Basque region making ‘circular economy’ a reality

Josean Galera outlines Euskadi’s continuing drive to ‘generate green employment’ and ‘reduce consumption’

By Josean Galera

23 May 2014

Due to its small size and intensive industrial activity, the Basque Country is a region in which the circular economy is advancing rapidly. With its population of only two million in a space measuring 150 kilometres across, an industrial GDP of 24 per cent, a long culture of networking and public-private collaboration and an average to high position on the ‘regional innovation scoreboard’, it would appear to satisfy all the requirements for becoming a ‘guinea pig’ region for European Union circular economy initiatives.

The Basque Country’s economy is currently intensive in terms of foreign resources, being, as the region is, 75 per cent import-dependent. Its total material requirement stands at 187 tons per head of population. In 10 years, productivity has risen from generating €1.50 to €2.90 per kilogram of material used. Waste generation accounts for seven per cent of total raw material consumption tonnage. In the case of the Basque Country, boosting the circular economy would mean committing to ‘greening’ manufacturing, products, consumption and end-of-life, through public-private collaboration.

The development of government tools which would help to accelerate the circular economy in industry is fundamental

The development of government tools which would help to accelerate the circular economy in industry is fundamental. We have committed to green manufacturing with the inclusion of 84 technologies or equipment items in the Basque list of clean technologies, the acquisition of which will result in a tax deduction of 30 per cent of their cost in corporate income tax. We are also promoting the creation of green products with the formation of a public-private platform involving eight major Basque multinationals who employ ‘green supply chain management’, through the Basque eco-design centre. We also advise local authorities on how to turn the Basque green public procurement programme, which prioritises the use of sustainable and recycled materials, into a reality.

A circular end-of-life economy, in the case of waste, requires a foundation in the form of market and legislative tools, since many of the technical solutions developed through research and technological development are in the ‘valley of death’ and not available on the market. Factors, such as the waste flow disposal ban combined with waste recovery solutions, create an intervention under the terms of the integrated pollution prevention and control directive and allow integrated environmental authorisations to incentivise the circular economy. Leading to the development of targeted technical-environmental legislation that regulate new uses of products based on recycled material, such as the new Basque technical legislation on ‘construction and demolition waste’, have helped to raise the circular economy profile in the Basque Country.

The new 2020 regional waste prevention and management plan aims not only to increase recovery by 10 points to at least 60 per cent, but aims to enhance the value of any new materials obtained. An upcycling exercise like this will generate business initiatives, similar to those which we presented during green week. The initiatives will be generated in sectors like construction, metal recycling, eco-innovative steel mill dust recovery process, the urban furniture sector with a micro-SME such as Protón Electrónica, or the paper sector with fibre recovery as undertaken by the company Cemosa.
In short, our aim, through public-private collaboration, is, as described in the German environment ministry’s ‘greentech 2.0’ study, to duplicate the results of the circular economy. The figures quoted show that Euskadi (Basque Country) has significantly reduced its resource consumption, thereby contributing to the generation of wealth and green employment, which are our key objectives.