• More than 20 different actors of the port community from various countries have been interviewed with the aim of identifying the main barriers for the implementation of circular economy activities.

Valencia – 30.10.2019. Yesterday, the third internal meeting of the European project “LOOP-Ports – Circular Economy Network of Ports” was held at the facilities of the port of Ravenna (Italy).

The LOOP-Ports project, coordinated by Fundación Valenciaport and funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) through EIT Climate-KIC, has as its main objective to facilitate the transition to a more circular economy in the port sector, where products, materials and resources are kept in the economy as long as possible and waste generation is minimised.

During the meeting, the partners evaluated and discussed the work already done during the past year and the tasks to be carried out in 2020. The best circular economy practices identified in the port environment were presented in the form of case studies, analysing the solutions implemented by those operators who consider the waste streams generated in the port environment as a business opportunity, creating new value chains. LOOP-Ports partners have identified more than 100 circular economy activities in areas such as waste management, shipbuilding, dredging activities, industrial symbiosis, etc., selecting the most relevant ones for in-depth study.

One of the key points of the LOOP-Ports project is to identify the opportunities for influencing the main drivers of the port system. Ports are strategic infrastructures for international trade and play a key role between the maritime and land environments. This is why ports must play an important role in the development and implementation of circular economy initiatives and, in this sense, 23 different agents, between ports and other stakeholders, have been interviewed to identify the main barriers for the implementation of circular economy activities in port clusters, among other aspects.

Moreover, the meeting was attended by different relevant stakeholders of the port cluster: Gaia Marani, External Relations and Promotion of the Port Authority of Ravenna; Tomaso Fortibuoni, Insights from European projects from ISPRA (Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale), and Cristian Chiavetta from ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), who explained to the project partners the circular economy initiatives implemented in their respective entities. Finally, the partners visited the Ravenna container terminal within the framework of the event.

The network of ports supporting the LOOP-Ports project continues to grow – currently totalling 40 ports – which will be able to benefit from the results of the project, including the development of business models and their replicability in other port sites with similar characteristics, as well as tailor-made training activities for port staff.

The next steps of the project will be the realisation of 30 workshops on circular economy in ports (20 at port level and 10 at institutional level) during 2020. These workshops will be held in at least six countries (Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany and Italy) with the participation of stakeholders included in the network, in order to bring together different initiatives and collect information on circular economy activities in ports.

LOOP-Ports involves 13 partners from 6 EU member states (Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands): Fundación Valenciaport (coordinator); EIT Climate-KIC S.L.; Climate-KIC S.r.l.; Climate-KIC S.r.l.; Climate-KIC GmbH; Danmarks S.r.l.; EIT Climate-KIC S.r.l.; Climate-KIC S.r.l. ; Climate-KIC GmbH; Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU); NTU International A/S; Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek (TNO); Università di Bologna; Universität Hamburg; Universidad Politécnica de Madrid; Universitat de València; Eco Environnement Ingenièrie (2EI) and Veolia Innove.

The project will run for just over 2 years (26 months), ending in November 2020.

About EIT Climate-KIC

EIT Climate-KIC is the EU’s largest public-private partnership to tackle climate change through innovation and to build a zero carbon economy by boosting entrepreneurship. EIT Climate-KIC is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.

Its focus is on improving the way of life in cities, industry to produce those products that are environmentally and climate friendly, while optimising the use of land and its resources to produce the food needed.

It has programmes across Europe to accelerate startups in climate action themes, as well as training programmes to inspire and empower the next generation of leaders in the low-carbon economy.

EIT Climate-KIC currently has a presence in 28 European countries.