1. The North Sea Resource Rondabout
Introduction on:
The North Sea Resource Rondabout

2. Prognoses World-wide growth In population In demand
7 in > 10 in 2050, and 12,6 in2100
2150: between 3.2 and 24.8!
In demand
In food: more people eat more meat/ dairy
67% more electricity- demand in 2050
Materials – for cars, bottles, houses and clothes
Depending on the solutions we find to questions related to sustainability., energy consumption, material scarcity and food supply
Already half of all the cereals in het world are fed to animals…

3. Resource Inefficiency
Current Situation
Resource Inefficiency
Example: wasted food
11% of global CO2 emissions as a result of wasted food
29m tonnes of wasted dairy products in Europe
€565bn wasted annually worldwide
1 billion obese and 1 billion people die from malnutrition
- Source: European Voice, 21/8/2014 by Paul Polman and Peter Bakker: “start thinking in circles”.
- Core argument of the article: moving from a linear to a circular economy has huge benefits for the economy and the economic opportunities are enormous.
- Example in the article: McKinsey estimates €2.13 trillion savings in Europe by 2030 if full resource efficiency is achieved.

4. Resource Inefficiency
Current Situation
Resource Inefficiency
Example: plastic soup
Plastic takes 750 years to be broken down
1-10% of ocean surface = garbage patch- much “lost” below surface
80% originates from main land, 20% from ships

5. From Linear to Circular Economy
… as a solution for resource inefficiency
Essence of the model
Decoupling of economic growth and consumption of finite resources
Distinguishing and seperating technical and biological materials
Optimising and maintenance of resource stocks.
Providing innovation on product design and business models
Establishing a resilient framework in the longer term.
Source text: overview of the circular model (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2014)  five main principles of the circular economy.
Source picture: World Economic Forum, ‘Towards the Circular Economy’ (January 2014).

6. … as a form of circular economy
Resource Roundabout
… as a form of circular economy
Logic step
Virtual roundabout
Good starting position
Waste
Design
Materials
Logistics
- Out of earlier lecture “Groene groei”.

7. North Sea Resource Rondabout
Idea:
North Sea Resource Rondabout
Efficient use of resources
European agreements on quality of resources
Abolishment of regulatory barriers and the use of possibilities in existing regulation
Involvement of private actors
Alternative purchasing policies of governments
Efficient logistics: use of harbours

8. North Sea Resource Roundabout
How to achieve?
‘Experimental zone’ within the EU:
More room for regional initiatives within EU
Experimental zone for a circular economy
European agreement on recycling
Cross-border proximity
Good results of existing UK-Dutch collaboration
Source: partly derived from draft presentation of Acceleratio on the North Sea Resource Roundabout (Freek van Eijk).
Netherlands and UK already succesfully constrained their domestic material consumption (DMC): NL: -2.0 tonnes per capita / UK: -1.9 tonnes per capita (in period ). Source: eurostat.
Other results: number of fossil energy carriers decreased in both the Netherlands and the UK in the period : NL 83,6 mln tonnes  70,1 mln tns/ UK 245,8 mln tns  177,7 mln tns. (Eurostat)

9. Ecological opportunities
Ecological advantages of the North Sea Resource Roundabout:
Less dependency on fossil fuels and ressource suppliers
Improved Sustainability
Leading project for resource efficiency in EU
Source tekst: partly presentation Acceleratio.
Source picture: World Economic Forum, ‘Towards the Circular Economy’ (January 2014): “A circular economy would not just ‘buy time’ but also reduce the amount of material consumed to a lower set point”

10. Economic opportunities
Economic advantages of the North Sea Resource Roundabout:
Cost optimisation
Reduction of price volatility
More certainty for companies by public-private cooperation
 Concrete example: potential of €7.3bn annual savings in the Netherlands (1.4% GDP) as a result of circular economy (Report TNO “Opportunities for a circular economy in the Netherlands”, 2013).
Source tekst: partly from presentation Acceleratio.
Source picture: World Economic Forum, ‘Towards the Circular Economy’ (January 2014): “A circular economy would not just ‘buy time’ but also reduce the amount of material consumed to a lower set point”

11. Next Steps Towards a Green Deal? New Objectives?
Extended public-private cooperation- setting up new partnerships
Specialisation in secondary material production in different harbors
Common North Sea strategy for resource efficiency – in run up to the new circular economy packeage
EU agreement on recycling and re-use
- Source: derived and adjusted ‘next steps’ from the presentation of Acceleratio and new ideas added.

12. Thank you for your attention
Ciruclar Economy Conference London Stientje van Veldhoven