The active involvement of key stakeholders at all stages of the project is also critical to the success of this initiative.

"CityLoops aims to provide a tested model that promotes circularity and that other local and regional governments across Europe can follow," said Simon Clement, coordinator of ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, a network of cities responsible for leading the city. CityLoops project.

Among the 28 organizations from eight countries, 4 Portuguese entities participate in CityLoops, among them 2GO OUT Consulting, headquartered at SANJOTEC - S. João da Madeira Science and Technology Park. The other Portuguese partners are the Municipality of Porto, the municipal company Porto Ambiente and Lipor - Inter-municipal Waste Management Service of Greater Porto.


Declaration of circular cities

Political representatives of the protesting cities CityLoops, as well as Vallès Occidental (Spain) - one of the project’s ’followers’ along with Murcia (Spain) - met last week in Høje-Taastrup and Roskilde, Denmark, where they signed the “ Circular Cities Declaration ”.

In this statement they undertake to:

  • Improve the circular economy at multiple political and regulatory levels;
  • Initiate a series of pilot activities and innovative demonstration activities to help identify the most favorable solutions;
  • Share the knowledge and experiences learned with other leaders;
  • Form a broad coalition of circular cities with key stakeholders and initiatives across Europe.


RCDs and ROs background

RCDs are by volume the most significant fraction of waste in Europe. According to Eurostat (2015), in 2012 construction and demolition activities accounted for 32% of all waste generated in the European Economic Area, to which 27% of mining and quarries are added.

Resource consumption for building construction and infrastructure in Europe is highly material intensive, with a weight of between 1.2 and 1.8 billion tonnes of materials per year in Europe (Ecorys, 2014). The construction sector is also economically important, contributing on average from 5 to 13% of the total (gross) value added (Eurostat, 2015).

With regard to ROs, according to the European Commission, the European Union produces approximately 130 billion tonnes of organic waste per year, which is projected to increase by 10% by 2020. Organic waste consists of organic fractions. municipal solid waste, to which is added organic waste of commercial origin (restoration) and public spaces. Overall, 68% of organic waste produced annually in the EU is food waste from food manufacturing and packaging (39%), household organic waste (42%) and restaurants / grocery stores (19%).


For more information:

Meritxell Diaz, media contact, ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability
meritxell.diaz@iclei.org

CORDIS website: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/223258/factsheet/en.

You can download photos from the link.

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