Turkey’s second Circular Economy Week hosted 20 sessions and brought together 93 representatives from different sectors to contribute to the development of an enabling environment for circular transition

The 2^nd Circular Economy Week of Turkey was held between 14-18 March 2022 in cooperation with the Business for Goals Platform (B4G), DCube Circular Economy Cooperative (DCube) and the Business Council for Sustainable Development Turkey (BCSD Turkey) with strategic partnership of the Embassy of Finland and Business Finland, to discuss Turkey’s transition to circular economy.

Circular economy is a production and consumption model that encourages consumers to share, lease, reuse, repair, refurbish, and recycle existing materials and products for as long as feasible. Through this, the product's life cycle is extended, and waste is reduced to a minimum.

The event hosted 20 sessions during 5 days, with the participation of 93 speakers, including representatives from private and public sectors, academia and NGOs, as well as climate activists.

During the event, global, regional, and national perspectives on green and circular transition, as well as the importance of circular economy in reaching carbon deduction and the targets of the Paris Agreement were presented by policy makers and business representatives. The need of a transformed society and economy was highlighted by climate activists. Turkey’s transition to a circular economy and the role of the cities in this transition were also focused in detail.

Also, the relationship between circular economy, innovation and technology was widely addressed. Prominent technological solutions and the private sector’s need for green technology adaptation in transition to a circular economy were presented. The best practices of companies from various sectors that adopted circularity through different technologies were shared. The event prioritized the topics of fair transition such as the importance of inclusivity and re/upskilling for green jobs. Besides, the participants helped setting the stage for discussions on required cultural change regarding consumption and how to influence consumers through fair and convenient communication methods for circular economy.

On the final day, the “Preliminary Research Report on Turkey’s Circular Economy Potential in 5 Sectors" was launched and the findings of the report, including the key barriers and enablers in adopting circular economy business practices, were discussed. Circular economy best practices from private sector were presented.

The first Circular Economy Week of Turkey was held last year on 1-5 March 2021 and hosted 32 sessions and 117 speakers. B4G and its partners are eager to organize the week annually along the circularity journey.

The event aims to increase awareness on circular economy, as well as to inspire institutions, private companies, and consumers to apply circular economy practices through the sharing of different perspectives and best practices. The recordings of the week will be broadcasted on B4G’s website and YouTube channel within the next days.

B4G, founded in 2019 by a joint initiative of TURKONFED, TUSIAD and UNDP, is a platform that carries out its work in order to increase the contribution of the private sector in achieving Sustainable Development Goals, resilience and inclusive growth, through common ground and collective action under the leadership of private sector.