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The EU Circular Economy Resource Centre (EU CERC) is accelerating the transition to a circular economy. Since its unveiling at WCEF2025 in Brazil, experts from the centre have engaged in a flurry of activity to boost the circular economy in EU partner countries.
Journalist
Published
24.6.2026
“The EU CERC is not just a resource centre; it is a catalyst for change straddling multiple countries,” was how Kari Herlevi, Programme Director at Sitra International Programmes, explained the new centre to the participants at the World Circular Economy Forum 2025.
The centre encourages circular economy cooperation between the EU and partner countries among businesses, governments and NGOs. It shares circular economy policy and business know-how from the EU, particularly in electronics, batteries and renewables, infrastructure and construction, as well as industry and mining. Key themes for the centre include ecodesign, extended producer responsibility (EPR), road maps, finance and business support.
“We’ve seen a large set of activities kicked off in the past few months,” says Tim Forslund, Senior Lead, International Programmes and EU CERC at Sitra. “EU CERC has launched several great initiatives and collaborated with partner countries like Malaysia, Türkiye, India, Senegal, Namibia and Kenya.”
EU CERC is bringing circular principles to Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction, including war debris and hazardous waste management and the construction and energy sectors.
October 2025 was a busy month. Companies and other stakeholders in Istanbul, Türkiye learned about how doing business in Europe will change with new legislation through a Roundtable on ecodesign, while the trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, coincided with the ASEAN Circular Economy Forum (ACEF). One event, Unlocking new value in Southeast Asia through circular business models, attracted about 110 decision makers from government and industry.
EU CERC also hosted visits from partner countries. A delegation from the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina and the confederation of industry from the province visited Europe to develop circular solutions and establish partnerships in plastics, batteries and textiles, among others.
EU CERC has had productive cooperation with Kenya, which included consulting on their national circular economy strategy and implementation plan, and creating a tailored capacity-building programme for a circular economy business support organisation. The centre is also collaborating with the Circle Economy Foundation for the development and implementation of its train-the-trainer programme, business circular assessments and support to cities in the circular journey.
On the other side of the continent, EU CERC is now strengthening the e-waste value chains in Senegal with a first workshop in Dakar. Further south, in Namibia, the EU CERC has assisted in developing a zero-waste mining concept and explored investment pathways for recovering critical raw materials from mine tailings. This and other solutions for critical raw materials were presented in an EU CERC side event at the EU‑Namibia Business Forum in May 2026, attended also by the European Commissioner responsible for circular economy, Jessika Roswall.
As obtaining finance is often mentioned as a challenge for new circular models, the EU CERC completed financial mapping to understand what diverse financiers need to finance more circular projects.
“We have identified very interesting examples, tools and strategies already developed by financiers,” says Nicoletta Favaretto, EU CERC Project Manager at Enabel. “Much more needs to be done, but these show that some financiers already see the value and opportunities of circular approaches.”
Another EU CERC initiative is the Circular Awards, which recognises the best policy achievements and business solutions. Each year, two business prizes will be awarded: one to a circular SME in a specific sector (electronics and ICT in 2026) and one to a young woman entrepreneur. In parallel, policies that have already shown results will be celebrated through the Policy Implementation Award. For 2026, altogether 139 applications were received and the winners will be announced at WCEF2026 in India.
The EU Circular Economy Resource Centre (EU CERC) is an initiative to accelerate the global transition to a circular economy through collaboration between EU and partner countries. The centre is funded by the European Union under the Global Gateway strategy and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. It is implemented by Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund, and Enabel, the Belgian Agency for International Cooperation.