July 2021 - LIFE-IP CEI-Greece

Α) Identity of the project

Description/Aim

The integrated LIFE project LIFE-IP CEI-Greece aims to contribute towards the implementation of the National Waste Management Plan, the National Waste Prevention Plan and the National Strategy for Circular Economy. A new concept for waste management emerges with-in this project; based on circular economy principles, promoting behavioral changes and supporting actions to increase product life cycle, convert waste into valuable resources and implement successfully the legislative framework for waste.

Β) Best Practices

The integrated project LIFE-IP CEI-Greece launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, facing from its very early days unprecedented daily conditions. With the contribution of all project beneficiaries and the MEEN coordinating team, the partners established quickly effective operating rules, responding adequately to the increasing need for digital inward and outward communication.

The successful audience and stakeholder participation, in the Inaugurating Conference of LIFE-IP CEI-Greece, surveys carried out by the project, as well as working meetings, suggest a promising level of awareness, already achieved in the project’s target group, during the first 2 years of its operation.

For productive outward communication, the project uses a number of online and offline tools aiming to coordinate its actions in a cumulative manner in order to convey a concise and clear message. The project aims to create a ‘single voice’ that surrounds the target audience with a thorough communication plan throughout its duration, covering a mix of media (TV, radio, national & local newspapers, websites, social media, project website, press releases, newsletter, leaflets, events, essays and deliverables, surveys etc.).

The central narrative of LIFE-IP CEI-Greece focuses on improving the attitude and/or changing the behavior of citizens, professionals and institutions in the following parameters:

• Prevention
• Reuse
• Preparation for Reuse
• Separate Collection
• Active Participation

We change our behavior > we reuse – repair – recycle.
In the circular economy nothing goes to waste and everything is valuable.
No time to waste.

The project aims to promote its central narrative at the following 3 levels:

Stakeholder involvement and capacity building are activities relevant for the entire project. Multi-level governance for integrated waste management and waste prevention requires the involvement of various stakeholders in order to achieve a smooth and well-planned implementation, including spread and dissemination of successful practice both within and outside of Greece, to enable the actual engagement of decision-makers, other practitioners, entrepreneurs and the public at large.

Particular emphasis is placed upon networking opportunities, were LIFE-IP CEI-Greece has already participated in a number of introductory meetings, in order to exchange views and share expertise, with other projects and initiatives at national and/or European level. Throughout the project a number of surveys will take place and their outcome will be utilized for the implementation of certain actions as well as all foreseen capacity building, in order to meet the real training needs of stakeholder groups.

The LIFE-IP CEI-Greece bases a significant part of its concrete actions on applying best practice for waste prevention, recycling and reuse, and finally advancing concepts and applications towards a circular economy in areas experiencing significant challenges in Greece and beyond. This is also linked to the project’s demonstration actions (ECGs, HHW management, application of the EU Circular Economy Package with specific scope for insular and mountainous areas) but also to the making use of knowledge and experience gained internationally on how to advance and monitor the implementation of measures in critical sectors of the Greek economy, such as food waste, agro-food chains and technical standards for the use of secondary materials.

A significant part of the work will also include the actual replication of these best practices, through the development of indicators and criteria to be integrated into financial/funding tools for the current and the next programming period, so as to enable a coherent implementation of such best practice across Greece.

C) Results 

The expected results of the project by its completion in 2027 are as follows:

• Construction and Operation of three (3) Enhanced Green Centres, two (2) in the Municipality of Athens and one (1) in the Municipality of Thessaloniki. The ultimate goal of this action is to evolve the Green Centres, so that they are not only dedicated to the collection of waste, but also to the re-direction of objects and items, such as furniture, weee, clothes and textiles, books, toys etc. for reuse or the preparation for reuse. A Recycle, Repair and Reuse Experiential Park will operate in the Municipality of Thessaloniki. 
• Development of an integrated waste management system in four (4) islands and one (1) mountainous region (Alonissos, Paros-Antiparos, Thira, Tinos and Municipality of Nafpaktia) applying in practice the waste hierarchy and the new legislative framework for waste, based on the principles of Circular Economy. 
• Full development of hazardous household waste management and collection networks in the region of Western Macedonia and the Municipality of Athens. 

