The 4th participatory session of the OceanWise project took place in Dublin on May 30th. The event was organised by the Irish partners of the OceanWise project: UCC MaREI, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, and REPAK.

Twenty stakeholders representing several sectors of activity related directly or indirectly to the life cycle of the EPS/XPS (14 from the Industry, 4 from Policy/Regulation, and 2 from Research/Science) identified three priorities to be addressed moving forward towards integrating EPS/XPS into a circular economy for Ireland:

– Alternatives Testing
Stakeholders identified the need to thoroughly understand the multi-dimensional impacts of using alternative materials to EPS/XPS, along with the need to show, unequivocally, that an alternative is more sustainable than EPS/XPS.
Actors to Involve: Manufacturers, Retailers, End-users, NGOs, European Union
Information to Collect: Costs of disposal/production; resource use; sustainability of raw materials; logistics; CO2 emissions; recyclability; toxicity in the natural environment; Life Cycle Assessment boundaries
– Education
Stakeholders identified the need to improve overall knowledge, across a product’s value chain, of the sustainability of certain products and their appropriate disposal methods.
Actors to Involve: Industry, Consumers, Recyclers, Government/Policymakers (Local, Regional, National, and EU)
Information to Collect: Clarification on what product material is made of, benchmark models on what works (e.g. Life Cycle Assessment) and focus on best options
– Incentives
Stakeholders identified the need to incentivise, through subsidies, tax credits (e.g. Tax credit scheme to encourage uptake), etc., the transition from linear economic business models to more circular business models.
Actors to Involve: DCCAE, EU direct to member states with policy

This work sets a collective agenda that OceanWise will infuse into the project’s future initiatives.

Know more:

This workshop is part of a series of international meetings that will take place throughout the year 2019, aiming to capture the active participation of the sectors that influence the complex problem of the loss of products discarded to the sea. The next meeting will take place in Dublin, on May 30th. 

The project aims to propose updates of public policies and new good practices to be adopted by Industry.