reCIRCLE is the market-leading industrial solution for reusable packaging for takeaway catering. The "lunchbox as a service" concept saves millions of disposable containers every day.
Giving value to waste as a precious renewable resource: for the first time, agri-food waste can be exploited to create photovoltaic cells that produce sustainable electricity. From the residues derived from winemaking (normally disposed of without any other use), researchers can extract natural dyes that capture solar energy, transforming them into a regenerated green resource.
PET is currently the only plastic that can be 100 % recycled. Food grade PET is the key to plastic waste recycling. No other plastics are permitted for reuse in the production of new food packaging.
PU foam pressurised containers are used to fill gaps and to insulate and install window and door frames so as to make buildings airtight. OCF (one-component foam) producers have invested in a recycling company which recycles the metals in the packaging material, the reactive residual polyurethane prepolymer and the propellant.
The University of Malta has developed a patented process that recycles limestone and concrete construction and demolition waste into masonry products. These have superior mechanical properties compared to natural limestone products.
Close the Glass Loop wants to achieve an average of 90% collection rate of used glass packaging at EU level by 2030 and a better quality of recycled glass.
The Circular Navarre Catalogue is a booklet showcasing 20 organisations - based on circular business models - in the Navarre region, who are looking for international cooperation.
The project idea called Urban Click is focused on finding a solution to promote recycling and reuse of construction and demolition waste (CDW) within the construction sector in urban areas of Europe.
Finnish jewelry company EKORU makes jewelry out of discarded Finnish coins, old silver spoons and other cutlery. After Finland changed to the Euro, the metal of old Finnish coins found other purposes.
Berlin has the potential to become the first Circular City in Germany, due to its growing variety of initiatives, grass-roots and research work in the area of circular economy (CE).
This report provides information on the development of the project Circular Berlin, which started in 2018 and is financed by the EIT, under Horizon 2020.
The project consists of 4 phases:
Pre-assessment (conducting awareness meeting with CE professionals, identifying CE initiatives, finding partners etc.) - already completed
Cities can play a pivotal role in creating an enabling environment through regulations and incentives, but the private sector needs to collaborate and explore the cross-sectoral synergies required to achieve a circular model. There are immense opportunities for public-private collaboration in achieving goals that might not otherwise be possible for cities to accomplish alone.
Cities are embedding circular thinking in their utility processes, placing the onus on the private sector to come up with new business models that are both economically viable and ecologically sustainable. This could potentially result in a situation whereby circular products and services become the new market standard.
The publication aims at informing on importance of the transition to the circular economy, its economic, environmental and social impacts and benefits, international starting points, and situation in Slovakia. At the same time through presenting positive examples of performed activities and projects it has the ambition to become a means for making experience accessible and exchange experience as well as its presentation, also in relation to the international level.
Cultural heritage buildings hold a unique niche in the urban landscape, as they embody the local cultural and historic characteristics that define communities. Extending their useful lifespan has multiple benefits that go beyond the project itself to the surrounding area, contributing to sustainable development, but decision-makers lack knowledge of the environmental benefits and tools for adaptive reuse of cultural heritage buildings.
To this end, this article provides a circular economy framework for the adaptive reuse of cultural heritage buildings to reduce environmental impacts. The framework integrates methods and techniques from building and construction literature that aim to reduce lifecycle environmental impact of buildings through a circular product supply chain approach.
This report provides a cross-country review of waste, materials management and circular economy policies in selected OECD countries, drawing on OECD’s Environmental Performance Reviews for 11 countries during the period 2010-17. It presents the main achievements in the countries reviewed, along with common trends and policy challenges, and provides insights into the effectiveness and efficiency of waste, materials management and circular economy policy frameworks.
As the selected reviews were published over a seven-year period, information for some countries may be more recent than for others. Nevertheless, the policy recommendations emerging from the reviews may provide useful lessons for other OECD countries and partner economies.
Infrastructure has a major influence on whether resources can be preserved to use again or whether they are lost forever. For the most part, it has been designed for, and has perpetuated, the linear economy, the system of ‘take, make, use, throw’.
