EBAE SNIPPETS
Celebrating the winners of today and seeking those of tomorrow
Three months have elapsed since the serven winners of the European Business Awards
for the Environment were announced in Vienna, Austria
and the companies are currently reaping the prestige and visibility benefits of
their victory.
While Dutch company Eosta received the visit of Queen Máxima of The Netherlands (see article Where Are They Now, below), Austrian company
ecop Technologies featured in a Business Planet episode of the prestigious broadcasting channel Euronews. Companies are making the most of
their EBAE experience!
But while on the European level the focus is still on celebrations, in some countries
attention has already turned towards the next cycle of the competition.
If you are considering applying for EBAE 2020 then be sure not to miss your country’s national
deadline. Competitions which have already published their closing dates are given
below.
Watch the
EBAE website
to find out about more national dates in
the coming
weeks.
Then get in touch with your
National Coordinator
as soon as possible and don’t
hesitate to contact the
EBAE Secretariat
for more information.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Interview with Eosta
Dutch company Eosta won the Developing Country Cooperation Award in
November 2018 for their "True Cost of Food” campaign, which calculates and
communicates the hidden costs of the food system. This is the story, told by
Michaël Wilde, Eosta’s Sustainability & Communications Manager, of how winning the EBAE award has impacted on their business.
1. EOSTA has been a winner of the prestigious “Sustainability Prize of the King William 1 Foundation” in The Netherlands, and then won the Developing Country Cooperation Award during the November 2018 EBAE Ceremony: can you tell us a bit more about the characteristics that make your company such a successful eco-innovative business?
Her Majesty Queen Máxima paying a working visit to Eosta in Waddinxveen, the Netherlands, on Tuesday 4 December 2018
The most important aspect is that instead of just talking about sustainability we put it into action. The pioneering work we are doing in the field of plastic-free packaging, greater transparency, proactive healthcare, true cost accounting, living wage, sustainable development goals is being noticed and has resulted in some prestigious awards. We see this not only as a great compliment for the whole Eosta team as well as our growers but also as a motivation to continue to go down this road.
2. With which Developing Countries do you work, and what are your takeaways from this cooperation?
We work with many developing countries in south and central America (Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Costa Rica, Brazil, Chile) as well as Africa (Burkina, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Uganda, Ghana). Our takeaway is that our cooperation is always based upon the long term. Sustainable partnerships are based upon the principles that everyone wins. When this happens you have a long-term strong relationship that is beneficial for the whole supply chain including social and environmental aspects.
3. What advice would you give to other European companies wishing to enter the European Business Awards for the Environment? How can they benefit from it?
This prestigious award not only creates a lot of positive and strong publicity, it is an ideal opportunity to meet other pioneers in the field of sustainability. Only through collaboration will we be able to overcome the immense challenges we are facing
4.Complete this sentence: “To truly become an eco -innovation champion, businesses must...”
...be fully transparent about what they do. There is no sustainability without transparency. Furthermore, a business must focus on its true value...a profit that includes your impact on the environment and mankind.
Further information on Eosta and its work can be found here: https://www.eosta.com/en/news/eosta-wins-european-sustainability-award
WHAT'S TRENDING
Establishing circularity in textiles is gaining momentum
Well-established evidence suggests that the textile industry in Europe has a high environmental footprint. It is a large economic sector, with an annual turnover of 181 billion Euros, which puts great pressure on the use of resources (water, energy and raw materials) with negative consequences for the environment. The industry has started to change. Many companies are transforming themselves through designing/thinking their products, production methods, business models and end-of-life practices to better deal with environmental and social challenges. However, the change is uneven across companies, geographic locations and sub-sectors, and the potential for new opportunities remains large.
Existing European and domestic policies on the circular economy and innovation have already started to address the transition in a series of sectors. Governments, together with the European institutions need to continue their drive in the coming years and focus on barriers that are specific to the textile sector. Accompanying the textiles industry in the transformation would bring huge sustain ability benefits while making significant positive economic contributions as well.
The European Business Awards for the Environment too have a track record of rewarding textile companies operating in a sustainable way; the most recent example is UPMADE–formerly AUS Design OU–an Estonian company seeking to revolutionise the fashion industry from within by incorporating textile leftovers in their design creations.
The 22nd European Forum on Eco-innovation will be held in Vienna, Austria, on 7-8 May, 2019. The Forum will explore eco-innovation solutions and policies for improving circularity in the textiles sector. It will bring together companies, public authorities, financiers, NGOs, innovators and researchers that are working on developing and deploying effective new technologies, innovative business and governance models, and policies that can deliver a circular textiles economy.
The next edition of the EU ECOAP newsletter will also focus on eco-innovation in textiles.
