Highlights from the Scotland Circular Economy Hotspot - Glasgow

It became clear that Scotland takes circular economy seriously when Andy Dick, the moderator of Scotland Circular Economy Hotspot, and policy officer at Scotland Zero Waste announced he was wearing a blazer he had borrowed from Executive Director Iain Gulland. Iain afterwards told the audience he bought the blazer in a second-hand shop in Edinburgh.

Glasgow - Circular City

This year’s edition of the Hotspot, held in Glasgow from October 30th to November 1st 2018, felt in many ways like a meeting of old friends. We were greeted with keynotes by Co-Chair of IRP Janez Potočnik, Champion of the Earth Leyla Acaroglu and First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, who reaffirmed her government’s commitment to fund and support circular economy projects across the country.

Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland

As was made clear time and time again, the Scottish see the circular economy as the way to preserve their natural, cultural, and also industrial heritage. By connecting new ideas with old knowledge, Scotland hopes to become a hotspot of a competitive, prosperous and fossil-free economy. Inspiring efforts are underway across the country and especially in Glasgow, where Zero Waste Scotland is helping dozens of companies transform their business models from linear to circular.

Igor Kos (Wcycle), Ladeja Godina Košir (Circular Change), Cathrine Barth (Circular Norway), dr Janez Potočnik (IRP, Systemiq), Ronja Wolf (Systemiq)

The second (sunny!) day was reserved for field visits. Visitors could choose between connecting with frontrunners from the food and drink industry, manufacturing, construction and community-based projects.

The Hotspot officially ended with the announcement of the host country for 2020 – Catalonia. Afterwards, we enjoyed a selection of Scottish »circular tastes«: whiskey, cheese and beer and departed to our homes whilst already looking forward to the next edition of the Hotspot, which will be hosted by Belgium in 2019.

See the first impression from Scotland Circular Economy Hotspot on video: