We have been commissioned by the Greek Federation of Recycling and Energy Recovery for Industry, SEPAN (ΣΕΠΑΝ), to develop a comprehensive Annual Report demonstrating progress towards a more circular economy in Greece. The resulting report, due in September 2020, will deliver a good practice review and recommend priority actions for Greece to promote change at both sector and policy level while considering replicability and scalability.

Our key activities will include:

  • Assessing current progress towards a circular economy in key priority sectors including: construction & demolition, food, plastics, water reuse, industrial sector (aluminium, steel, lubricants, paper) and packaging
  • Recommending and prioritising the short and long-term actions required to support Greece’s transition to a circular economy
  • Proposing key indicators to support monitoring of progress towards a circular economy in Greece

Our work will begin by defining the Circular Economy across key sectors by appraising the current adoption and application of circular economy principles, practices, tools and measures in multiple countries, while also considering the structure of the Greek market. We will also consider progression of circular economy enablers related to policy, circular business models, design and technology.

Once we have identified good practice in other countries and regions, we will compare and contrast progress in Greece by reviewing whether, and how, the key sectors identified are progressing towards embedding circular economy principles within their operations, in greening public procurement and towards supporting existing Greek policy/strategy goals. We will then also review governmental progress on implementation of measures to stimulate adoption of these principles.

The information derived from the above exercises will allow us to define and prioritise the actions required and make recommendations to accelerate the circular economy in Greece, as well as define indicators to monitor progress.

Photo courtesy of Klearchos Kapoutsis via Flickr CC BY 2.0