Circular economy in real life… Since 2015, the municipality of Wiltz has assumed the status of “Municipal Hotspot of the Circular Economy in Luxembourg”. In the space of six years, with the support of Luxinnovation in the first years, a number of projects have been implemented, making Wiltz a forerunner in applying the principles of the circular economy and showing commitment to a better use of our planet’s resources.
It was thus a logical step to organised a conference on 30 June in the Château de Wiltz on the theme of “How the circular economy can offer solutions to better manage the various crises in energy, climate and resources”.
Several workshops were also organised around concrete cases, such as the implementation of the waste law in the construction sector, biodiversity through urban agriculture and the renaturation of the Wiltz river, renewable energies in the neighbourhoods of today and tomorrow and the application of circular economy principles in the renovation of the Wiltz town hall.
During a round table discussion with the ministers Joëlle Welfring (Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development) and Claude Turmes (Energy and Spatial Planning), as well as Pierre Koppes (alderman of the municipality of Wiltz) and Simon Gresset (Circular Economy Officer within the ICLEI network, Local Governments for Sustainability Europe), Sasha Baillie, CEO of Luxinnovation, was able to highlight the actions carried out by Luxinnovation in the field of sustainability
“Connecting the dots”
One example is the Fit 4 Sustainability programme, which was announced during the tripartite agreement at the end of March. It supports companies (of all sizes and sectors) in their efforts to measure the environmental footprint of their activity and to reduce its effects.
This support is provided by Luxinnovation’s sectoral advisors with expertise in decarbonisation, the use of resources and materials, energy management, circularity, etc. They are supported, when necessary, by experts to meet the specific and numerous needs of companies, as well as by external experts – approved by the national innovation agency – whose costs for advising and supporting companies may be partially covered by state aid from the Ministry of the Economy.
Luxinnovation is also involved in national projects such as the implementation of a virtual and physical platform for products and materials in the construction sector, set up to enable the re-use of demolition waste and the implementation of a circular value chain for concrete in order to reduce its carbon footprint. The agency also manages the upcoming launch of the “eHolzhaff” platform, a digital marketplace dedicated to raw (directly from the forest) as well as recycled wood. The platform will also allow local companies to offer services related to wood processing (sawing, drying, transport, etc.).
As part of its 2022-2025 strategy, Luxinnovation has also set up an innovation platform for sustainability. “This is part of our role to be able to connect companies – individually or collectively – with solution providers in the field of sustainable transition and carbon footprint reduction,” explained Sasha Baillie.