COORDINATOR CATCH-UP
Greece in spotlight
Greece recently held the local Ceremony for the European Business Awards for the Environment. We are delighted to catch up with Antonis Papadakis, EBAE coordinator for Greece.
1. The Awards Ceremony of the Greek Business Awards for the Environment was held in October 2018. Can you tell us a bit more about it? Who attended it and who were the winners?
On 24 October 2018, PASEPPE, the Panhellenic Association of Environmental Protection Enterprises rewarded 12 Greek companies that excelled during the last two years in innovation technology, sustainable development, environmental protection and circular economy.
The Minister of Environment, Mr. Socrates Famellos, the Deputy Minister of Interior, Mrs. Marina Chrysovelloni and a number of MPs, Regional Governors, Mayors and Presidents of organisations and institutions attended the ceremony. The European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Mr. Karmenu Vella also contributed with a short but very substantial video.
The next edition of the Greek competition will be announced in October 2019. By the end of February/mid March 2020 the Greek finalists will be announced. The next award ceremony will take place between June and October 2020.
2. KLIMIS and SKAI were also shortlisted for the European award.
What do you think was the added value for them to be part of a wider European
competition?
The 2018 Greek Ceremony of the European Business Awards for the Environment
Indeed, out of the 12 Greek winners,
KLIMIS and SKAI were shortlisted for the EBAE
Vienna ceremony on 14 November 2018.
KLIMIS is a company which exports in many European countries. Recently, they were also
given a European EMAS award. Therefore, I believe that the EBAE award added a
significant value
for them.
SKAI, a well-known media group,
very proudly produced a video when their EBAE
nomination was announced. The EBAE Jury praised SKAI’s efforts to plant thousands of
hectares of trees and to promote the cleaning up of the environment.
3. In general, what are your recommendations for businesses wanting to apply for this prize?
Every business working in the field of
the protection of the environment should apply for
the European Business Awards for the Environment, because these are the most
prestigious and important environmental awards in Europe, under the authority of the
European Commission.
PROMOTERS' CORNER
Report on the Circular Economy
EUROCHAMBRES, the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and
Industry, is a long-standing promoter of the European Business Awards for the
Environment, as they recognise the business community’s crucial role in tackling
the environmental challenges o
f our time. In this spirit, they launched an analysis
of the Circular Economy in Europe.
As EUROCHAMBRES we are aware that business plays, and will further play, a crucial
role to tackle some of the most
challenging
problems of our
society, such as the depletion
of resources, climate change and, overall, the possible collapse of ecosystem services. It
is now a question on how to implement the best possible measures for circular and
sustainable models, while guaranteeing the least po
ssible negative impacts on SMEs, the
social and economic tissue of our society.
The Report on the Circular Economy
produced by EUROCHAMBRES and published in
January 2019, paves the way to a deep and long
-
term discussion and
action on the
essential concept that is the Circular Economy, and wants to represent a first step for the
Organization and its constituents to look at the sustainability challenges arising no more in
a detached, individual perspective, but as a single uni
ted entity capable of delivering
strong consolidated responses and commitments.
We therefore conducted the Report, a comprehensive quantitative
-
qualitative meta
-
analysis on the effects and necessary pathways for the transition on 9 main industrial
sectors, namely: Construction, Mobility, Fashion, Agriculture, Plastics, Food & Beverage
,
Metals, Hotel & Food Services, Electronics.
In addition to
the literature analysis, we
presented a case study for each sector, showcasing examples of very innovative start-ups,
as well as large companies alre
ady involved in the transition.
- For
metal manufacturers
, resource efficiency measures amounting to € billion 570
are expected to lead to overall annual benefits of € billion 44
-
82 for the industry in
the EU-27 Member States and average annual economic benefits of € 164,000 per
company.
- In the
food and drink manufacturing sector, € billion 760 investment costs would
be needed to increase resource efficiency, and are estimated to bring € billion 64
–
118 in annual gross benefits for the sector in the EU. This would translate into €
424,000 of annual economic benefits per company.
- The economic potential of a circular model in the
agricultural sector
is expected to
bring benefits amounting to € billion 92 between the period 2016
-
2030, through a €
billion 72 investment. The benefits include lower costs i
n fertilizer and pesticide
inputs, as well as costs for machinery and GHG emissions.
- In the
hospitality and food service sector
, the opportunity in achieving high
resource efficiency would cost an estimated € billion 100 in total, and offer net
benefits o
f € 27,500 per company, or 10% of the average turnover. The total annual
benefit in the sector would amount to € billion 64-118.
