Guimarães hosts European consortium for the circular economy

On the morning of Tuesday 21st May, the Guimarães Landscape Laboratory hosted a meeting of the European Circular Ecosystems project consortium.

During the Iberian meeting, the partners were able to share the progress of the first phase of the project, the barriers encountered and strategies for developing circular economy solutions for the different regions. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Castilla y León Natural Heritage Foundation, Valladolid City Council, Ávila Provincial Council, the Ourense Economic Development Institute and the municipalities of Matosinhos and Guimarães.

Funded by the Interreg POCTEP programme, the four-year Circular Ecosystems project aims to develop systemic solutions for circularity in order to minimise pollution and speed up the transition to zero waste cities. In the first phase of the project, all the partners will develop territorial action plans for the circular economy, where strategies will be advocated that respond to local reality and needs, identifying priority value chains and the players involved. At the same time, they are also developing green public procurement plans. These plans will give rise, in a second phase, to actionable pilot projects aimed at the priority value chains in the territory. To achieve these objectives, the consortium will use the methodology developed in the ‘Circular Cities and Regions Initiative’ (CCRI).

In the case of Guimarães, the tradition and expressiveness of the textile sector in the territory make it a priority value chain in the municipality. Consequently, the pilot projects will focus on developing systemic solutions aimed at reducing the production of textile waste by reintegrating it directly into the value chain, and improving its management through solutions that enable its selective collection. These initiatives aim to respond to European and national requirements regarding correct waste management, particularly the selective collection of household waste by January 2025, as established by the European Commission.