It should be noted that for the development of  LIFE-IP CEI-Greece pilot and  demonstration actions the selection of two large municipalities was considered as most appropriate (Athens and Thessaloniki), with a regional waste management body that made significant progress in integrated waste management (DIADYMA SA, Waste Management of Western Macedonia) as well as the inclusion of insular and mountainous municipalities, due to the specific geographical characteristics of Greece (Paros, Antiparos, Thira, Tinos, Alonissos and Nafpaktia).

• Full scale implementation of the PAYT “Pay as you throw” financial tool,  in the Municipality of Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni. 
• Actions on food waste prevention focusing in the establishment of an effective system for monitoring and preventing waste throughout the food supply chain, from production to consumption, as well as demonstration actions for best practices on food waste prevention and the development of a specialized platform to operate as a hub for monitoring and managing food waste production prevention. 

In particular, the project will have a decisive contribution in a crucial obligation of Greece, with the establishment of a monitoring system for domestic food waste production, registering waste annually along the entire food supply chain, from production to consumption (production, processing, retail and other food distribution, catering services/restaurants and households). Particular emphasis is placed upon the utilization of agro-food waste with the completion of a guide for the circular management of agro-food waste.

• Development of local/regional alliances for agro-food waste management. 
• Development of national Circular Economy indicators and establishment of a Circular Economy Observatory to monitor on a continuous basis through national indicators the progress of the implementation of policies in Greece related to the transition from the dominant linear model of production and consumption to Circular Economy. 
• Development of new standards for secondary raw materials to support the implementation of Circular Economy. 
• Development of a web-based national Circular Economy Repository. 
• Capacity building actions to transfer knowledge and skills such as seminars on specific topics, adapted to the needs of all stakeholders, a food waste prevention forum and distance training. 
• Communication actions to raise awareness and disseminate the project results such as regional info days and conferences. 

A guide of best practices for the replication and transfer of project results with an instruction manual, will be completed as part of the communication actions. This is so that the development of the project’s actions can be utilized from other municipalities, in order to achieve an impact at national level.

The progress of LIFE-IP CEI-Greece as well as the open access deliverables and studies of the project, are published in the website: www.circulargreece.gr

The following deliverables are complete under final revision and will be published in the near future:

• A1.D3 Report on data collection from stakeholders – Results of the Circular Economy Survey
• E1.D1 Dissemination and Communication Strategy
• E1.D4 Report describing the detailed design of the Recycling-Reuse-Repair (RRR) Experiential Park
• E1.D21 1st LIFE-IP CEI-Greece Conference Proceedings
• F1.D4 Green Procurement Guide

The following steps are expected, until the end of the 1^st project phase in 31.10.2021: The completion of all preliminary studies of Actions A1 “Baseline assessments  and  inception  studies  at  national  scale  & Stakeholder mapping”, A2 “Preparatory Technical  &  Economic  Studies  for  Circular  Economy Demonstration projects” and A3 “Inception study and assessment of potential for implementing Circular Economy in Key sectors”. In particular within the next 6 months the deliverables of sub-actions A1.3 “Inception studies for the implementation of economic instruments”, A1.4 “Review of standards and technical specifications for the use of secondary materials”, A2.1 “Preparation for the Enhanced Green Centres”, A2.2 “Implementation studies for full scale application of CE in insular and mountainous areas”, A2.4 “Preparatory studies for the integrated management of hazardous household waste”, A3.1 “Agro-food waste processing waste valorisation” and A3.3 “ Review of existing food waste prevention programmes (measurements/estimations/existing monitoring platforms and practises), will be complete.

In the context of action E1 “Public awareness, involvement and dissemination” and sub-action E1.8 “Local awareness raising events for the LIFE-IP CEI-Greece demonstration actions”, a number of local awareness events will take place until the end of the 1^st phase of the project, in selected pilot areas. Finally the deliverable E3.D1 “Replicability and transferability strategy” will be complete by the end of the 1^st phase, in the context of Action E3 “Replication and transfer strategy and implementation”.

Project leaflet
TV Spot
Radio Spot