CINEMA HALL / 16 May 2024 / 16:30 - 17:20
Focus Session III - Circular Economy & Economics
Moderator:
Prof. Rainer Stegmann, Hamburg University of Technology (DE)
Panelists:
Stefan Salhofer, BOKU University (AT)
Andrea Zatti, University of Pavia (IT)
Benjamin Steuer, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HK)
Santiago Rosado Calderón, Fundación Gómez Pardo (ES)
Repair and recycling of materials and goods may be more costly than disposal and sometimes even than new products. The execution of Circular Economy activities is to a high degree in the hands of the private sector, i.e. the involved companies have to make profits. Since recycled products are traded on the free market it can happen that it may not be economically viable to recycle a product (e.g. if the price for recycled paper is too low to cover the costs). Is that acceptable in view of the recycling goals that have to be reached. Does it make sense to interfere with the free market and subsidize recycling in order to avoid disposal of recycled materials? Which funds may be theoretically available? What other solutions may be used?
These are the main aspects that shall be discussed in this Focus Session.
