How to become a Green SME in a Circular Economy

The European Commission adopted a Communication Green Action Plan (GAP) for SMEs: Enabling #SMEs to turn #environmental challenges into business opportunities. The Action Plan presents a series of SME-oriented actions proposed at European level to help exploit the business opportunities that the transition to a green #economy offers, by improving resource efficiency of European SMEs, supporting green entrepreneurship, exploiting the opportunities of greener value chains, and facilitating market access for green SMEs.

Helping SMEs make the most of the transition to a green economy
The Green Action Plan sets out a series of objectives and corresponding actions which can be grouped in five sections:
1. Greening SMEs for more competitiveness and sustainability
Improving resource efficiency in SMEs offers enormous potential for the reduction of production costs and for productivity gains. A better use of resources is calculated to represent an overall savings potential of €630 billion per year for European industry.
2. Green entrepreneurship for the companies of the future
Preventing environmental damage and moving towards a low carbon economy is a societal challenge which also offers new business opportunities for enterprises that bring green products and services to the market. SMEs need a favourable business environment in which green ideas can be easily developed, financed and brought to the market.
3. Opportunities for SMEs in a greener value chain
Re-manufacturing, repair, maintenance, recycling and eco-design have a great potential to become drivers of economic growth and job creation while, at the same time, making a significant contribution to addressing environmental challenges. SMEs and entrepreneurs need a supportive environment to move towards a circular economy (see IP/14/763).
4. Access to the markets for green SMEs
The EU's international commitments in areas such as climate change cooperation or neighbourhood policies offer concrete scope for European SMEs with green expertise to gain access to new markets. However, 87% of European SMEs sell their green technologies, products or services only in national markets. A more supportive framework and more international cooperation are required in order to help SMEs successfully integrate into global value chains.
5. Governance
The Green Action Plan for SMEs has been widely supported by EU Member State administrations and SME stakeholders in consultations on the future of SME policy and in meetings with the Network of SME Envoys and business organisations. It is therefore important to implement the GAP thoroughly, so as to ensure an impact across Europe for the benefit of SMEs.

The following links are mentioned throughout the video:
• French tool for companies to identify their vulnerability to critical raw materials (4'27): entreprises.gouv.fr/secteu...
• Examples of industrial parks in Europe (7'40): Since 01/04/2015
ec.europa.eu/environment/archi...
• National Industrial Symbiosis Programme in the UK (7'50):
nispnetwork.com/
• Guidance to industrial ecology by the French Ministry of Sustainable
Development (7'55): developpement-durable.gouv...
• EU Cluster Portal (8'00): Since 02/02/2015
ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/cluster/
• Green Action Plan for SMEs (12'44): Since 02/02/2015
ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/
• The EU's approach towards a circular economy (12'49):
ec.europa.eu/environment/circu...
• An overview of funding opportunities within the EU (13'24): Since
01/04/2015 ec.europa.eu/environment/archi...
• Dedicated Euronews Business Planet to EU financial support tools for SMEs (13'30): euronews.com/2014/07/25/he...
• Entreprise Europe Network (14'11): een.ec.europa.eu/

Want to learn more about the circular economy? Watch here: youtu.be/LBH6o7pbOnk?si=jL5sFM5AsV9SBkVv
Or read more here: ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/pl/i…


0:00 Introduction
0:51 Diminishing environmental and health impacts
1:01 What can you do with your business partners?
2:38 Material Flow Analysis reduces
3:11 Ecodesign expands the focus beyond materials
3:19 Environmental impacts
3:29 Life Cycle Analysis
4:09 Identification of the weakest points
4:31 Report of the European Commission
5:14 Changes will depend on your operations
5:23 Rely on proven sources
5:43 Include environmental criteria
6:42 Industrial symbiosis
8:30 Create a reverse logistics system on your own
8:38 Business-to-business operation
9:34 Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
10:09 Better supply
11:21 FUNCTIONAL ECONOMY
12:01 The concept of circular economy is rapidly rising on political agendas
13:42 Help of support programmes to achieve higher environmental performance
14:31 You can partner with other businesses