Reflecting on the EU Green Week : a week of insight and collaboration

During the first week of June, the European Commission organised the EU Green Week, focusing on the theme of "Circular Economy". Lille Metropole participated in this significant event. Besides attending the official sessions at the European Commission, Lille Metropole contributed as a speaker at two EU Green Week Partner Events:

• "Innovative cities, circular solutions: tackling urban waste challenges", organised by the Gothenburg European Office and Cities Northern Netherlands: Eugénie Amoulé showcased Lille Metropole's initiatives in raising awareness about reusing garden waste. 

As generators of 50% of global waste while also serving as hubs of innovation and implementation, cities play a crucial role in the transition towards a more circular European ecosystem. With a significant share of urban waste being preventable, reusable or recyclable, cities have the potential to drive the development of more sustainble and circular systems.

This session was focused on exploring how cities across Europe are taking action to reduce waste, maximise resource efficiency and create sustainable urban environments. Through presentations and dicussions on practical solutions, the participating cities shared their hands-on experiences in tackling urban waste and contributing to circular urban devlopment.

After an introductory presentation setting the scene by Jack McQuibban from Waste Europe, fours local authorities presented their work on this matter:

• Elina Järkil from the City of Gothenburg presented the municipality’s work on giving abandoned bicycles a second life.
• Paolo Bakker presented Assen’s journey towards circular street lighting.
• Eugénie Amoulé showcased Lille Metropole's initiatives in raising awareness about reusing garden waste.
• Tim Miller, Head of the West Midlands Biochar Innovation Accelerator at Aston University, developped how research can deliver local circular economy results.

A panel discussion followed which was moderated by Astrid Hannes, Head of Projects & Community Manager of the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative at ERRIN’s network. The participants discussed the obstacles they faced when shifting from traditional to circular systems and how they tackled them. The pannel shared also their views on how should the upcoming EU Circular Economy Act support cities and empower them to lead the circular transition.

• "Circular textile in practice – How can local and regional stakeholders collaborate together to provide for sustainable solutions?", organised by the Cities Northern Netherlands and Oslo Region European Office / Osloregionens Europakontor: Andrea CELLI from CETI Transformative Textiles and Jeanne Meillier from EuraMaterials presented collaborative projects on circular textiles.

In addition to the topic of urban waste, the topic of textiles featured promintently in Lille Metropole’s EU Green Week involvement. Indeed, the textiles industry has historically been present in Lille Metropole, and increasing circularity within the industry is a key challenge. One of the local actors taking part in this transition is the European Center of Innovative Textiles (Centre Européen des Textiles Innovants – CETI), a private, non-profit technical center for applied research and innovation supporting sustainable textile and nonwoven industry. 

Andrea CELLI, who works on product development with the Research and Development team, presented CETI’s strategic priorities for 2025 and beyond, which include the development and promotion of solutions for textile circularity as well as supporitng the bio-based transition. 

In addition, Jeanne Meillier from EuraMaterials presented collaborative projects on circular textiles. EuraMaterials is a competitiveness cluster dedicated to the materials transition, an  accelerator-incubator and a metropolitan site of excellence.

Other good practices were presented from Norway, the Netherlands and Catalonia, including high-end, innovative sorting systems and initiatives related to the revalorisation of recycled textiles. Beyond these good practices, the event was an opportunity to discuss recent EU developments, focusing both on legislative issues and on the upcoming new Horizon Europe partnership Textile for Future. 

Overall, the EU Green Week week provided an excellent opportunity to highlight Lille Metropole’s expertise in circularity, gain insights into the upcoming Circular Economy Act, and exchange best practices. Feel free to get in touch if you want to learn more about these local practices !