24 November 2016
CCISC, in collaboration with the French Institute of Greece and the Greek-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry, organized a technical workshop on the circular economy on 24/11/2016, with the participation of representatives of various bodies and a round-table discussion open to the general public under the title “Circular economy, an economic model of the future.”
Recognizing the prospects of the circular economy as a sustainable economic model for the future, as well as the need to raise awareness and inform the public and the bodies concerned, the French approach of the circular economy and the respective best practices were presented. Furthermore, the current EU policy and the benefits for competitiveness, sustainable development and jobs in Europe were also discussed.
The rapid depletion of natural resources worldwide renders the emphasis on their more efficient use and the minimization of waste as necessary and urgent options. This leads to the transition from today's model of “linear” economy - that begins from taking the resources from the nature, continues with product manufacturing and their consumption and ends with their disposal- to a new model of “circular” economy. Circular economy means that the value of the products, the materials and the resources remains in the economy for as long as it is feasible, while waste disposal is reduced to a minimum. In order to achieve these goals interventions must be made both from the supply side (eco-friendly product design, longer lifespan) and the demand side (related to the consumers’ behavior). Furthermore, waste management must be more efficient (with appropriate financial motives and participation of the society).
Round-table discussion took place in the French Institute, Theo Angelopoulos room.
Speakers:
- Christophe Chantepy, Ambassador of France in Greece,
- Sokratis Famellos, Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy.
- François-Michel Lambert, MP, President of the French Institute of Circular Economy,
- Matthieu Orphelin, Director of circular economy and waste management of ADEME,
- Giorgos Kremlis, Head of the Administrative Unit of Environmental Integration and Evaluation of Environmental Impacts of DGENV of the European Commission.
Speeches were prefaced and moderated by Pantelis Capros, Professor of Energy Economics at the National Technical University of Athens, member of CCISC. A discussion with the audience followed.
See the video and the presentations of the event