The Municipality of Rethymno succeeded to introduce the concept of Circular Economy in the local community at policy and demonstrator level empowering the knowledge of decision and policy makers and raise awareness over citizens and visitors. In the framework of InCircle project, Rethymno implemented two demonstrators: (1) one to promote electromobility in combination with Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and (2) the other one recycling and waste separation at the source. Their main advantage is that they are easily replicable in both household and business level with a significant effect in the environment and in the local community. These were achieved with the installation of two solar carports, a charging station for electric vehicles, 5 charging stations for 20 electric bicycles and electric scooters and 2 bicycle racks for 10 bicycles. The photovoltaic carports produce energy to cover the needs of the EV-Chargers using net-metering for the grid connection Green energy for e-mobility. Moreover, 153 waste collection bins for three different waste streams (plastics, rest of recyclables and general waste) were placed in the city's waterfront road and at selected municipal beaches.

Through the installation of the carport, Rethymno pointed out a feasible and cost-effective good practice which could be installed in a business or house outdoor area. The estimated Minimum Production for both PV-carports is 24.000 KWh/year, avoiding 12,5 Tons of CO2 emissions to the environment, and the energy produced can cover 2,2times the energy demand for all charging stations installed in Rethymno Municipality. In addition, the bins placed in a hot-spot area in terms of walkability aroused the interest of people immediately, promoting waste sorting at the source. Find out more here.