The European Defence Agency (EDA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence of Cyprus, successfully organised a two-day workshop titled “Circularity of Defence Equipment: Tools for Procurement, Logistics, Maintenance”. Held in Larnaca, Cyprus, on 27-28 November 2024, the event gathered representatives of the Ministries of Defence from 16 EU Member States involved in the Incubation Forum for Circular Economy in European Defence (IF CEED).
The workshop addressed challenges and opportunities for integrating circular economy principles in defence. With topics spanning from green defence procurement, environmental evaluation to applicability of the digital product passport (DPP) concept, the workshop aimed to exchange on actionable tools and methodologies to enhance circularity in defence equipment.
Key Themes and Discussions
Participants engaged in sessions covering:
- Green Defence Procurement: Examples and implementation specificities of green criteria in military equipment procurement were discussed, complemented by a mock-up case exercise. The participants further exchanged on training needs and a potential training outline for Green Defence Procurement.
- Digital Product Passports: Intermediate results of the IOTA2 project were shared on the application of the Digital Product Passport concept for body armour components. Participants discussed the benefits of the DPP system for aspects such as stock management or extension of lifetime for products.
- Environmental evaluation: Participants exchanged on needs and priorities in assessing the environmental impact of defence activities. The workshop included knowledge sharing on methodologies (Life Cycle Assessment) and tools (datasets, guidelines). Discussions helped identify challenges and possible ways forward for environmental evaluation of capabilities and operations.
Way Forward
The event underscored the relevance of developing and implementing complementary approaches and tools to improve circularity in defence operations.
The topics raised and outcomes of the workshop will be further addressed by related Project Circles in spring 2025.