2023-07-31 20:20:19
“The circular economy is a new model which is a new way of produce and consume and therefore involves both the companies, consumers and administrations“. With these words Virginia Idleresponsible for Circular Economy of Endesaintroduced a meeting organized in Madrid by Prensa Ibérica and El Periódico de España which, with the sponsorship of Endesa, led by title ‘Circular economy: The necessary evolution for a new society‘.
In it, three experts addressed in a round table some of the main challenges that this new paradigm faces. The representative of the electricity company explained that the circular economy promotes a new model that leaves behind the traditional linear system of using and throwing away, who presents “symptoms of exhaustion”. These indications derive from a change that takes into account “the environmental impact of development and that it should be guided by the ecodesign“, a key concept that, as Ocio specifies, minimized from the design phase, resources to manufacture any good, tries to make them renewable, increases the useful life of the product and reduce waste trying to recover the materials at the end of their life cycle as much as possible.
Begona de Benito, Director of External Relations and ESG (Environmental, social and corporate governance) at Ecoembesagreed that advancing in this direction supposes “a radical change in the way of producing and consuming” and warned that we must “be aware that the resources are finite“. “We have to be able to To return to introduce waste into the production cycle“, he sentenced. De Benito said that citizens should ask themselves what they need to buy the products, their durability or their possible reuse. “This is the only possible model of economic and social progress. If we continue to consume like this, it will be impossible for us to continue living on this planet,” he argued.
Monica MelleFull Professor of Financial Economics at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), stressed that this transformation needs public support. “We have to preserve the planet and take into account the climate emergency. It is not enough for us just to grow, but that growth must be sustainable and we have to introduce it from the public spheres”, he remarked.
Disclosure
For all the actors to be aligned it is citizens need to have information that allows you to understand your role as a consumer in the market. For Mónica Melle “disclosure is fundamental”. Since sometimes barriers are generated If the citizen perceives that these products or services incorporate a higher cost to your economyMelle bets on a pedagogical work to explain that the energy saving also carries a reduction of future costs because more and more citizens “take the responsible consumption decisions based on savings.
Begoña de Benito pointed to the education as a key factor. He argued that “we must sensitize, raise awareness and facilitate decision-making” and added that it is necessary that citizenss understand their energy bill so that they know their savings levers. De Benito advocated, on this point, for taking the sustainability to the compulsory school curriculum and that it “permeates all subjects”. The Ecoembes representative focused on the importance of improve statistics and data.
“It seems evident that we recycle more than we reportbut we still can’t measure it with precision”, he lamented. Even so, he valued some of the measures that have already been put in placelike the recent Waste Law. “It’s not just how much but how,” she specified. De Benito, she also insisted on “continuing to work on the numerator, recycle and separate more, but also in the denominator, generate less and recycle better“. The directive clarified the important role companies play at the time of “putting on the market packaging that is 100% recyclable“.
Financing
Virginia Ocio pointed out that “the role of big business is to favor the change of model and apply it in its sector”, and above all, to give a promotion of the transformation of SMEs which, due to their configuration, have fewer resources to be able to make these changes themselves. Ocio highlighted another aspect that, in his opinion, is relevant to understanding this new paradigm: the transversality. “Sustainability has been understood within the limits of the company and, when we talk about sustainable economy, we have to talk about business tissue, to connect and create alliances between corporations,” he stressed.
Mónica Melle pointed out that companies that comply environmental sustainability criteria attract the attention of investors who see potential for achieve better results and yields. Regarding employment, Melle stressed that “everything that has to do with renewable energy is already generating qualified and well-paid employment“. The UCM professor valued the impulse provided by the fondos europeos Next Generation to the transformation of some sectors towards a circular and sustainable economy, and warned of the importance of measuring the economic impact of these actions: “We look at GDP growth, but nobody looks at what happens with the sustainable development indicator”.
Regulation
Begoña de Benito remarked that this ecological transition needs “of a good regulation and high visibility“, and pointed out that “it cannot be that at the national level we have seventeen declensions of the same regulations”. Melle agreed with this idea: “having so many laws complicate that companies can grow.
Virginia Ocio agreed with both experts that “regulation is needed proof of what this model change means”, commenting that when innovate and develop new models“the regulator sometimes goes behind, which generates a problem“. “There’s a major challenge in the regulatory framework so that we all measure in the same way what is circular and what is not”, sentenced Ocio. Despite these difficulties, he urged companies to work together with administrations and to form alliances between them since “large companies and strategic sectors have the role of propose, give ideas and see how they can be implemented“Knowing that the transformation towards a more sustainable model “It is complex, it requires cultural changes and of a regulatory framework to speed up this transition.”
Begoña de Benito compared the Spain situation with other countries such as Belgium, where they are already applying pay per generation systems, “a model that shares the vision that those who do things better pay less”. De Benito affirmed that “the only way to achieve the objectives is to go moving towards this type of models“, and explained that from Ecoembes they are already applying “modular systems” in which the rate of the companies varies depending on the Cost management generated by their packaging in the market.
Technological development
Mónica Melle pointed out that another interesting issue is that of the new technologies“that they are allowing a further development of the circular economy in many areas.” Melle believes that apps like the ones that help calculate carbon footprint of the citizens or the impact of your actions are very interesting, and he pointed out that the educational system “must take advantage of this market growth potential and adapt to new job opportunities“. In reference to educational fieldMelle acknowledged that the university is in many cases “behind in this process”, but assured that “there are an interest in the students forming in these areas that are the future”.
As for the challenges that presents the transition to a circular economy, Virginia Ocio explained that the energy transition implies Stop consuming fossil fuels. But he explained that “the new technologies on which renewable energy is developed have a very high dependence on other raw materials such as nickel, cobalt or silicon, which are scarce and are generally located in countries with geopolitical risks“.
Virginia Ocio pointed out that our country “has to get its act together in the development of a strategy on critical raw materials and establish what will be our positioning in relation to the community strategy“. Despite this, he showed himself optimistic and clarified that, precisely, the European Union “is doing its homework”. “It’s hard to predict the future, but the change is already being seen“, he concluded.
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