Presentation given by Raimund Bleischwitz, University College London, at the 2015 Horizon 2020 SC5 Information Day, 21/10/2015, Herbert Park Hotel, Dublin

1. From Niche to Norm
Suggestions by the Group of Experts on a
‘Systemic
Approach to Eco-Innovation to achieve
a low-carbon, Circular Economy’
By Prof. Dr. Raimund Bleischwitz
UCL - University College London
ISR - Institute for Sustainable Resources
Presented at the 2015 EPA Annual Information Day on
Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 5,
Dublin, 21 October 2015

2. Intro: Current challenges facing Europe
– Commodity prices: Between 2003 and 2013 world fuel prices rose
fourfold, metal prices trebled and food prices roughly doubled
– Climate Change: Necessity of effective measures to keep
temperature rises below the internationally agreed target of 2 °C
– Outlook: By 2030 the world will demand e.g. 50% more energy
and 40% more water
=> Risks for the EU: Danger to the EU's long term prosperity because
of low self-sufficiency combined with relatively high labour costs,
consumption patterns, energy costs, and rapidly growing markets
 Without change the EU will inevitably become less
competitive, less attractive and less economically viable
 An implementation of a circular economy model is needed
and needs to be scaled up to a macro-level - from niche to
norm!
 Needed is a new paradigm on how the EU organises its
economy

3. Towards a circular economy - Economic potential of a
Resource Efficient Europe
 Enormous potential for economic growth in the European Union
(e.g. McKinsey, CE estimations)
 One of the key drivers for the EU is leveraging the Single Market
and making it a true 'single market for resources‘
 Scaling up through the Single Market can only work when
public, private and non-for profit stakeholders work together in
partnerships
 Our shared goal: “Maintaining, improving, and securing of the
quality of life currently enjoyed within the EU through the
adoption of a more sustainable, non-linear economic model”
 A systemic eco-innovation is at the heart of this paradigm shift
and comprises clusters, new business models, and a series of
connected changes.
 The Circular Economy seen as a dynamic composition of many
different circles with manifold interlinkages
 Designing the plethora of push and pull mechanisms

5. Roadmap for a systemic approach to eco-innovation
• Shifts will involve:
 A more collaborative approach to activities and sharing arrangements
 Improving the resilience of current value chains through resource
efficiency
 Increasing Europe's intellectual wealth
 Providing consistent and measurable metrics by which new solutions and
technologies can be measured and assessed
• Research and innovation is key
– More integrated programmes that cut across the silos of energy, climate,
water, materials and waste
– A more transformative role of research
– Allow for the bundling of other funding sources
– A coordinated urgent attempt to set up a database on European resource
inter-linkages and anthropogenic stocks, foresight and modelling tools

6. Pillar 1: Mapping resource use in Europe
Challenges
– The EU trailing significantly on smart growth
– Lack of investment, Access to finance
– The price of energy and the necessary structural changes
– Europe's status as a leading consumer market under threat
Recommendations:

7. Pillar 2: Creating an open space for innovation
Challenges
– General risk averseness
– Lack of agreement on how to best use science and
evidence in decision-making
– Lack of trust in the institutions
– Lack of understanding of how innovation leads to growth
and the creation of long term jobs
Recommendations:

8. Pillar 3: Financing the transition from "niche to norm"
Challenges: Barriers to new mass markets; complexity of the
fiscal environments; grants or loans are simply not enough
Recommendations:

9. Pillar 4: Fostering a single market for resources
Challenges
– Higher costs compared to many world economies
– 28 separated waste management infrastructures in the EU
– Consumption factor needs to be an integral element
– Administrative costs
Recommendations: ->

10. Pillar 4: Fostering a single market for resources
Recommendations:

11. Pillar 5: Ensuring Consistent, Conducive, Coordinated
(CCC) policy making
Challenges
– The overall policy landscape in Europe is often fragmented
and inconsistent
– High level of public debt
– Shift the tax burden
Recommendations:

12. CASE STUDIES OF SYSTEMIC ECO-INNOVATION
• Case Study 1: Industrial Symbiosis
– Identifies unused resources and waste streams from one
industry for use by another
– Recycled UK Limited
• Case Study 2: From CO2 to Foam
– Project 'Dream Production‘
– Bayer AG
• Case Study 3: Intelligent shuffling for blanking metal sheets
– Offers systems combining mechanical and electrical
engineering solutions
– Deutsche Mechatronics GmbH
• Case Study 4: New urban mobility: e.g. Car2Go
– Offering customers flexible mobility options
– Daimler AG
• Case Study 5: Qlean cleaning service with Ultra-pure water
– Improve the way of traditional cleaning
– Qlean Scandinavia AB

13. PROFILE OF THE EXPERTS
Raimund Bleischwitz
BHP Billiton Chair in Sustainable Global Resources at University College London (UCL), and Deputy
Director at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources (UCL ISR)
Françoise Bonnet
Secretary General of the Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and Sustainable Resource
Management (ACR+)
Stuart Hayward Higham
Currently responsible for research, innovation and non-bidding emerging development activities at SITA
UK, part of Suez Environnement. He is a Director of the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association
and Recoup, a charity organisation focussed on plastic recycling. He is chair or a member of a number of
working groups for the Environmental Services Association and Renewable energy Association.
Christiaan Prins
Joined Unilever in May 2008 where he is now Director of European External Affairs.
Hanane Taidi
Formerly PlasticsEurope, now: Regional Marketing Communications Leader EMEA for DuPont
Performance Polymers