board boekje web pages

134
continuously adapt, learn and respond to new situations. One has
to think big, but at the same time approach each goal step by step.
It resembles a journey in which the destination is clear, but the
path is undefined. Sometimes you make fast progress, the process
gets stuck or delayed, or you need to make a sharp right or left
turn.
The mattresses case took a focused step-by-step approach. The
main goal was clear: closing the loop of mattresses. The chosen
method: a voluntary EPR. As it has turned out, this method results
in better recycling, but does not yet lead to a complete redesign
of mattresses. This issue was a bridge too far for most mattress
producers. Only a first frontrunner took a major redesign initiative,
which could become the future standard. This means that the
search is still on for how to engage participants in redesigning
their products in order to close the loop more fundamentally.
The Concrete Agreement also started with a clear step-by-step
approach, but the actual execution evolved otherwise. It was a
search for how to achieve the ambitious goals and what kind of
technologies to use. The original group drafting and executing the
Concrete Agreement consisted largely of the concrete sector itself.
In time, however, it became clear that without active participation
from builders, commissioning parties and the government, goals
could not be met. This changed the strategy and the tools to be
developed.
The clothing case is still in the making. Regions have recently
formulated their particular action plans though are still missing
clearly set targets. The process is thus more diffuse and harder to
steer.
The Board’s regional circular economy programme largely followed
traditional steps in a road map for change. To become a more
circular region, we established two focal strategies: closing the
loops of resource streams and renewing product chains via circular