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Circular Economy in Belgium

July 11, 2021

 

“The Belgian government only finances 3% of Circular economy activities in companies” – Flash Eurobarometer 441, 2016

 

Circular economy seeks to extend the life cycle of products by sharing, leasing, reusing, or repairing materials and products. Measures towards a circular economy in Belgium are justified since Belgium is a major importer of goods into Europe and the hub of a market of 60 to 80 million people; therefore, it must take the lead at the European level (Ministre e fédérale de l’Énergie de l’Environnement et du Développement durable).

Since there is no specific indicator to measure circular economy, instead, the level of commitment of states with this concept is measured by sustainable resource management, societal behaviour, and business operations. This last indicator sheds light, for example, on the availability of finding financing sources for circular economy activities.

In the case of Belgium, in 2016, self-financed sources represented 65% of financing sources, and while 23% came from a standard bank loan, only 3% came from the government. This means that despite the aim of the Belgian government to promote a circular economy, its approach is theoretical, rather than tangible.

Figure 1: Financing Sources for Circular Economy Activities, Flash Eurobarometer 441, 2016

Moreover, the decentralized approach of the commitment undertaken by Belgium to promote the Circular Economy must be taken into account. It is independently carried out by the regional authorities of Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels Region. Nevertheless, the same goals of reducing waste and work to phase out the traditional linear economic model persist.

For example, the Brussels region is implementing “Le Programme Régional d’Economie Circulaire (PREC)”. This program strives to achieve 50% of public contracts relevant to Circular Economy and contains environmental clauses aimed at promoting circular and reuse activities by 2019.

In the “Flanders Circular Economy Target”, the Public Waste Agency of Flanders highlighted the need to collaborate with more stakeholders and broaden the scope of the Circular Economy, since it estimates that investing in a circular economy could create 27,000 additional jobs ranging from high-tech to low-skilled positions.

Thanks to these initiatives, and others like the “Wallonia WasteResource Plan”, the “Sustainable Strategy Wallonia”, or the “Sustainable Public Purchase Policy”, Belgium has managed to be the 5th country with less municipal waste generated in 2019. The Belgian government has pushed for the inclusion of the circular economy philosophy in performance in all economic sectors, especially those causing more pollution (for instance, construction).

Source:  Eurostat

Finally, in order to build on these good trends, the Belgian government should actively support companies to boost their participation in the circular economy, for instance, increasing the grants for these activities, as well as coordinating different initiatives between the regional governments.

 

SOURCES

https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/belgium-its-way-towards-circular-economy

https://jiip.eu/mop/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/BE_Circular-Economy-Flanders_BirdTuerk.pdf

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=File:Municipal_waste_generated,_2005_and_2019_(kg_per_capita).png

https://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecoap/indicators/business-operations_en

 

Why Out of the Box International

The seemingly ever-lasting depression of European economies has shaken the very foundations of many European societies. The shear rate of unemployment in Europe and the omnipresent environmental crisis coupled with the often frustratingly slow process of decision making in the EU, are calling for civil society actors to step in and fill the void.

In the aftermath of the 2008. economic crisis, the apprehension of falling under the spell of apathy of economic depression across the continent has not been easy to shake off. However, pinpointing the culprits for the current state of affairs on any particular EU decision maker is not the answer. Nonetheless, the fact remains that the current approach to the economic and environmental crisis hasn’t yet shown the affected citizens the light at the end of the tunnel.

As representatives of the civil society we feel the need to make our voice heard in the midst of the current debate on economic crisis. Being a social enterprise we offer new and feasible ideas in education and community work, creative cross-sectorial cooperation among different actors and strong networking coalitions to turn these dire economic challenges into possibilities through social entrepreneurship initiatives which aim at benefiting wide range of citizens, particularly vulnerable groups and those affected by the economic crisis.

Social entrepreneurship is a simple concept that has been put into practice by civil society actors for the benefit of a specific social group or people, and this is precisely what we want: to create projects and initiatives with fresh ideas in different policies, educational programs or tools, support businesses, empower cultural initiatives and offer different solutions to individuals, corporate bodies, everybody who believe that we can have more Creative, Innovative and Cohesive Europe.

 

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