Seville was the host of the International forum on Marine Litter and Circular Economy – MARLICE Forum, which took place in the period 10th – 12th April 2019. This major event with over 250 participants was the reason for organizing EXPRA statutory meetings in Seville as well.
The forum, conceived as a cross-sectoral and multi-stakeholder event to advance in the management of marine litter, gathered public authorities, research institutes, private sector and environmental organizations, was organized by Spanish Marine Litter Association (AEBAM), with the support of Ecoembes and EXPRA among others strategic partners.
Marine litter is a global threat that requires cross cutting solutions and a large panel of interlocutors. For the event, four thematic blocks were formed in order to involve all the actors who can successfully deal with the marine litter issue, namely : Governance, Research, Circular Economy and Innovation, and Awareness. Begoña Benito Fernandez, Ecoembes participated in the opening ceremony of the event as well as shared Ecoembes’ activities in promoting environment friendly behavior and prevention of marine litter. Their great project – LIBERA, implemented jointly with SEO / BirdLife was also presented during the event.
During the first session, Circular economy & innovation, Maryse Vermette, Éco Entreprises Québec presented the International Quebec-France Forum, which discussed different plastics solutions: recycling innovations on both sides of the Atlantic
The following session, Circular economy and legislation, focused on different aspects that concern the private sector working in 3 main areas: Legal framework, Private Sector Initiatives and R+D Projects. EXPRA Managing Director Joachim quoden presented EXPRA’s views on the Circular Economy Package and Single Use Plastic Directivewith focus on the challenges but also on solutions, provided by EPR organizations. A representative of the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition presented the development of the Spanish roadmap towards a circular economy.
In the following presentations (including Life Eps-Sure project of CICLOPLAST, in which EXPRA is participating) the and discussions a wide variety of topics were discussed, as the role of the private sector in the collection, recovery and valorization of marine litter, the potential value of litter in the market from the perspective of circular economy, pioneering projects in restructuring production processes and the role of consumers in enabling the circular economy (responsible consumption and behavior).