A 2-day online training “Recycling for the Footwear and Apparel Industry” was held on September 24-25, 2020. The training workshop is part of the specialized RECP trainings within the EU-funded programme “European Union for Environment (EU4Environment)” carried out by UNIDO as a part of its work on Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) and Circular Economy in six countries of the Eastern Partnership region: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine.
The welcoming speeches were made by Mr. Oleksandr Zadorozhniy, Deputy Director, Directorate for Industrial Policy and Stimulation of Regional Development, Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine, EU4Environment Project Focal Point from the Ministry, Ms. Olena Koltyk, Advisor to the Minister of Environment Protection and Natural Resources, Ms. Chloé Allio, Head of Section – Operations – Economic Cooperation, Energy, Infrastructure and Environment, Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, and Ms. Tatiana Chernyavskaya, International Project Coordinator, Industrial Resource Efficiency Division, United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
The Workshop consisted of 2 sessions: theoretical and practical, with the agenda covering three core items:
– European legal framework, initiatives, a strategic forecast, circular strategies at the company level including design, material selection, waste separation, recycling opportunities;
– Materials used in footwear, textiles and garments, recycling options, feasibility;
– The way forward: new materials, business models, cooperation.
The more active session was the practical one, where all the participants were divided into 4 working groups to perform various tasks. Each group had a facilitator who explained the assignments and coordinated their execution process. During this part, all participants discussed, analysed, and shared their knowledge on waste recycling to perform the required tasks and achieve their goal. Afterwards, a representative from each group presented the results of the completed task. More than 40 participants (out of which 56% were women) took part in the 2-day training workshop, with representatives of the Ukrainian companies from the footwear and apparel industries being included.
Meeting documents: