New Circular Economy Action Plan of Greece.

This Action Plan, fully aligned with the objectives and commitments of European Union’s circular economy action plan and taking into account European legislation on the matter, is a four-year road map (2021-2025) and includes 71 actions aiming at making the country's economy sustainable and at the same time competitive. These actions supports the transition to a sustainable development model involving regional and local authorities, businesses and consumers to reduce the amount of waste, increase the reuse and recycling of products, create a market for secondary materials and waste as productive resources, increase the use of alternatives fuels, reduce the use of hazardous substances and promote circularity in production processes. The Actions are divided into 5 core areas: sustainable production and industrial sector, including: ecological design, ecological certification, tax exemptions; sustainable consumption and promotion of green public procurement; financial programs for waste reduction; horizontal actions; specific categories of products addressed as a matter of priority, including plastic products and batteries.
This Action Plan is structured as follows: 1) Circular Economy: a prerequisite for sustainable development, including: the global call for a shift to the global economy; from the linear to the circular mode; the European Union Action Plan. 2) The New Action Plan of Greece, including: the existing national initiatives; key features of the new Action Plan. 3) The road map of the New Action Plan. 4) The actions of the New Action Plan: actions for sustainable production in agriculture; actions for sustainable development; actions for less waste with more value; horizontal actions; special actions for reliable products to be addressed as a priority. 5) Monitoring of the Action Plan. 6) Funding framework. 7) Application of circular economy in Greece: innovative actions and good practices.
The Action Plan defines the following key features: research innovation and digitisation; synergies at each level of public administration; role of the city; economic and social benefit deriving from the implementation of circular economy; innovations in planning, business value model of local communities. The most relevant actions are: incentives for design and production of products supporting circular economy; implementation of circular economy legislation, with circular economy indicators and definition of objectives; incentives for the promotion of bio-development initiatives; adoption of mandatory requirements concerning recycled plastic products; establishment of mandatory criteria for green public procurement contracts; incentives to promote sharing economy; formulation of actions concerning sustainable irrigation; incentives, such as tax exemptions, for placing on the market re-used and compostable products; measures for revising local waste management plans; creation, organising and licensing of textile products, photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, agricultural fertilisers, fishing gears, tobacco products; definition of criteria and incentives for waste disposal, for utilisation of urban solid waste and for reducing urban waste generation; definition of criteria for bio methane and natural gas production; recovery of waste from intensive poultry or pig breeding units; formulation of special action plan to reduce food waste; special measures concerning sustainable water abstraction and water reuse; measures to promote the creation of a non-toxic environment; funding of measures concerning wastewater reduction, water use efficiency, collection and use of rainwater.