Upscaling circular procurement in ICT and workwear
The Circular Shift project is part of the Interreg North-West Europe (NWE) programme. The project aims to accelerate circular economy across borders in 7 countries, making them more resilient, and contributing to a better quality of life and well-being.
This project contributes to our overall international strategy as it has a focus on cross-cultural collaboration. We are using this collaboration to work on developing and sharing knowledge.
Sustainability does not stop at borders. By working on an overall plan for circular procurement we are contributing to a more sustainable living environment overall.
This comprehensive commitment is part of Rijkswaterstaat’s mission. Climate change affects all of us. Circular Shift is playing its part in keeping the Netherlands safe and habitable in the long-term by creating and encouraging a more sustainable way of working.
Working towards structural circularity
Circular Shift partners will widely implement value chain collaboration methods after a pilot scheme, involving 8 procurement cases, was instituted to promote circular strategies (for example repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing) within the legal procurement framework.
They will help to achieve the organisational change and obtain the tools needed to make those practices the standard for all product groups, at all departmental levels in 60 procuring organisations (partners and external network).
Partners have committed to producing strategies for internal commitment and measuring impact, a value chain collaboration action plan and a joint training scheme to overcome the 3 main barriers to mainstream adoption of circular procurement.
Driving change: tools and strategies for scalable circularity
The activities and pilot schemes in the Circular Shift project will create deliverables providing organisations with tools to implement Circular procurement. These efforts are focused on achieving strategies and action plans that turn circular ambitions into measurable impact.
Within these strategies, organisations initiate value chain cooperation, build internal commitment to circularity, make decisions based on predicted impact and monitor impact accordingly.
This will lead to an upscaling of circularity in the North-West Europe region. Value chain partners will together narrow, slow or even close material and product loops. Impact-based decisions by definition focus on the consequences of procurement choices and monitoring these will not only endorse the power of such decisions, but also demonstrate to any organisation in the North-West Europe region that circular procurement is an effective instrument.
Project period
December 2024 - June 2027
European programme
Partners
Ministry of Infrastructure and Water management, City of Mechelen, Municipality of Middelburg, City of Almere, RESECO, Association of Cities and Regions for sustainable Resource management, Nyenrode Business University, Irish Manufacturing Research, CIRCULIFE, Ministry for Environment, Climate and Science of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.