EUR 10 billion to support the Circular Economy in the EU

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EIB

Five European national promotional banks & institutions and the European Investment Bank (EIB) launched today in Luxembourg the Joint Initiative on Circular Economy to support the development and implementation of circular economy projects and programmes in the European Union (EU). This flagship partnership will target at least EUR 10 billion of investments over the next five years (2019 – 2023). The aim is to prevent and eliminate waste, increase resource efficiency and foster innovation by promoting circularity in all sectors of the economy.

The five national promotional banks & institutions are:

Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK – Poland)
Groupe Caisse des Dépôts (CDC – France) including Bpifrance
Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP – Italy)
Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO – Spain)
Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW – Germany)

The six partner institutions will combine their expertise, experience and financial capacity to better support the implementation of viable circular projects and programme approaches. The Joint Initiative on Circular Economy (JICE) will provide loans, equity investment or guarantees to eligible projects and develop innovative financing structures for public and private infrastructure, municipalities, private enterprises of different size as well as for research and innovation projects. JICE builds on the ongoing initiatives led by the European Commission to build knowledge through dedicated working groups and develop financing schemes.

The joint initiative will focus particularly on investments in the EU Member States that will help accelerate the transition to a circular economy. It will target all stages of the value chain and lifecycle of products and services:

Circular design and production: applying “reduce and recycle” strategies to design out waste at the source, prior to commercialisation.
Circular use and life extension: enabling the reuse, repair, repurposing, refurbishing or remanufacturing of products in use phase
Circular value recovery: recovering materials and other resources from waste, recovering waste heat and/or reusing treated wastewater
Circular support: facilitating circular strategies in all lifecycle phases, for example with the deployment of key ICT technologies, digitalization and services supporting circular business models and circular value chains.

EIB President Dr. Werner Hoyer said: “Fighting global warming and environmental crises is the most urgent challenge of our time. Strengthening the circular economy is one of the most powerful tools in our arsenal. It will not only help achieve the Paris Agreement targets but also bring huge benefits for the economy and society. With the Joint Initiative on Circular Economy, we are scaling up our ambition and joining forces with our peers to stem the tide of waste.”

BGK President of the Management Board Beata Daszyńska-Muzyczka said: “At BGK we are convinced that sustainable development with a circular economy is an expression of responsibility for future generations. We are pleased that, together with our partners, we develop such important solutions that will support innovative, environmentally friendly investments in the European Union. The approach is in line with the Polish government Roadmap for Circular Economy based on The EU Circular Economy Strategy. The roadmap is stressing 4 priorities: supporting innovations, creating European market for recycled materials, ensuring high quality recycled materials, developing the service sector.”

CDC CEO Eric Lombard said: “With this Joint initiative, Caisse des Dépôts Group aims to support further circular projects in France and together with our European counterparts, to highlight the full potential of circular economy to achieve sustainable growth while creating new economic opportunities for our territories.”

CDP CEO Fabrizio Palermo said: “The 2019-21 CDP Business Plan for the first time aims at integrating sustainability into our strategic choices. CDP is committed to foster a paradigm shift toward a more sustainable and inclusive development model in Italy with a focus on local communities. This European partnership shows once again how crucial is the role of National Promotion Institutions (NPIs) to achieve adequate sustainable growth and development at European level”.

ICO Chairman José Carlos Garcia de Quevedo said: “ICO aims to promote inclusive economic growth and to transition to more sustainable development. Support for alternatives such as the circular economy perfectly aligns with the SDGs and with the public policies covered internationally in the 2030 Agenda, including the EU Sustainable Finance Action Plan and the Spanish national Change Agenda. As public promotion banks, we have a clear leadership responsibility in this field and a great commitment to enhance collaboration among European institutions.”

KfW CEO Dr. Günther Bräunig said: “KfW has always been focused on sustainability: About 40% of our financing already accounts for environmental and climate protection. But no country can handle the huge challenges in this field on its own. That is why it’s of utmost importance to join forces with our European partners. The conservation of our natural resources is a pivotal task for all of us, and we have to devote more attention to this issue. The shift to a circular economy will play a key role here, and our joint initiative is a first step to achieve this goal.”