The Life-REPOLYUSE project is about REcovery of POLYurethane for reUSE in eco-efficient materials. It tries to solve the environmental challenge of the scarcity of resources and waste management in order to mitigate the effects of climate change. It addresses the problem of polyurethane plastic waste using innovative techniques.
The Lister Sartoria Sociale cooperative interprets the textile product in relation to the urban habitat, retracing its socio-economic transformations, memories, reworking its codes, styles and materials. Discarded objects, fabrics and garments are collected and reworked, crossing experimentation and traditional techniques.
This Life DOP project operated in partnership with the Italian dairy company Consorzio Latterie Virgilio uses livestock waste in anaerobic digestion plants to produce renewable energy and renewable fertilisers (solid digestate) which are then exported to non-livestock areas.
Revì aims to have a social impact by raising awareness about recycling furniture and encouraging local crafts. It also has an environmental impact by recovering material which would otherwise be classed as rubbish.
Riuso³ – Banco del riuso in Franciacorta is a physical space above municipal level dedicated to a series of active policies geared towards conscious consumption and waste reduction through the exchange and recovery of goods.
MontECOlino has always had a keen interest in the environmental impact of its products. It has developed a carpet management system for the exhibition industry that recovers the carpet after use and transforms it into a new raw material for use in other sectors, in line with the circular economy concept.
HISER's main objective is to develop and demonstrate holistic, technological and cost-effective solutions to increase recovery rates from increasingly complex construction and demolition waste (C&DW), with due regard for circular economy principles on the value chain in the construction sector (from buildings' end of life to new buildings).
In order to create a new commercial use for raw wool, the Italian association Post Industriale Ruralità has developed a form of vertical hydroponic cultivation using wool instead of soil.
Carlos Tapia, Marco Bianchi, Mirari Zaldua (Tecnalia Research and Innovation, Spain); Marion Courtois, Philippe Micheaux Naudet (ACR+, Belgium); Andrea Bassi, Georg Pallaske (KnowlEdge, Italy)
Jan-Philipp Kramer, Bärbel Birnstengel, Mirjam Buck, Richard Simpson, Adriana Cruz (Prognos, Belgium); Ruslan Zhechkov, Asel Doranova, Nathan Kably (Technopolis, Belgium)
Construction and demolition waste (C&DW) makes up just over one third of total waste generation in the EU. Despite relatively high recovery rates of used materials, Europe’s construction sector will need to be even more ambitious in its waste management practices if it is to fully embrace Europe’s circular economy.
According to this European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, circular approaches are key to increasing the quality and quantity of recycling and reuse of construction and demolition materials. The document examines how circular economy-inspired actions can help achieve waste policy objectives, namely waste prevention and increase both the quantity and the quality of recycling for C&DW while reducing hazardous materials in the waste.
Europe relies heavily on material resources for almost all of society’s activities. Its extraction and production of material resources have significant impacts on the environment and human health, as well as the economy.
It is essential to reuse resources in European economies, keeping their value high, delivering value for longer periods and reducing the need to use virgin materials. While progress is being made in Europe, by implementing an ambitious waste policy and the Circular Economy Framework, significant amounts of valuable resources are still lost through inefficient waste management practices.
This briefing describes material losses in Europe for some key waste streams, namely waste electrical and electronic equipment, end-of-life batteries, plastic and textile waste.
Europe is at crossroads regarding its management of plastic, plastic waste and the plastic waste trade. Rapidly growing amounts of plastic have negative environmental and climate impacts.
Plastic and plastic waste are traded worldwide. Exporting plastic waste from the EU to Asia is a means of dealing with insufficient recycling capacities in the EU. Waste import restrictions in China have shifted exports to other countries. Because some types of plastic waste have been added to the United Nations Basel Convention, the option of exporting plastic waste is becoming increasingly difficult.
This briefing provides an overview of exports of plastic waste from the 28 EU Member States (EU-28) to other countries and discusses its possible consequences and opportunities.
Bart Ullstein, Bettina-Bahn Walkowiak, Jeroen Gillabel, Margareta Wahlström, Jutta Laine-Ylijoki, Dirk Nelen, Theo Geerken, Veronique Van Hoof and Evelien Dils (ETC/WMGE) and Pawel Kazmierczyk and Daniel Montalvo (EEA)
A set of 32 country factsheets has been produced that summarise policies and initiatives on the area of resource efficiency and circular economy.
These country profiles are based on information reported by the Eionet network and, in particular, the National Reference Centres on Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy. The information is current as of March 2019, when members of Eionet verified the content of their respective profiles.
Each country profile was prepared as part of the 2019 European Environment Agency review of material resource efficiency, circular economy and raw material supply policies, which aimed to collect, analyse, and disseminate information about experience with the development and implementation of these policies in EEA member and cooperating countries.
This report from the European Environment Agency reviews waste prevention policies in Europe with a focus on how these policies approach the issue of plastics and plastic waste.
