Action plan
Detailed actions
1. Harmonising compliance with standards
- Objective: Facilitating the adoption of compliance standards for local companies.
- Action: The Grand Est already has a foundation - CollECtif, ADEME support, extended producer responsibility for construction products and ISO standards - on which to structure circular compliance. The levers to activate: convergence around standards, digital management tools, certified training, proactive monitoring, and demonstrative pilot projects.
- Concrete example: Creating a regional charter or label, aligned with ISO 59010/59020, in order to certify companies' compliance with circular practices. Offering certified training and audits through the chamber of commerce and ADEME to help executives and managers internalise these standards.
2. Developing sustainable management skills
- Objective: Training executives in sustainable practices.
- Action: Offering sustainable management courses through university programmes or bodies to be created.
- Concrete example: Creating short certified training courses (university diplomas, UTT, CNAM). Creating a "School for Sustainable Executives" (Region, training bodies, chamber of commerce, Bpifrance) based on short sessions (2-3 days a month over 4 months) / personalised strategic support / an initial circularity assessment plus an individual roadmap.
3. Promoting public-private collaboration
- Objective: Strengthening synergy between public and private players.
- Action: Strengthening and broadening existing schemes (Climaxion, the industrial ecology network, etc.). Defining a circularity roadmap, mobilising funding, coordinating audits and lessons learned.
- Concrete example: Creating thematic steering committees (plastics, agri-industry, construction) with local authorities, manufacturers, the chamber of commerce, ADEME and experts.
4. Simplifying access to circular economy subsidies
- Objective: Simplifying access to funding for companies.
- Action: Simplifying and centralising access to funding for manufacturers wishing to develop circular economy activities
- Concrete example: Climaxion - The ADEME/Region "delegated regional desk" already partly acts as a one-stop shop for the energy and circular transition. It directs companies towards the schemes of the Grand Est Region, ADEME, the ERDF and sometimes the national agency for territorial cohesion. But it remains technical and sometimes hard to navigate for micro-businesses and SMEs unfamiliar with the logic of calls for projects. The Grand Est chamber of commerce supports the region's companies in finding suitable circular schemes, putting together applications (Tremplin, Climaxion, ERDF, Bpifrance, etc.) and directing them towards calls for projects (ORMAT, construction circular economy, etc.). But access is neither centralised nor automated.
5. Creating a Regional Strategic Committee for Resource Management
- Objective: Managing resources (raw materials, energy, water, skills) at regional level in times of crisis, taking circular economy issues into account.
- Action: Setting up an "ad hoc Strategic Committee".
- Concrete example: A mixed committee (local authorities, companies, circular economy experts) with decision-making powers to allocate resources according to industrial priorities and needs. Organised into thematic sub-groups (energy, raw materials, training, etc.).
6. Developing circular economy research clusters
- Objective: Encouraging research on the regional circular economy.
- Action: Making use of existing schemes: projects funded by the Region bringing together SMEs/mid-caps and laboratories (universities, technology transfer centres), through grants or repayable advances / competitiveness clusters (Materalia, TEAM2) that foster synergies between industry and academia, with EU/ERDF funding. Creating ad hoc structures
- Concrete example: By sector (plastics, chemicals, agriculture), fostering the creation of R&D clusters, certified and funded through the competitiveness clusters (Materalia, TEAM2), with a scaling-up of cross-cutting projects. Encouraging collaboration between manufacturers and laboratories around 3 strong themes: advanced recycling, the bioeconomy and the functional economy. Creating a "Grand Est Circular R&D Centre", a regional platform for support, certification and resource sharing (laboratories, prototyping), coupled with a single funding desk (ADEME, chamber of commerce, universities)
7. Making environmental audits systematic
- Objective: Ensuring continuous improvement of circular practices.
- Action: Introducing regular audits in companies in order to track their environmental footprint.
- Concrete example: Rolling out a "regional circularity dashboard", a public platform listing the key indicators: tonnages recycled, water reuse, eco-design (chamber of commerce, ADEME, Region and industrial ecology network), in order to map each sector's progress. Creating a "circularity benchmark": organising an annual regional awards scheme for best practices, with public lessons-learned reviews: video testimonials, meetings, structured documentation.
8. Supporting technological innovation
- Objective: Encouraging innovation in green technologies.
- Action: Providing subsidies for innovative circular economy projects.
