On Thursday 11^th January Municipality of Maribor presented the Strategy for the Circular Economy for the first time in public. We revealed main goals of the project GREENCYCLE, that include the Strategy, the development of tools for circular economic practices, which will be tested precisely in six pilot projects, and a digital transnational platform, that will be launched in February this year.

The pillar of the transition to the circular economy in Maribor is represented by companies that are owned by the Municipality of Maribor. The Wcycle model, on which the Maribor transition to the circular economy is based on, was prepared already in 2016. Companies that carry out public services are the scurvy of the city and present service to citizens. When we realize all the projects that are planned within the strategy, Maribor will be a city that will live circular economy in 80 %. The key projects of this circular transition are the sorting plant for mixed municipal waste, management of construction and industrial waste, waste energy management in terms of establishing energy storage and returning purified waste water back to processes. With such transition we will set up an ecological wall that will defend our city against the greedy markets, which currently also control the prices of public utilities.

The participants of the workshop agreed that Maribor’s Strategy stands for an integrated approach and welcomed the idea that the transition is being built on companies that provide public services. These companies represent the largest apparatus the city has and through which people can feel that the circular economy is a concept that makes us really live better. They emphasized that they want more public debate on projects and integration opportunities.