Application of circular economy in the world and in Serbia

Concrete results in the context of circularity have also been achieved in the cosmetics industry. Leading world brands Kiehls, Drunk elephant and Origins have been making their packaging from recyclable raw materials and materials for some time. Consequently, biodegradable packaging can be used for several cycles, thus reducing plastic waste as well as consumer expenditure for purchasing new products. Progress in the direction of sustainability and circularity has been achieved in the textile industry, which due to the trend of fast fashion is one of the biggest polluters in the world. By collecting and processing plastic waste along the sea and ocean coasts, the innovative material Econyl was created.

Econyl has found great use in the production of the sustainable fashion line H&M Conscious, Join life Zara, as well as in swimwear models of the Italian brand Yamamay. Also, the company H&M promotes the recycling of already worn clothing, by granting discounts to consumers in the next purchase. Recycled materials have found application in high-end brands such as Stella McCartney, but also in young designers such as Slow your design from Vienna. All listed green products must be clearly labeled with the Cradle to Cradle label, which indicates minimal harm to the environment.

In addition, CE is widely used in construction and road infrastructure. Namely, the ash produced by burning coal in thermal power plants can be used as a building material for the construction of highways and regional roads (example: Australia) or smart buildings (example: Dubai). It has been proven that by using ash instead of classic asphalt, sand or crushed stone, significant economic savings as well as a lower carbon footprint are achieved.



Bearing in mind the structure and the way the Serbian economy functions, waste from agricultural production has great potential for biomass production. In order to revive the economy and spread circular solutions after the global pandemic, at the end of 2020 the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Ministry of Environmental Protection in cooperation with the Global Environmental Fund (GEF) opened a public call for innovations in the field of CE within the project "Reducing the carbon footprint of local communities by applying the CE principle in the Republic of Serbia".

Two years later (December 2022), nine projects were selected in the final step, which also coincided with the definition of the Action Plan for CE at the national level. The common feature of the selected projects is that they use different waste: from agriculture, paper, textile, hazardous and non-hazardous, which can become an input in the next production cycle through processing. This reduces the emission of gases with the greenhouse effect - GHG, reduces the costs of collection, selection and disposal of waste, but also the costs of purchasing raw materials.

Some of the projects also contain a social component, thus proving the initial premise of sustainable development. In particular, the association "Naša kuća" obtains additives for the manual and semi-automatic production of paper products by recycling empty cigarette packs while at the same time achieving social inclusion in the form of the inclusion of developmentally disabled persons in the production process.

In addition to the necessary state support, education of the population is of great importance for raising environmental awareness, as well as spreading and implementing the concept of circularity. Education can be achieved in different ways, starting from organizing environmental actions, to creative workshops on the topic of environmental protection. One of the workshops on the topic of circular economy is organized once a month at Work Space One in New Belgrade. The next one will take place on Saturday, May 13, feel free to join us.

Dr Olga Gavric