(L-R): Gunvor Ericson, Swedish Secretary of State for the Environment; Björn Hansen, Director of ECHA; Minister Carole Dieschbourg; Kimmo Tiilikainen, Finnish Minister for the Environment, Energy and Housing; Credit: MECDD

Luxembourg's Minister of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development, Carole Dieschbourg, was in Espoo, Finland, on Monday and Tuesday this week to participate in an informal ministerial meeting on the issue of the circular Economy 2.0, at the invitation of her Finnish counterpart, Kimmo Tiilikainen.

Together with other Ministers and Secretaries of State of the nine European countries who attended, they discussed:

• how the circular economy can mitigate climate change,
• how cities and regions can advance the circular economy,
• and, how the textile sector can develop circular economy solutions.

The purpose of the meeting was to exchange and develop important common ideas and initiatives for future circular economy policies in the European Union as well as at national level.

Transformation to a circular economy is more than just a technical challenge: to this end, the development of roadmaps or strategies has been identified as a key element to accelerate the transition at national or regional level. In addition, the interconnection of the objectives of climate neutrality and efficiency of resource use has been identified as a common area of ​​work.

During their trip to Finland, guests also visited the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to discuss the role of the chemicals management system in promoting circularity. Improving data on the chemical composition of our consumer products and the ability to track chemicals in waste and material streams is essential to promote circularity.

The Bioproducts Centre at Aalto University also opened its doors to guests so that they could become familiar with the research activities related to the circular economy, particularly in terms of batteries and textiles.