The Republic of Moldova confirms priorities for implementing the Circular Economy

As part of the regional program funded by the European Union "EU4Green Recovery East", the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) organized in Chisinau a validation workshop dedicated to the selection of priority economic sectors for the implementation of the circular economy, as well as two key regions for piloting the first national industrial waste mapping exercise in the Republic of Moldova.

The event brought together, in a hybrid format, 48 participants, representatives of public authorities, the private sector and international partners to validate the preliminary analysis and consolidate consensus on strategic priorities for the next stage of implementation.

Grigore Stratulat, State Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, stressed the importance of the validation process in confirming national priorities for the circular economy and in supporting the transition towards efficient and sustainable industrial development..

The validation workshop was a key step in Moldova's transition towards more efficient and sustainable industrial development. By identifying priority sectors and regions, it created the basis for targeted interventions capable of generating concrete benefits for the business environment and supporting the country's alignment with European environmental standards and European integration objectives.

During the workshop, the team of experts from the E-Circular Training and Consulting Center presented:

• methodology used for screening sectors relevant to the circular economy and key regions
• list of sectors selected for validation;
• preliminary results of the ranking, based on multi-criteria evaluation;
• the analysis framework applied for selecting priority regions for piloting the industrial waste mapping exercise.

These presentations formed the basis of the discussions and validation process carried out through the direct involvement of the participants.

Validation results
Following the evaluation and voting process, the following were confirmed:

• Priority sectors for the circular economy include textiles, construction, food and beverage production, plastics, etc.;
• regiunile mun.Chișinău și mun.Bălți au fost selectate pentru realizarea cartografierii deșeurilor industriale (Industrial Waste Mapping).

Validating these priorities creates the basis for targeted interventions, aimed at increasing resource efficiency, reducing costs for businesses, and aligning the Republic of Moldova with European environmental standards.

In the next stage, detailed industrial waste mapping activities will be carried out, which will identify concrete opportunities for the business environment and will underpin the development of demonstration projects and data-driven public policies.

Within this program, E-Circular acts as a national service provider, directly contributing to the development of the analysis, the application of the screening methodology and the validation of priority sectors and regions for the circular economy.

The activity is implemented with the financial support of the European Union, through the EU4Green Recovery East program, which supports the transition of the Eastern Partnership countries towards a greener, more competitive and resilient economy.