First Latvian Circular Economy Index leaders announced

The highest achievers in circularity among the Latvian local governments were showcased at a forum recently organized by CleanR Grupa, informed Agita Baltbārde, the company’s Member of the Board.

The Latvian Circular Economy Index, the first scientifically based tool helping local governments measure the circularity of their operations was presented to the public on 11 September this year.

“The circular economy seeks to sustain products, materials, and resources in the economy for as long as possible. By pursuing circularity, things are reused, repaired, renewed or recycled, seeking to reduce the amount of waste generated to the minimum. Latvia has just started out on the circularity route; therefore, it is especially important to share best models and practices. That is one of the tasks of the Circular Economy Index—we wish to celebrate those local governments which are currently demonstrating leadership in the implementation of circular solutions,” explains Agita Baltbārde, the initiator of the idea.

Local governments may use the Circular Economy Index to plan their activities, overtake best practices, engage the public in the implementation of circular initiatives, and draft policy planning documents.

The Circular Economy Index scale distinguishes five groups—leaders (more than 500 points), experts (450 to 499 points), practitioners (400 to 449 points), the conscientious (350 to 399 points), and the cautious (less than 349 points).

On Thursday, 3 October, the leaders in four groups were announced.

In the “the conscientious” group, which features 11 local governments, the highest rating was achieved by the Bauska municipality government. The prize was presented to Valērijs Gabrāns, an environmental expert representing the municipality, by Sniedze Sproģe, an advisor to the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments,

The “practitioners” group featured 19 local governments, the highest number of all groups, where the highest index score was achieved by Riga State city. The prize was presented by Minister of Economics Viktors Valainis to Jānis Lange, Riga City Executive Director.

The minister emphasized that not only does the circular economy promote care for the environment, but it also encourages a change in the mindset. “We are talking about a transition to the smart economy, and the circular economy is part of that process, as circularity encourages innovation and development of new solutions in both the public and private sectors,” added Valainis.

In the “experts” group, which comprises a total of 9 local governments, the leader was the Dienvidkurzeme municipality. The prize to its Executive Director Uldis Vārna was given by Ilze Dambīte-Damberga, Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development.

The “leaders” group included two local governments—Ventspils State city and Līvāni municipality. According to the scientists and residents’ assessment, the best performance had been delivered by Ventspils State city. The prize was handed to the city’s Executive Director Aigo Gūtmanis by Kaspars Melnis, Climate and Energy Minister.

“Regarding the pursuit of the circular economy, we have just started out, yet it is nice to see that we already have our own leaders who set an example for others. The Circular Economy Index is a great initiative which allows us to assess our current performance based on objective data and plan ahead. I hope we will see more local governments land in the “leaders” group in the future, yet for those already there, I wish perseverance as maintaining the leading position is sometimes harder than achieving one,” said Melnis at the award event.

The Circular Economy Index is more than just a measurement tool and prizes. CleanR Grupa is planning to create a best practice exchange platform, including in-person events for local governments and promotion of circularity.

The different Circular Economy Index categories—resource management, economic and business transformation, public engagement, and efficient management—allow local governments to identify room for improvement. Local governments will have access to detailed results and recommendations to plan their future course of action.

A full presentation about the study and the 11 September press conference can be found at: https://cleanrgrupa.lv/latvijas-zinatnieki-ir-radijusi-riku-pasvaldibu-apritiguma-novertesanai/ .

The initiator of the Circular Economy Index is CleanR Grupa; the index methodology was devised by a group of Latvian scientists under the supervision of Dzintra  Atstāja, Doctor of Economicsn and an economics and sustainable development expert. The population survey comprising 3223 completed questionnaires and data analysis was overseen by Andris Saulītis, Doctor of Social Science. The liaison with the local governments was facilitated by the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments. A total of over 20 Latvian scientists and experts were involved in the development of the Latvian Circular Economy Index.

The work toward the Latvian Circular Economy Index began in January this year, which was followed by the development of the index formula and survey questionnaire. The municipality and population surveys were carried out from May to July and included all local governments; in August, all the data were collected and analyzed.

The index seeks to assess the overall state of affairs, using the weighted average method. It is based on two key sets of data—first, the local government self-assessment including a questionnaire filled out by all local governments, and second, a population survey revealing the residents’ awareness of the circular economy and their daily habits, thus assessing how willing they are to contribute to the efforts made by their local government.