Arteche and Port of Bilbao join the Basque Ecodesign Center to drive the circular economy in the Basque Country
- The Basque Government's Minister for Industry, the Energy Transition and Sustainability, Mikel Jauregi, has chaired the meeting of the Strategic Committee of this forum, whose members now total 20 leading Basque companies, supported by Ihobe and Spri
- Jauregi shared with the member companies the preliminary report with the 10 keys to the state of the circular economy in the Basque Country for 2025 and stressed that ‘80% of the environmental impact of products is determined during the design phase; we must understand eco-design and sustainability as a factor of competitiveness’.
- The Basque Basque Ecodesign Center is a public-private partnership and a benchmark centre in southern Europe in the circular economy
- 59 young people and nearly 700 working professionals trained, along with the development of the Climate & Circularity Calculator tool to assess environmental performance are some of the results achieved by the Basque Ecodesign Center in the last year
Two new companies, Arteche and the Port of Bilbao, have today joined the Basque Ecodesign Center (BEdC), the public-private partnership between the Basque Government and the leading companies of the Basque Country to generate advanced knowledge and its transfer to the rest of the business fabric of the Basque Country, along with driving the value chain towards a more circular economy model.
The Basque Government's Minister for Industry, the Energy Transition and Sustainability, Mikel Jauregi, has chaired the meeting of the Strategic Committee of the Basque Ecodesign Center, during which two new members, Arteche and the Port of Bilbao, were approved; they thus join Arcelor Mittal, Batz Group, CAF, Grupo Campezo, CIE Automotive, EDP, Eroski, Iberdrola, Kutxabank, Laboral Kutxa, Ormazabal, Orona, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Uvesco, Vicinay Sestao, Viuda de Sainz, ITP Aero and Petronor; a total of 20 large companies that will continue to drive their value chains and boost the circular economy in the Basque Country, supported by Ihobe and Spri, the driving forces of this initiative.
Minister Jauregi stressed the importance of the Basque Ecodesign Center as a “unique partnership”, as it is one of the benchmark hubs in southern Europe in the circular economy. "Today's meeting of the Strategic Committee has allowed us to reflect at the highest level on the main circular economy challenges of the value chains and on the need to turn them into opportunities by means of the public and private sectors working together", the Minister pointed out.
Jauregi stressed that ‘eco-design is key in the circular economy; in fact, 80% of the environmental impact of products is determined during the design phase; therefore, we must understand eco-design as a factor of competitiveness and a differentiating element of Basque industry’. He warned that ‘we import more than 75% of the raw materials we consume, and only 11% are reused; this is bad for the planet and hurts our competitiveness’.
As regards the challenges of circular economy for the Basque business fabric, "2024 is a key year for the European Green Deal, as a set of regulations has been approved that are aimed at introducing the circular economy in design, controlling greenwashing, and improving companies' transparency", Jauregi continued.
The Strategic Committee also discussed the future outlook for the European Commission in its new period 2024-2029. After the new structure following the last EU elections, there is a renewed environmental commitment which initially dates back to the European Green Deal in 2019. Accordingly, among its priorities to 2029, the European Commission includes developing a Clean Industrial Deal, focusing on industry to achieve sustainable development, in order to support the European Union's decarbonisation, growth and competitiveness commitments.
On the other hand, the European Commission will increase its commitment to the circular economy by means of future specific legislation, the Circular Economy Act. This future regulation will seek to increase the demand for the secondary materials market and create a unique waste market, with the focus on the circular management of fundamental raw materials.
Advanced knowledge for the Basque business fabric
During 2024, 6 focus groups made up of the member companies of the Basque Ecodesign Center have worked on as many areas: physical climate risks; risks of transition to a circular economy; taxonomy for sustainable finances; assessment of circular economy aspects, such as reparability, recyclability and durability; systematisation of environmental information; and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. The goal of those working groups is to develop and pilot tools that may be used by the business fabric of the Basque Country.
On the other hand, the Basque Ecodesign Center, as a laboratory generating advanced knowledge to be transferred to the rest of the Basque business fabric, has developed different tools in 2024, including the Climate & Circularity Calculator tool. It is a free software tool for a simplified assessment of the environmental performance of organisations, products and services, with an integrated life cycle approach. The tool has a database of over 250 environmental aspects, adapted to the context of the Basque Country, and which will be progressively increased in number. At present, 351 Basque organisations have so far signed up and are using the tool. This tool will be the leading instrument to calculate the carbon footprint of the Basque Register of Energy Transition and Climate Change Initiatives; a register set up after the passing of the Basque Energy Transition and Climate Change Act 1/2024, of 8 February.
Using the knowledge generated by the Basque Ecodesign Center, 6 technical manuals have also been prepared on areas of interest for companies, such as the environmental metrics and their integration, servitization, circular ecodesign, and the different transparency mechanisms that organisations must or can use.
Another of the Basque Ecodesign Center's lines of action is the training of young professionals with the circular skills that companies require. In 2024, 4 training programmes aimed at the BEdC priorities were run, resulting in 59 young people being trained, 21 of whom completed work experience at the BEdC. A training programme for working professionals was also launched - in conjunction with Confebask and its territorial delegations - on the emerging levers for the climate-environmental transition. Between January and October 2024, 36 in-person courses, with 695 professionals trained, were run.
Ten Key Points of the Circular Economy for 2025
During the meeting of the Basque Ecodesign Center's Strategic Committee, the member companies were given a draft copy of the report setting out the ten key points of the circular economy for 2025, and which were as follows:
- The Basque Country being carbon neutral by 2045, and no later than 2050. The Basque Country has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 33% between 2005 and 2023.
- Assessment and ecodesign of products affected by the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. Iron and steel, batteries and textiles will have new eco-design obligations from 2027 (440 Basque companies). Before 2030, new obligations for aluminium, chemical products, furniture, tyres, detergents, paints, lubricants, and energy-related products.
- Managing environmental information to meet transparency requirements. Nearly 300 companies in the Basque Country have corporate transparency obligations in sustainability.
- Large companies become guarantors of the sustainable transformation of their value chain. From 2027, some 20 large Basque companies will have to implement a decarbonisation plan for their entire value chain in the framework of due diligence.
- Putting an end to Since 2026, all environmental claims must be substantiated (e.g. life cycle analysis) or framed by a recognised certification.
- Considering carbon price as a risk of the transition towards a sustainable economy. There are currently 41 Basque companies in emissions trading (in 2022 they had to buy emission allowances worth 275 million euros).
- Accelerating the best available technology process and innovation in sectors with high energy and material consumption. There are more than 250 installations in the Basque Country within the scope of the Industrial Emissions Directive.
- The circular economy for a secure and sustainable supply of fundamental raw materials. It includes critical raw materials that are key for the Basque Country, such as aluminium and copper (the basis for the electrical equipment, automotive and recycling sectors).
- Broadening the extended producer responsibility and promoting the use of secondary raw materials. Potential implications for almost 100 Basque automotive companies (design for recycling and design with recycling: 25% secondary plastic in new parts).
- European taxonomy for sustainable finances, expanding its scope and 4 new targets. Only 20% of European companies' equity investments with bonds are aligned with the taxonomy (verified).
