Ribno, 6 July 2018 – Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy (GODC) yesterday organised the fifth Symbi stakeholder group meeting inviting the participants to discuss the role of green public procurement in industrial symbiosis projects and to identify regional good practices in circular economy. The meeting was attended by the representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, company SIJ Acroni, Triglav National Park, and Zero Waste Hotel Ribno, first of its kind in Slovenia.
GODC representatives briefed the participants on Symbi project activities and results, highlighting the takeaways from the study visit to Sevilla in June concerning the approaches applied in this Spanish region to promote industrial symbiosis. GODC staff members also announced that an action plan would be prepared in this area inviting stakeholders to participate in its development.
Environmental consultant Alenka Burja focused on green public procurement identifying it as the key enabler of transition to a circular economy. She also outlined the main differences between circular public procurement and green public procurement, highlighting the need to increase the professionalisation of contracting authorities, which can be promoted through education and working together with firms.
Next on the agenda were two presentations on the approach to waste and byproduct management. Miha Trdin from company SIJ Acroni, d.o.o. shared the company’s experience with delivering action towards closing the loop and working together with firms from different sectors. The byproducts from the steel making process, i.e. slag and magnetite, can be re-used in a number of ways; thus, steel slag can be used as a natural aggregate in asphalt pavement and road construction and in the backfilling process of building foundation, while magnetite is used for production of weight plates. The company is working on solutions on how to re-use other byproducts as secondary raw materials.
Tjaša Rejc from Zero Waste Hotel Ribno, the venue for the stakeholder group meeting, said that the hotel owners decided to adopt the zero waste approach because they felt it was the only way to do future business. Nevertheless, zero waste measures are being introduced one step at a time, starting with measures concerning the hotel staff, and then transferring them to the guest level. They have already reduced the plate size, and guest are encouraged to fill their plates with just the right portion size and then refill the plate, if they are still hungry, in order to avoid overfeeding and reduce food waste. The zero waste process is work in progress, and they are designing new measures to roll them out in the future.
Katja Gregorič from the Triglav National Park addressed current waste and pollution issues faced in the protected area of the Triglav National Park. According to the law, construction of dump sites and any kind of waste disposal activity are considered illegal. She also informed the participants on how Slovenian mountain huts go about tackling waste management issues and gave some concrete examples. The law specifies that mountain hut managers must see to it that the waste, including general waste, generated on their premises is collected and properly disposed of at the agreed dump site whenever more than 20 meals are served per day – in this case they are no longer considered a household; households, as a general rule, are able to compost waste at home.
The participants agreed that, in order to fully harness the potentials of industrial symbiosis and to efficiently manage tourism waste, much more work needed to be done to improve the collaboration between the relevant players. Attention was also given to the sociological aspect, which often tends to be overlooked.
More about Symbi (in Slovenian)
Video: SYMBI project - Circular economy and industrial symbiosis