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Issue Number 35 - June 2012

 

eNews is an electronic newsletter regularly published by the European Topic Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (ETC/SCP) as a source of information for Eionet.

The headlines in this issue of eNews are:


Resource Efficiency webinars

Following up on 2011 work on resource efficiency policies, in the Autumn 2012 the EEA and ETC/SCP will organize a couple of Webinars to share information and experience in the implementation of the Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe.

As proposed during the 2011 EIONET workshop, these internet ‘seminars’ will complement the regular EIONET workshops, and will be held online rather than in a physical location.

The detailed program will be prepared in September, but will likely consist of a couple of short presentations addressing implementation in various member countries, as well as an update on the developments with the Roadmap itself from the European Commission. It is anticipated that the duration of each webinar will be approximately 60-90 minutes, including an opportunity for participants to offer comments and questions to the presenters.

The concept of webinars is being piloted as a way to enhance levels of communication between the EEA, its topic centres, and member countries. They provide a flexible and innovative forum for meeting in an interactive environment without having to be physically present. As such, it is hoped that this will provide a communications platform that will make it easier for stakeholders to participate and can be tailored over time to meet the needs of member countries.

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Pilot project on implementation of waste policies

EU Commissioner Potočnik asked the EEA in June 2011 for assistance in the European Commission's work to improve the knowledge on implementation of waste policies in the EU Member States. The EEA and DG Environment have therefore agreed on a joint pilot project on implementation of waste policies comprising of three elements:

  1. Eionet review of the existing assumptions and input data which are used in the EEA/Topic Centre model on Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Since 2003, we have developed and continuously updated a model for the generation of MSW including projections until 2020, of the MSW treatment share and finally life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of municipal waste management for EU27 plus Norway and Switzerland. The model is structured on a country-by-country basis, including national data and assumptions. However, so far we have only presented the results of the model at the aggregated European level. This work is an EEA and Topic Centre project and a letter and questionnaire was sent to the member countries on 30th April 2012, requesting a response by 13th June 2012.
  2. Extending and further developing the EEA-ETC/SCP model for MSW into a 'European Reference Model on Waste and Resource management' on MSW and, in principle, also for other waste types. This development will include further features such as distance to regulatory target analysis, estimation of environmental impacts, job creation, critical resource assessment and cost-benefits analysis of past, present and future waste management. This is a DG Environment project commencing in June this year and extending into 2013. The reference model is intended to be hosted by the EEA. The intention is to develop the model in such a way that it can be used not only at the European level but also in a national context as a tool to support national/regional policy work towards better waste management.
  3. Ex-post analysis of MSW management on a country-by-country basis using MSW indicators, waste policy factsheets, SOER2010 outcomes, relevant Commission reports on implementation and distance-to-target techniques. This is an EEA-ETC/SCP project that started 2012 and will run into 2014. The initial interim outcomes will be presented at the Eionet workshop in October 2012 and a report will be made available by the end of 2012.
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The Copenhagen Fashion Summit

During the winter and spring of 2012, the ETC/SCP worked closely with the Danish Fashion Institute (DFI) and Businesses for Social Responsibility (BSR) on preparing inputs to the Copenhagen Fashion Summit that took place in Copenhagen on May 3rd.

The work was carried out as part of the NICE Consumer Project, a Nordic Fashion Association initiative aimed at raising awareness of responsible and sustainable business practices in the fashion industry. Consumers have a key role to play through their choices of which and how many clothes they buy. Additionally, consumers' behaviour in relation to garment care and decisions on what to do with clothing when they no longer use it are significant in determining the overall environmental impacts of clothing.

The overall aim of the work was to prepare a framework for sustainable fashion consumption for presentation at the 3rd May Fashion Summit. This document, Framework for Achieving Sustainable Fashion Consumption through Collaboration, outlined actions needed to encourage consumers towards a more sustainable purchase and use of garments.

The first stage of the work was the production of a background report identifying the current state of play, current and necessary future actions of the industry, government and civil society. The ETC provided input on the role of government and outlined a set of potentially useful policies. The report can be found here.

The ETC/SCP in association with the EEA, DFI and BSR subsequently organised a workshop at the EEA on 14th April to identify and discuss policy levers that can encourage and direct consumers in the right direction both in their purchases, use and subsequent disposal of clothing. The workshop was attended by approximately 35 representatives from government, business and research institutions. The EEA workshop was one of three workshops and two supporting webinars used to gather input and develop the framework.

A final half-day pre-summit workshop was held in Copenhagen on 2nd May with the aim of refining the framework for sustainable fashion consumption before its presentation at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit on the following day. The ETC played the role of facilitator at the Pre-summit.

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Workshop series on visions and actions towards sustainable consumption - workshop in Rio de Janeiro 18th June 2012

The ETC/SCP and EEA, in collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the Nordic Council of Ministers, has organised a series of workshops on visions and actions towards sustainable living.

