Thanks to the collaboration of APESA and ESTIA, several activities were implemented in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region in the frame of the RETRACE project.
Improvements in regional Circular Economy through the Regional Action Plan
The main outcomes of RETRACE project in Nouvelle Aquitaine are in line with the global regional strategy for sustainable development and circular economy. A large part of the actions that we have identified as prioritary, have been selected in this road map called « Neoterra ». The aim of this document is to build the strategy in order to make the Nouvelle Aquitaine region a zero-waste territory in 2030.
The highlights of RETRACE in France are on several items aiming at promoting the transition towards a Circular Economy in different actions from cleaner production to education and social entrepreneurship.
Topics like small methanization or the textile valorization are clearly identified in the « Neoterra » road map. In the case of the methanization, this topic is one of the main tasks of the « Neoterra » roadmap with an objective of +50% of renewable energy for the local agricultural exploitations by 2030.
The « Neoterra » roadmap also concerns this point and notice that the Region will evolve pedagogical projects of high schools / CFA so to make young people aware of the eco-responsible practices (sorting of waste, clean mobility, green technologies ...) and social entrepreneurial models.
Definition and acceleration of Circular Economy projects
Divided within four actions, various Circular Economy projects have been defined within the RETRACE Project Regional Action Plan:
ACTION 1 | Strengthen social entrepreneurship with a circular economy approach: We are a partner of the IKOS Project, which is a re-use ecosystem project on the Bordeaux metropolis. This project aims to bring together in one place activities production of each involved entity.
ACTION 2 | New approaches on textile valorization and slow fashion. A collaborative project has been launch with the funding of the Nouvelle Aquitaine region and the association of outdoor sports companies called Eusosima in order to raise the awareness of this sector with the circular economy topics and to reduce the carbon footprint of the industry. Another project was fund to develop a 4.0 textile technical center in the southwest part of the new Aquitaine.
ACTION 3 | Strengthen the development of small methanization project in the French basque country: This action would aim at uniting local stakeholders around agro-food waste and local energy production, in particular in the French bask country. Moreover, sub-regional government of the French Bask country has budgeted a specific amount to launch a detailed methanization viability study following the recommendations of the RETRACE project.
ACTION 4 | Develop new competencies around the valorization of local resources: The objective is to participate in the development of the local skills necessary to ensure the transition to the circular economy.
Awareness and dissemination of the Circular Economy concept in Nouvelle Aquitaine region
During the RETRACE project period, we also had the possibility to disseminate the concept of Circular Economy through different presentations to a broad audience, from companies to citizens and students. Within the textile valorization activities, the main objective was to sensibilize a maximum of stakeholders (companies, citizens...) around the topic of waste prevention in the textile industry. In the case of the IKOS re-use ecosystem, people will be able to find commercial activities with the creation of a shopping mall offering only re-used products; educational activities to raise the awareness of the public, schoolchildren and academics to the challenges of the Circular Economy through training and conferences, collaborative workshops, site visits and research activities to support transition through re-employment.
