As an independent non-profit international organization, the World Resources Forum Association (WRF) serves as a platform connecting and fostering knowledge exchange on resources management amongst business leaders, policymakers, NGOs, scientists and the public. We envision the world where all involved stakeholders interact and communicate on setting the agenda and developing solutions on sustainable use of resources worldwide. With our annual flagship conference “World Resources Forum”, WRF allows the sharing of knowledge and creates debate amongst all stakeholders involved in the resource management discourse. Hence initiating a project such as CEWASTE and coordinating a multi-stakeholder dialogue in a standardization process towards more efficient use of critical raw materials is a role WRF wants to play.
WRF has been involved in various other stakeholder dialogue and international development cooperation projects, such as the Sustainable Recycling Industries (SRI), which contributes to favourable framework conditions for sustainable e-waste management and related waste streams in developing countries. In the frame of this programme and under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), we have developed an International Workshop Agreement (IWA) for the Sustainable Management of Secondary Metals (Guidance Principles) together with key experts in the field, partners from the industry, civil society organization and the informal sector, as well as policy makers and UN organizations .
The Horizon 2020 CEWASTE project aims to develop a voluntary certification scheme for collection, transport and treatment facilities of key types of waste (focus on e-waste and EoL batteries) containing significant amounts of valuable and Critical Raw Materials (CRMs). The project will ultimately address the specific challenge to secure the sustainable access to CRMs for the EU economy as well as objectives set by the EU action plan for the Circular Economy. By leading the CEWASTE project, WRFA brings in its broad experiences from waste management projects and ensures a transparent multi-stakeholder process which is essential for standardization activities. This will be a step towards realizing its vision in developing solutions for sustainable use of resources.
