CIRCULAR CITIES: FINAL STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION

1. Objectives

Two (2) stakeholder consultations have been carried out with Malaysian stakeholders on 29 June (Petaling Jaya) and 2 July (Penang), including representatives from Iskandar and from the EU. This online stakeholder consultation will now bring together all key stakeholders in the two Malaysian pilot cities to discuss with representatives from the Malaysian government, private sector, research and civil society. Experts will exchange on circular economy challenges and solutions identified in the previous online sessions. They will also explore how city-to-city cooperation with European counterparts will support the transition of Malaysian cities to circular cities.

The webinar will discuss the top five (5) common challenges Malaysian cities are facing in their transition towards circular economy, namely (1) Food, organic waste & water security; (2) Plastic pollution and packaging (in particular single use plastics); (3) Construction material flow and design (including demolition waste); (4) Household e-waste & hazardous waste; and (5) Lack of digital sharing tools & platforms as enabler for circular cities.

In turn, experts from the EU side will be invited to share how their city councils & municipalities have managed to tackle the above-mentioned challenges collectively and how financing circularity will assist these Malaysian cities acting as potential engines in the transition to circular, sustainable economy and how it opens the way to emerging industries and new jobs with higher added value. Identifying and advancing these opportunities is important, and the IUC Asia project will introduce some of the most cutting-edge technology innovations and financing initiatives in the field.

Background

The initiative to dialogue with Malaysian cities was sparked by the recent initiative of the Malaysian Government to introduce a Circular Economy Roadmap (CER) for plastics by end 2020, the stakeholder consultations aims at supporting stakeholders including state governments, private sector, research and civil society (quadruple helix), in taking a unified and collective approach towards a sustainable, circular economic system and an inclusive approach including the informal sector and vulnerable groups as well.

The new EU Circular Economy Action Plan will serve as a basis for action in Malaysia, where the IUC project will bring best practices from the European pilot cities to achieve circular product design through, e.g. improved durability, reusability, upgradability and reparability of products; increased recycled content in products; and restricting single-use and countering premature obsolescence of products. There is an expected benefit for the European cities to access the growing market of circular economy investments in Malaysian cities.