We organise our actions in six thematic & strategic agendas:
Strategic Agendas:
Bio-economy
Circular Construction
Chemicals/Plastics
Manufacturing Industry
Food Chain
Water Cycles
Seven leverages provide additional support:
Leverage effects:
Lever Policy Instruments
Lever Circular Procurement
Lever Communication
Lever Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Lever Financing
Lever Jobs & Skills
Lever Research
What, why and how?
Why are we pursuing a circular economy?
Future visions 2050
How do we see our circular future?
About our management
Who steers what at Flanders Circular?
Different studies show that the transition to a circular economy will provide extra jobs in different sectors. The projections differ depending on the focus area. For Flanders, SuMMa estimates 27,000 additional jobs in waste management in Flanders alone. No figures are yet available for the whole value chain in Flanders.
The Flemish Materials Programme (a precursor of Circular Flanders) commissioned exploratory research into the job impact of the circular economy. The research concentrated on a number of concrete case studies:
The study highlighted a number of new jobs, but also and particularly many changes to the nature of the work, many new skills, knowledge elements, and to a lesser extent attitude changes.
Today, there are many niche technologies, niche practices, niche businesses, and experiments in the circular economy, but it is not yet clear which of the niches will be successful in the long term and break through on a large scale. This means it is difficult to identify which jobs will increase in numbers or importance.
The individuality of each (circular) value chain is great. For example, organic material (leeks) is completely different from non-organic material.
A third element is the striking presence of cooperation along the value chain (vertical cooperation) in all Clusters. All activities are becoming more complex and more integrated, which automatically results in the need for more knowledge and skills.
The knowledge and skills of managers are decisive. This certainly applies in the niches phase, and probably more generally as well. Opportunities must be taken, risks must be accurately estimated, companies must be run differently, and strategy development must be more creative. Most of these aspects will be expected from the management.
There is a strong increase in the importance of the phase after the consumer has completed a first phase of use (with the exception of organic materials). Repair, reuse, disassembly, refurbishing, and remanufacturing are expected to be given a strong boost in the future, as are the jobs associated with these activities.
Manufacturers, designers, distributors, and others develop new models, but the consumer is often an indispensable link here. There is also much to be done among consumers as regards knowledge, attitude, and behaviour.
A great deal of job impact will not be restricted to one phase of the value chain (sales, for example). We also have integration in this respect: activities related to research, training, information (sharing), cooperation, smart logistics, the utilisation of residual and auxiliary flows, and entrepreneurship are transversal activities that will undergo change in a number of (often all) phases in the value chain.