The circular economy is getting closer to companies in the border regions of Slovakia and Hungary. It is brought by the CircularRegions project.

In order for the circular economy to become a common practice in every business, we must show entrepreneurs the way and guide them through the first steps to successful transformation. The CircularRegions project will train trainers and design a service for companies that want to turn their business models into circular ones. This will increase efficiency for entrepreneurs, bring a more stable business and a competitive advantage.

The CircularRegions project

The project was created in response to the need to increase the competitiveness of the border regions of Slovakia and Hungary in order to apply the principles of circular economy across market sectors that have the greatest impact on the quality of life and GDP structure of the affected areas.

The main goal of the CircularRegions project is to establish cooperation between organizations that are members of the circular economy platforms, the Hungarian Circular Economy Platform in Hungary and Circular Slovakia in Slovakia, in order to facilitate the transition of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the circular economy.

“Based on the received feedback and current obstacles from various businesses, the top priority of the project is to search for innovative and sustainable solutions to eliminate waste, and further popularize the importance of circular economy” said Janek Bence, partner of the project.

We will guide companies through the transformation to a circular economy

The project implementers will start by analyzing the problems and needs of companies in selected sectors. They will choose the appropriate methodology and tools that transform linear business models into circular ones. They will prepare a training methodology in which they train trainers on the circular economy in cross-border regions. It connects companies with suitable trainers to help entrepreneurs find solutions and recommendations in order to facilitate the implementation of the circular economy in practice. The project focuses on four selected sectors in the food and packaging industry, plastics industry, construction and tourism. Representatives of companies, associations, the non-profit sector, including regional politicians and potential trainers, can get involved in the project.

“The problems that the project has the ambition to solve are the low number of professionals in the field of circular economy and their concentration in capital cities, and at the same time that economic activities related to the circular economy in both regions usually have low added value,” said Andrej Špánik, managing partner at SBA.

The project partners are the Slovak Business Agency, the Institute of Circular Economics, the Business Council for Sustainable Development in Hungary and IFKA Közhasznú Nonprofit Kft. The project is implemented under the Interreg Slovak Republic – Hungary program with the support of the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund and supported by the amount of 182 449.40 euros. The project lasts from December 2020 to March 2022.

You may find more information about the project here.

Contact:

Name: Iren Marta, Managing Director, BCSDH

e-mail address: iren.marta@bcsdh.hu