The European Commission will be hosting a discussion panel on The future of the textile industry: Competitive, sustainable and circular at the Hannover Messe industry trade fair on 25 April.
Participants can follow the panel online or join the event in person.
Located in Motala in southern Sweden, Site Zero can handle 200 000 tonnes of plastic packaging each year. Thanks to cutting-edge technology (fully automated process, real-time optimisation, artificial intelligence), it is able to recycle up to 12 types of plastic or waste. Find out more!
Electronics Goes Green 2024 is a conference geared to the growing global community of scientists, product developers, business managers and policymakers working on environmentally benign processes, products, systems and business models in and for the electronics and ICT industry.
BIOBUILD, a Horizon Europe-funded innovation project, has been launched with a €4.9 million budget to provide thermal solutions for energy efficient buildings using fully bio-based building materials.
The project incorporates bio-based phase change materials (bioPCMs) into solid wood and fibres bound by plant oil resins, lignin and fungal mycelium. BIOBUILD aims to reduce the energy consumption of buildings by up to 20%.
Ms Blees is a lawyer in Germany and holds a Master of Law degree from George Mason University (USA). Before joining EuRIC, she worked at a Brussels-based consultancy, advising multinational companies on environmental, health and safety matters.
EuRIC is a confederation which represents the interests of European recycling industries within the EU. It spans the majority of waste streams, and so can facilitate cooperation between national recycling and resource management federations and companies from over 23 European countries, operating both locally and globally.
EuRIC represents:
5 500+ companies generating an aggregated annual turnover of about €95 billion, including large companies and SMEs involved in the recycling of and trade in various resource streams
300 000 local jobs which cannot be outsourced to non-EU countries
a million tons of waste recycled each year (metals, paper, glass, plastics, WEEE, ELVs, tyres, textiles, construction & demolition, etc.).
By turning waste into resources, recycling loops recycled materials back into value chains. Recyclers play a key role in bridging resource efficiency, climate change policy and the industrial transition.
Linked to the BATRAW project that develops circular approaches for electric vehicle batteries, this CEPS report delves into the new EU regulatory framework for batteries and the expanding EU digital product passport landscape. It identifies key opportunities and challenges for battery passports based on data collected from companies at different stages of the battery value chain.
The data suggest that the battery passport can help break down information silos among supply chain actors and support recycling and reuse. It also provides opportunities for increasing transparency about carbon footprint impacts across battery supply chains, while creating a level playing field with horizontal requirements for all supply chain actors.
A modern society needs access to all the critical raw materials (CRM) necessary to maintain and develop its industries, infrastructure and welfare. CRM are especially important for ongoing technology shifts like the European Green Deal and digitalisation processes.
Five milestones must be reached to establish Nordic secondary value chains for CRM:
A system that makes it possible to identify waste streams with CRM-recycling potential.
A system for cost-effective and efficient collection of waste streams with CRM-recycling potential.
A system for separating materials enriched with CRM from other materials in the waste stream.
A recycling technology that allows for recovery of all relevant CRM at acceptable rates.
Biorefine Cluster Europe (BCE) links up projects and people in the area of bio-based resource recovery, with a view to contributing to more sustainable and circular resource management.
It focuses on the biorefinery sector, i.e. chemicals, materials, energy and products from bio-based waste streams:
Bio-based (waste) streams as an input for the circular economy
Bioprocesses
Sustainable bio-energy production in its various shapes, and
Resource recovery: extracting minerals, chemicals, water and materials from biomass.
Its main objectives:
Strengthening interaction between projects
Fostering dissemination and stakeholder outreach
Enhancing research
Identifying gaps in knowledge.
BCE aims to build its community and promote knowledge exchange.
The RECIMAP project aims to recycle blended cotton and polyester fabric waste, thus contributing to the circular economy in the textile industry.
Recovering this waste will make it possible to obtain recycled polyester and lactic acid, both in high demand on the market. Lactic acid is an essential component for the production of polylactic acid (PLA).
EuRIC, a leading voice in Europe's recycling industries, is organising an event on "Plug into sustainability: e-waste recycling", to take place on 3 June from 14:00 to 17:30 CEST, in Brussels.
It will be an opportunity to explore the latest developments and sustainable practices in e-waste recycling, bringing together industry leaders, policy makers and innovators.