- Concrete example: Drawing on Grand Est Développement to match companies' needs with providers of innovation solutions
9. Rewarding exemplary companies in the circular economy
- Objective: Rewarding companies committed to exemplary circular practices.
- Action: Creating rewarding, visible and useful incentives that stimulate engagement on a large scale, while embedding these practices in regional economic dynamics.
- Concrete example: Companies accumulate "circularity bonuses" through their actions (materials reused, waste avoided, responsible purchasing, etc.), exchangeable for access to training platforms, trade fairs, support programmes, preferential advances on regional grants and regional media visibility.
10. Strengthening research on ecological materials
- Objective: Developing a shared and lasting R&D capacity around ecological materials: bio-based, recyclable, reusable, with low environmental impact.
- Action: Bringing together the key players and launching calls for projects in order to give manufacturers (SMEs, mid-caps, large groups) shared access to expertise, equipment and standardised tests on circular or alternative materials.
- Concrete examples: Creating a collaborative regional R&D platform, "Grand Est Sustainable Materials", incorporating rapid testing units and environmental performance demonstrators. Developing regional industrial chairs on sustainable materials (INSA + Materalia). Launching a regional observatory of innovative low-impact materials
Summary table
| Objective | Action | Concrete example |
| 1. Ensuring uniform compliance with circular standards | Convergence around standards, digital management tools, certified training, proactive monitoring, and demonstrative pilot projects | Creating a regional charter or label, aligned with ISO 59010/59020. Certified training and audits through the chamber of commerce and ADEME |
| 2. Training in sustainable management skills | Offering continuing training courses in sustainable management | Creating a short certified training course (university diploma). Creating a "School for Sustainable Executives" (Region, training bodies, chamber of commerce, Bpifrance) |
| 3. Strengthening public-private collaboration in circular projects | Strengthening and broadening existing schemes (Climaxion, the industrial ecology network, etc.). Defining a circularity roadmap, mobilising funding, coordinating audits and lessons learned | Creating thematic steering committees (plastics, agri-industry, construction) with local authorities, manufacturers, the chamber of commerce, ADEME and experts |
| 4. Simplifying access to circular economy subsidies | Simplifying and centralising access to funding for manufacturers wishing to develop circular economy activities | Simplifying and centralising access to the existing one-stop shops (Climaxion, Grand Est chamber of commerce, the Eurometropolis climate agency) |
| 5. Creating a Regional Strategic Committee for Resource Management | Managing resources (raw materials, energy, water, skills) at regional level in times of crisis, taking circular economy issues into account | An ad hoc mixed committee (local authorities, companies, circular economy experts) with decision-making power to allocate resources. Organised into thematic sub-groups (energy, raw materials, training, etc.) |
| 6. Developing regional R&D clusters on the circular economy | Making use of existing schemes: Regional funding / competitiveness clusters (TEAM 2, Materalia). Creating ad hoc structures | Creating R&D clusters, certified and funded through the competitiveness clusters. Encouraging collaboration between manufacturers and laboratories around 3 strong themes: advanced recycling, the bioeconomy and the functional economy. Creating a "Grand Est Circular R&D Centre" coupled with a single funding desk (ADEME, chamber of commerce, universities) |
| 7. Regularly auditing companies' circular practices | Introducing annual audits to monitor the environmental footprint of Grand Est manufacturers | Rolling out a "regional circularity dashboard", with key indicators (tonnages recycled, water reuse, eco-design) through the chamber of commerce, ADEME, the Region and the industrial ecology network. Creating a "circularity benchmark": a regional awards scheme for best practices and public lessons-learned reviews (video testimonials, meetings, documentation) |
| 8. Supporting ecological technological innovation | Allocating subsidies to circular green technology projects | Drawing on Grand Est Développement to match companies' needs with providers of innovation solutions |
| 9. Rewarding exemplary companies in the circular economy | Creating rewarding, visible and useful incentives that stimulate engagement | Companies accumulate "circularity bonuses" through their actions, exchangeable for access to training platforms, trade fairs, support programmes, preferential advances on regional grants and regional media visibility |
| 10. Strengthening research on ecological materials | Bringing together the key players and launching calls for projects in order to give manufacturers shared access to expertise, equipment and standardised tests on circular or alternative materials | Creating a collaborative regional R&D platform, "Grand Est Sustainable Materials", incorporating rapid testing units and environmental performance demonstrators. Developing regional industrial chairs (INSA + Materalia). Launching a regional observatory of innovative low-impact materials |