  • ‘Your visions, our actions - Scaling up business models for sustainable living’, 18 June 2012, 13-16:00 in Rio de Janeiro. The aim was to present different business models through the experience of organisations and individuals engaged in actions. Outcomes will be available later during summer.
  • ‘Vision to Action: Fostering new business models to shape more sustainable ways of living, formulating messages for Rio+20’, held 2-3 May 2012 in Copenhagen. A summary workshop report is available in the Eionet Forum. Participants discussed innovative, sustainable business models, and formulated a series of recommendations regarding the actions to be taken forward, conditions to enable them and actors whose engagement can be a potential agency for change. In the event in Rio on the 18th June, these messages will be presented and discussed in front of a global audience.
  • ‘Building a vision for a sustainable consumption by 2050’, held 15 March 2011 in Brussels. This event provided a platform for dialogues and further developments to complement for example the WBCSD's 'Vision 2050' report with a more consumption-oriented perspective.
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EIONET FORUM on SCP including resource use and waste

Since its launch in 2011, the Eionet forum on SCP including resource use and waste has been strengthening and supporting the collection and exchange of information on SCP including resource use and waste within the Eionet. The forum has enabled an increased exchange of information among Eionet member and cooperating countries.

Users can easily access a vast range of features, such as access and upload reports in the document library; initiate or participate in discussions on the discussion forum section; and acquire the most updated information on SCP related events and current projects.

Once more, the EEA and ETC/SCP would like to encourage National Reference Centers to use the online platform to enrich the website with your own contributions and opinions, and also to provide feedback for the further development of the website. The EEA is currently considering options how to ease access to the Forum, following recommendations at the 2011 Eionet workshop in Copenhagen.

Visit the Eionet Forum at http://forum.eionet.europa.eu/nrc-scp-waste/.

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2012 EIONET workshop on waste - Istanbul, 3rd and 4th October 2012

The EEA and the ETC/SCP are organizing the 2012 EIONET workshop with a focus on waste management and implementation towards supporting the green economy. The workshop will take place in Istanbul, Turkey on the 3rd and 4th October 2012. The objective of the workshop is to exchange of information among member and cooperating countries on specific waste policies and practices, such as pre-treatment, separate collection, waste prevention and economic incentives.

Preliminary outcomes of the Pilot project on implementation of waste policies will be presented and discussed, with a view to gather inputs and feedback from EEA member and cooperating countries that can be used as an input for the next phases of the pilot project.

As usual, the workshop will be held in a participatory format consisting of plenary and working group sessions. It combines traditional speaker-audience sessions with dynamic group discussions designed for creatively engaging participants and foster an active exchange of information.

The workshop is hosted by the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation. A first announcement for the workshop has been sent to countries on the 23rd of April 2012.

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Support to the Danish Presidency

In the second half of 2011, the Topic Centre and the EEA have together provided input to the Danish Presidency of the European Union centred around three analytical papers: Sustainable, resource efficient production; Sustainable Consumption and Products; and Recycling and sustainable materials management.

Following initial brainstorms and presentation of a large number of potential options, nine issues were selected by the Danish Ministry of Environment for further analysis and inclusion in the analytical papers.

These three papers aim to provide background analyses to investigate possible avenues towards greening the European economy as well as reaching the Europe 2020 objectives of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, which should generate environmental gains but also have the potential to create green jobs.

The papers have also been included as background materials for a workshop that was held by the Danish Presidency on the 8th February with the aim to discuss and develop options for themes and goals to be included in the 7th Environmental Action Plan of the EU.

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2012 updates of SOER assessments on material resources and waste, and on consumption and the environment

The ETC/SCP and EEA have updated the two thematic assessments related to SCP in the State and Outlook of the Environment Report (SOER) 2010 with the latest available data:

Both reports have been published on the EEA website in June 2012. All new graphs will be made available for download in the EEA dataservice.

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Publications

Here you can find all publications from the Topic Centre:
http://scp.eionet.europa.eu/publications

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Contact

Please contact Gitte Rusz Andersen at the Topic Centre on giran@etc.mim.dk if you have any comments or suggestions for eNews.

European Topic Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production
B�rsgade 4,
DK-1215 Copenhagen K
Tel: +45 72 54 61 60 - Fax: +45 33 32 22 27
etc@etc.mim.dk


Visit the European portal to information on sustainable consumption and production.
http://scp.eionet.europa.eu/


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The aim of the electronic newsletter is to provide the National Focal Points (NFPs) and the National Reference Centres (NRCs) with information on the activities of the Topic Centre. The newsletters will also report on the expected involvement of Eionet in the future and inform on progress on reports, which have been sent to the EEA for Eionet review and consultation.

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