The sixth edition of the wasteinprogress Municipal Waste Management Forum, which will be held in Girona from April 16 to 18, will focus on preventing the generation of waste and on the path to progress towards total decarbonization.
Through presentations, debates and round tables, during the three days international experiences that are already applied to places such as Austria, Sweden, Estonia, the United Kingdom and France will be explained. For example, a Swedish shopping center that exclusively sells repaired or second-hand items or the program that London has promoted to avoid food waste. As a novelty, wasteinprogress will promote the link between administrations and private business models for a circular economy.
Municipal policies to prevent the generation of waste and move towards total decarbonization will be the common thread of this wasteinprogress, which in parallel to the presentations will also bring together around twenty exhibitors.
The director of Fira de Girona, Coralí Cunyat, has stressed that in 2024 they wanted to take "a step forward" and that, therefore, instead of focusing on waste management, the will has been to "focus on prevention", which has also meant "a more intense research task" when looking for examples from other countries.
On Tuesday we will talk, among others, about the existing legal framework regarding reuse, textile waste or new Collective Systems of Extended Responsibility of Waste Producers (SCRAP). Among the speakers who will attend the forum, Cunyat highlighted the Swedish Anna Bergstrom, who will explain the success model of the Retuna project.
"It is the first shopping center in the world, owned by the municipality, that exclusively sells recycled and reused products," stressed the director of Fira de Girona. In addition, on this first day of the forum you will also be able to hear the Austrian Markus Piringer, who will talk about the repair bonus that has been implemented for some time in Vienna, through which citizens receive money to recycle and repair products (such as household appliances).
The next day, the conference will address the new challenges in packaging management, the new Extended Producer Responsibility Systems (SRAP) and the Deposit, Return and Return Systems (SDDR) among others. Here, Cunyat has highlighted the presentations by Joe Papineschi, who will compare a reusable packaging system and compare it with those that are disposable, or the conference by the Estonian Liina Kanarbik, who will explain the strategy of reducing packaging in public events that is being carried out. held in Tallinn.
Finally, the last day of wasteinprogress will focus attention on municipal planning and strategies to prevent the generation of waste. Here, the Frenchwoman Justine Laurent will share the plan that Paris will apply during the Olympic Games and the Englishman Anthony Bunchan, in turn, will present the ReLondon program (focused on initiatives to reduce food waste in London).
As a novelty, Coralí Cunyat has explained that this is sixth
