Circular Economy for SMEs – CESME Partner Meeting will take place in Aalborg, Denmark on September 20-21 2016.

Circular Economy is the new hot issue in the economy, due to the significant economic and environmental benefits that entails.

The European Commission adopted an ambitious Circular Economy Package, which includes revised legislative proposals on waste to stimulate Europe's transition towards a circular economy, in order to boost global competitiveness, foster sustainable economic growth and generate new jobs.

The Circular Economy Package that the EU has recently launched will bring benefits such as:

• up to +7% GDP increase

• up to € 600 billion in savings/8% of annual turnover for business in the EU

• 170,000 direct jobs in waste management sectors created by 2035

• reducing total annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2-4%

CESME project aims to address and improve the effectiveness and impact of policy instruments, stimulating SMEs to overcome years of conventional production methods and shift towards green innovation – and circular economy at best.

During the first day of the meeting that will be held in Aalborg (DK) “the Power of Industrial Symbioses”, as well as “Barriers and Benefits of Industrial Symbioses” will be explored based on the experiences of North Denmark Region and companies operating in the Region (namely Aage Vestergaard Larsen A/S, the largest company in Northern Europe regenerating plast products, NCC A/S, one of the leading development and constructions companies in Northern Europe and Aalborg Portland A/S, the market leader in Denmark, as well as the world’s largest exporter of white cement). A site visit will take place at Rockwool A/S, the world leader in stone wool.

In the second day, project management and advisory sessions for the partners will take place. In addition, the hosts of the event have organized a site visit at Aalborg Portland A/S and RENO NORD I/S, a company that is sorting the waste from several municipalities in North Denmark turning it into energy.