Meet us at EU Green Week

Closing the loop for European city life

with open managed systems for reusable takeaway packaging.

June 4th, 08:30-11:00 in Brussels

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Since January 2024, the City of Aarhus, Denmark’s second biggest city, has been piloting the world’s first city-wide open managed system for reusable takeaway packaging.

The system provides an end-to-end infrastructure for collecting, sanitizing, quality assuring and redistributing reusable cups for hot and cold beverages.

Within the first year of operations, the system has collected more than 1,000,000+ cups and delivers returns rates above 85% with a 5 DKK deposit incentive.

For EU Green Week 2025, we are bringing this piece of Nordic innovation from Aarhus to Brussels, and will be serving all coffee at the breakfast meeting in reusable cups.

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What will we explore together?

How can circular solutions and smart policies help close the loop for our cities? What can we learn from proven solutions in other sectors, and which cities and regions are taking the lead?

Join NewERA, City of Aarhus, Central Denmark EU Office and TOMRA, at Norway House (across the street from the Berlaymont building) to experience first-hand a practical solution from Aarhus, Denmark – and to discuss:

O pięciu kluczowych zasadach projektowania rozszerzonej odpowiedzialności producenta. Czy i jak sprawdzą się na lokalny m rynku? Ile czasu zostało krajom unijnym na zmiany w swoich systemach ROP i dlaczego powinny je przeprojektować?

Zapraszamy do obejrzenia i wysłuchania rozmowy ekspertów xx oraz Bilyana Ignatova.

Dyskurs legislacyjny w obszarze ograniczenia zanieczyszczenia plastikiem prowadzi do wyznaczania ambitnych celów w zakresie poziomów zbiórki i recyklingu. Z jakich narzędzi korzystać, aby obejmowały długodystansową perspektywę poprawy gospodarowania odpadami i surowcami? Czy wprowadzane dyrektywy PPWR, SUP i rozmowy na poziomie INC-5 przyniosą pożądane efekty?

Zapraszamy do obejrzenia i wysłuchania rozmowy ekspertów xx i xx.

08:30 AM

Coffee & mingling

Guests arrive and coffee is served in REUSEABLE cups, demonstrating the system.

09:00 AM

Welcome & introduction

Anders Eide, Ambassador, Mission of Norway to the EU

Welcome address – Nordics as pioneer and enabler for circular solutions.

09:05 AM

Address by Norwegian Minister of Digitalisation

Karianne Tung, Minister of Digitalisation and Public Governance, Norway

09:10 AM

Address by incoming EU presidency

Mathias Bach Kirkegaard, Environment Attaché, Permanent Representation of Denmark to the EU

Priorities for a competitive circular economy of incoming Danish EU presidency.

09:20 AM

Competitive & Circular: Cities as frontrunners

Karolina D’Cunha, Deputy Head of Unit From Waste to Resources, DG ENV European Commission

Cities and circularity: Building a competitive circular economy with cities and municipalities as key drivers.

09:30 AM

Enabling and advancing circular policies for healthier urban living

Rasmus Nordqvist, Danish MEP, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, Denmark

Perspectives from the European Parliament, enablers and barriers towards a circular shift, and the role of cities/regions.

09:40 AM

State of Reuse in the EU

Ulysse Revat-Dontenwill and Iara Beekma Reis from New ERA

The state of play for reusable packaging solutions – cities and regions, promising pilot projects, startups and systems.

09:50 AM

Collaboration between Cities and Industry: REUSEABLE pilot in Aarhus

Simon Rossau, Project Leader REUSEABLE, City of Aarhus and Geir Sæther, Senior Vice President, Circular Economy, TOMRA Reuse

Case presentation from Aarhus – challenge, issues faced, solutions, lessons learned, implications for policy.

10:10 AM

Panel discussion: Implications for policy at city and member state level – how do we close the loop for European city life?

Panelists:

Wolfgang Trunk, Team Leader Unit From Waste to Resources, DG ENV European Comission
Frédéric Ryez, Project Coordinator, Biowaste & Circularity, City of Brussels
Françoise Bonnet, Secretary General, Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+)
Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland
Bilyana Ignatova, VP Public Affairs - Head of EU Policy Public Affairs, TOMRA

Moderator: Iara Beekma Reis, Head of Business Development, New ERA

10:55 AM

Conclusions & closing

Participants can experiment returning their cups in the reverse vending machine on their way out and get their deposits returned.

rasmus

Rasmus Nordqvist

Danish MEP

Karianne-tung

Karianne Tung

Minister of Digitalisation and Public Governance, Norway

mathias-1

Mathias Bach Kirkegaard

Environment Attaché, Permanent Representation of Denmark to the EU

karolina-1

Karolina D'Cunha

Deputy Head of Unit From Waste to Resources, DG ENV European Commission

simon-4

Simon Rossau

Project Manager REUSEABLE, City of Aarhus

Iain Gulland-1

Iain Gulland

Chief Executive at Zero Waste Scotland

anders-1

Anders Eide

Ambassador of Norway to the European Union

bonnet

Françoise Bonnet

Secretary General, Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+)

frederic

Frédéric Ryez

Project Manager, City of Brussels

ulysse-revat-dontenwill (1)

Ulysse Revat-Dontenwill

Head of Public Affairs, New ERA

iara

Iara Beekma Reis

Head of Business Development, New ERA

geir

Geir Sæther

Senior Vice President, Circular Economy at TOMRA

bilyana

Bilyana Ignatova

Head of EU Public Affairs at TOMRA

Policy makers

and opinion shapers for circular cities and regions

Municipal and regional

administrators and politicians

Organizations and associations

building sustainable places to live and play

Event organizers

on the front of building sustainable events

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Circularity

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