Waste prevention is at the centre of EU waste legislation as it delivers the most effective results in dealing with environmental issues around waste, placing it at the top of EU and national waste strategies and legislation.
Waste prevention can be implemented in any waste stream, but it needs to be customised to reflect each stream's particularities. This report focuses on plastic waste, as there is potential for substantial mitigation of the environmental issues raised by increased plastic consumption through the use of waste prevention instruments and mechanisms.
A broad selection of articles on Circular Economy and its practices in Poland collected by prof. Joanna Kulczycka. After definitions and interperatations, this work is about circular economy related issues
indicators in selected EU countries
financing of business activities
matching circular business models with priority sectors in Poland
establishing measurement for circular economy transformation and its socio-economic impacts in Poland
indicators in Polish regional perspective
assessment of material consumption
supporting managerial accounting instruments
system upgrade
solutions for mining and processing waste
sustainable consumption
good practices at national and international level.
Since 2016, the Brussels-Capital Region has set the circular economy as one of its strategic priorities, and is implementing concrete actions to that effect.
Where are we today? Is this just the beginning of a major cultural shift? What are the main challenges ahead? To find out, the authors met numerous actors - public or private - on the ground to better understand the implications of 'circularising' the Brussels Region.
This brochure gives an overview of the promises and limitations for this new economic model with concrete examples, providing inspiration and grounds for further reflection on transitioning to the circular economy.
The publication Towards A Circular Taiwan - 66 Circular Stories showcases 66 circular projects in Taiwan, which involve over 360 practitioners and partners. With a foreword by the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), the book covers 4 main topics:
agro-food and biomass
textiles and plastics
construction and transportation
electronics and chemistry.
The book also showcases a "Circular Economy Transition Roadmap for Enterprises" which examines the WHY, WHAT and HOW elements in favour of a transition to circular economy. For each topic a chart of material flow is provided in order to show readers trends and opportunities in each specific sector.
With textiles rightly rising as a key priority under the new European Commission, this document outlines RREUSE’s vision on how to achieve a more inclusive and circular textile sector that prioritises re-use and emphasises the role of social enterprises in the value chain as part of the solution.
This paper also provides a number of key recommendations as to what specific actions the Commission should address when developing policy initiatives for the sector.
As a partner event of the EU Green Week 2021, this conference will focus on the opportunities and challenges of the circular economy for SMEs and show how standards support the green transition. It will explore possible gaps and barriers of the current standardisation and legislative system. The conference will also highlight the role of data and digital technologies.
On 23 March an online event is organised to launch Circular Regions - a data-driven platform bridging bottom-up and top-down circular initiatives for mission-oriented eco-system transformation in a network of regions.
The Policy Lab for stakeholders will feature a discussion about the tools that are better able to speed up the transition towards a circular economy and ensure that it is delivered equitably. The findings of the Policy Lab for Regions will be used to kick off the discussion on 26 March 2021.
LOOPS is a live webinar series organised by Veltha to explore state-of-the-art technology and foster knowledge exchange from research to industry in the field of the circular economy. Each episode will feature a discussion with Horizon2020-funded projects, providing valuable insights into the research produced so far in this field.
To access Recovery and Resilience Facility funds, Member States will need to prepare and submit national recovery and resilience plans. What kind of approaches can governments adopt to classify budget headings and measure the impact on climate change and circularity?
A breakfast briefing will be held on 5 March (9-10 a.m. CET) to launch the Think2030 paper ‘A low-carbon and circular industry for Europe’, co-written by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP).
On 19 March, OVAM, EEB, UNEP partners and ECESP organised a webinar on trade, resource extraction and circular economy. The event brought together the trade and circular economy communities to:
increase awareness of the issues identified in the UNEP-IRP’s report
to feed the upcoming discussion on the EU’s trade policy review and the WTO’s future.
The anti-waste law for a circular economy, promulgated on 10 February 2020, includes new requirements which seek to steer public procurement towards recycled raw materials. To help public purchasers in Île-de-France, GIP Maximilien will be launching a new initiative on Thursday 11 March at 9 a.m., focusing on guiding public purchasers towards more circular public procurement.
The World Circular Economy Forum 2018 took place in Yokohama, Japan, from 22 to 24 October. ECESP was represented by Ladeja Godina Košir, coordination group member for Circular Change.
The XI International Environmental Congress took place in Bogotà, Colombia on 23 and 24 October 2018, with participation from Cillian Lohan, ECESP coordination group member for the EESC.
The EIB Copenhagen Conference on the Circular Economy took place on 25 October 2018 to discuss financing the circular economy in biotechnology, urban development and plastics.
The first seminar on 'the City as a Business Model' was held at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands on 4 October. It aimed to share knowledge and discuss about how cities can make the transition to sustainable, inclusive circular economies, based on various European best practices.