- For the
automotive industry
, by 2030 up to € billion 175 in annual societal cost
savings (e.g. congestion, increase of urban s
paces) can potentially be attained by
investing € billion 100 during the period 2016-2025. This would need to see the
transportation sector rapidly transitioning toward shared, modular and electric
vehicles. The industry’s revenues are expected to grow by
4.4% annually.
- The
construction sector
will need remarkable developments in terms of design
and production of circular buildings, as well as incrementing its recyclability and
reusability potential. In total, in Europe € billion 107 would be needed between
2016-2025 to convert the current syst
em into a circular one. This would lead to €
billion 150 forecasted in financial benefits by 2030, mainly in cost savings for the
sector.
- In the
plastics sector
no comprehensive cost-benefit analysis can be found in the
literature, but strong evidence was
found for economic benefits residing in the
concepts of design for reuse and recycling, as well as coastal waste management.
- The
textile sector
is not covered by comprehensive cost-benefit analysis for the
EU, but in the report main disrupting opportunit
ies were depicted to convert the
industry from a linear to circular model. These include the introduction and
development of more resource efficient fabrics, leasing services, more durable
fabrics and clothes, recycling of textile waste or discarded clothi
ng, and an
improved network for the second
-
hand market. Globally, overall annual benefits are
estimated to amount to € billion 161
-
land use externalities excluded
-
, if the
fashion industry addressed its societal and environmental externalities.
- The
electronics industry
is still lacking a fully functioning recycling and repairing
system, which is a good example for economic inefficiency. For this reason, the
revenue potential for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) recycling
in Europe is calculated to become billion € 2.15-3.67 by 2020.
T
his being a first exhaustive exercise on the matter from our part, we are now working on
our Circular Economy Policy Recommendations paper (expected by mid
-
March), while
presenting our work in numerous even
ts, and triggering an internal debate on future
initiatives and projects to be offered by the Chambers. The intention being, keeping the
momentum of this crucial thematic high and ambitious for the future European
agenda,
and make Chambers leading actors
in the transition.
Further information:
Clemens Rosenmayr
Policy Advisor
EUROCHAMBRES
rosenmayr@eurochambres.eu
UPCOMING EVENTS
TEDxParcDuCinquantenaire - Sustainable Transition
(5 March 2019, Brussels, Belgium)
TEDxParcDuCinquantenaire is a TEDx Event happening on the 5th of March at the
Breydel Building in Brussels. A two-hour event, starting at 6:30 pm, with five incredible
speakers whose powerful talks and mind-blowing performances explore the theme of ‘Sustainable Transition’.
2019 Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference: Success Stories and New Challenges.
(6-7 March 2019, Brussels, Belgium)
The European Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee will host
the 2019 European Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference on
March 6 and 7
in
Brussels.
The 2019 conference will build on the success of the 2
018 event, which was
titled
Delivering on the Circular Economy
–
What's next?
. It gathered 650 participants on
Day 1 and 350 on Day 2. The first day provided an avenue for high
-
level political
discussion, in particular on the implementation of Circular Economy Action Plan, the
second day allowed for the gathering of
perspectives from civil society
organisations
present.
Conference “Our Forests, Our Future”
(25-26 April 2019, Brussels)
Forests and other wooded land cover about 40% of the EU territory, and the forest sector
provides more than 3.5 million jobs in the European Union. The forest value chains are
engines of
rural growth and generate other benefits to society, including societal benefits
for human health, recreation and tourism. In this context, the Commission is organising a conference to analyse and discuss
opportunities and challenges for enhancing the contribution of the forest sector to the main
EU priorities. High
-
level speakers will include Commissioner Hogan (Agriculture & Rural Development),
Commissioner Arias Cañete (Climate Action & Energy), Minister Deneş (Romanian
Minister for Water and Forests),
and high representatives of the private sector, academia,
civil society and non
-
governmental organisations.
EU Green
(WEEK 13-17 May 2019, Brussels, Belgium)
Environmental laws have
a huge impact on our life. They improve water and air quality,
they protect nature, and they encourage recycling and waste management. But to really
make an appreciable difference, these EU laws have to be properly implemented.The next edition of EU Green Week will put this process of environmental implementation
into the spotlight. We'll be asking questions like
–
do these laws really matter, and what
the added benefits are for citizens? What does successful implementation look
like? Why
do "implementation gaps" exist? How can we move from knowing that stakeholders need
to take ownership of these laws to actually making it happen? And most importantly, how
can the EU facilitate the process, making sure that citizens' voices are
heard?EU Green Week 2019 will include events across Europe, with the official opening event on
13 May in one of the Member States and a high
-
level summit in Brussels from 15 to 17
May. The opening event will have a particular prominence, setting the tone
for the Week's
debates. The closing of Green Week will take place at the end of the Brussels Conference
and will showcase the political conclusions from the Week.