EuCIA hosted the first meeting of the European Circular Composites Alliance (ECCA) on 3rd July. This online event brought members of the new alliance together for the first time to agree the next steps in its mission to realise a circular economy for composites in Europe.
The meeting also provided an opportunity to learn about the European Commission’s perspective of circularity from Laure Baillargeon, a Policy Officer at DG-GROW.
Driving collective action
The meeting was opened by EuCIA’s President, Professor Roberto Frassine, with an overview of the ECCA’s current membership. To date, nearly 120 organisations, representing composites manufacturers, OEMs, recyclers, universities and research, and associations, from 20 countries, have signed the declaration of the alliance and committed to work collaboratively.
Laure Baillargeon then highlighted how circularity is a priority of the Clean Industrial Deal, with an emphasis on stakeholder engagement, the single market, and boosting demand and recycling. She went on to outline the achievements and lessons learned from the Circular Plastics Alliance (CPA) and answered questions from the ECCA members.
In conclusion, EuCIA’s Managing Director, Raphaël Pleynet, provided a summary of the ECCA’s objectives and its structure and governance. He introduced the five Working Groups (WGs) and their objectives.
ECCA members are being invited to join one or more of the WGs, in time for the first online meetings in August, where a chairperson and secretary will be elected for each group. By November, each WG will produce a ‘state of play’ report and a roadmap.
ECCA members will be invited to a meeting in Brussels in December to celebrate the official launch of the alliance.
We thank Laure Baillargeon for supporting and advising us on this initiative, and all the organisations that joined us for this first meeting. This marks the first step on our journey to a more sustainable, circular, and competitive future for our European composites industry.
Join us
Not joined yet? Membership is still open! Please read the declaration of the alliance and the FAQs, and apply to join.
