The Green Industry Platform has launched the beta version of its dedicated SME Support Centre, a user-friendly online portal to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) develop a resource efficiency strategy and implement specific actions. The centre brings together a vast array of guidance and support services from leading organizations and experts from around the world.
SMEs are not only significant contributors to growth and employment, with estimates suggesting that they could account for up to 70 per cent of total employment, but they are also major drivers of innovation for sustainable development. Due to their small and flexible nature, SMEs are well-positioned to tap into new markets and meet growing consumer demand for sustainable products and services.
Improving resource efficiency allows SMEs to reduce operational costs, increase competitiveness and enhance resilience while improving their environmental performance. A European Commission survey showed that over 40% of SMEs in the European Union that engaged in resource efficiency led to a decrease in their productions costs.
Yet, developing a resource efficiency strategy and implementing targeted measures can be challenging for many SMEs due to lack of knowledge, technical capacity and financial means.
The SME Support Centre has been developed to address such challenges. It aims to better support SMEs improve the resource efficiency of their operations in a cost-effective and practical manner by offering quick and easy access to the latest knowledge products and support services. Resources available through the centre currently include case studies and technical guides and online tools (training solutions, technical assistance and financial incentives will be added soon).
To facilitate access to relevant guidance and support services, the SME Support Centre is structured around developing a resource efficiency strategy with five operational areas: energy management, water savings, materials efficiency, waste management, and sustainable chemicals. Additional filters allow SMEs to select for specific sub-topics, geographic location and business sectors.
The SME Support Centre is a key component of the Integrated Green Operations (I-GO) solution, which uses a self-assessment tool to connect the most relevant knowledge products and support services from the centre to the specific needs of individual SMEs based on their business situation and location. The analysis of an SME’s resource efficiency status also enables the I-GO self-assessment tool to provide a set of customized recommendations on how SMEs can most effectively improve the sustainability of their business operations.
To promote resources on the SME Support Centre and for more information, please contact: [email protected]