Working with academics from Resource Recovery from Waste at the University of Leeds, this report outlines three scenarios for England’s future with varying degrees of circularity. Green Alliance has analysed what infrastructure would be required under each of these scenarios for three common, high impact material streams from household waste: plastic, textiles and electrical equipment.
In 2012, the United Nations Environment Programme launched the Global Initiative for Resource-Efficient Cities (GI-REC) with the goal of applying integrated approaches and analyses such as urban metabolism in city planning and management (building on the work of the International Resource Panel).
After seven years, the first phase of the Initiative has brought together professionals from different disciplines, scientists, and policy makers. It has also brought together separate work streams of climate and resource efficiency, and how they are connected at the city level.
“Growing in Circles” summarises the GI-REC experience, and provides guidance on the transition of cities from a linear to a circular economy, and on alternatives to the way our cities are being planned and built.
The Plastic Atlas contains more than 49 detailed infographics covering a broad range of topics regarding the plastic pollution crisis looking along the entire value chain of plastic. The atlas highlights the scale of the crisis, and the global impacts of plastic production, consumption and disposal on other key global challenges such as human health and climate change. It also outlines the role of plastic for key industrial sectors such as agriculture and tourism and describes the corporate interests and drivers behind the plastic crisis. Finally, the Plastic Atlas presents an overview of key plastic-free regulations, zero waste solutions and a snapshot of the growing global movement working towards a future free from plastic pollution.
The previous Commission policy on resources management was part of the priority for jobs and growth and economic competitiveness. The circular economy will be no less important for the new political priority of climate neutrality; it will become one of the indispensable elements for meeting the EU’s ambitions.
EU climate policy and the circular economy are, by and large, complementary and mutually reinforcing. The circular economy is more than just another ‘product standards’ policy.
Circular economy products for the foreseeable future will require both technology push and market pull policies. The principal challenge will be to create ‘lead markets’ for the circular economy in combination with low-carbon products.
Textiles are fundamental to our society and employs millions of people worldwide, making it among the largest in the world and an important part of Europe's manufacturing industry. However, textile production and consumption cause significant environmental, climate and social impacts by using resources, water, land and chemicals and emitting greenhouse gases and pollutants.
In Europe, the sector employs 1.7 million people and Europeans consume on average 26 kg of textiles per person per year. This briefing by the European Environment Agency provides an EU perspective of the environmental and climate pressures from textile production and consumption, and discusses how circular business models and regulation can help move us towards a circular textiles economy.
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.
This webinar, on Thursday 25 February from 9 to 10.30 a.m. EST, is a pre-event of the World Circular Economy Forum + Climate (WCEF+Climate), co-hosted by the EU Delegation and the Permanent Missions of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Singapore, Kenya and Finland. It aims to discuss the potential of the circular economy as an essential tool in a comprehensive climate policy.
LOOPS is a webinar series which aims to shine a spotlight on innovation in the circular economy. The episode on 3 March will consist of a live conversation with leaders of the two Horizon2020-funded projects HOUSEFUL and WOOL2LOOP, which seek to identify innovative solutions in the construction industry.
Over the last 2 and a half years, CICERONE has worked closely with over 100 stakeholders, primarily programme owners, to build more alignment for circular economy programming and funding in Europe. The event on 30 March is an excellent opportunity to hear the partners present some of the project's results and experience first-hand the launch of the new EU Circular Cooperation Hub.
The Global Alliance on Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency brings together governments and relevant networks and organisations to provide a global impetus for initiatives related to the circular economy transition, resource efficiency and sustainable consumption and production, building on efforts being deployed internationally. Join the official launch on Monday 22 Feb - 12:00-13:15 CET.
Organised in the context of the 2021 EU Industry Days, this event aims at understanding how the recently proposed Sustainable Batteries' Framework will impact the batteries' recycling industries. The event will gather input from EU institutions, the batteries' recycling industry and think tanks.
Deadline extended for the WRI Ross prize for cities: applicaitons close 31 July 2018
Transformative projects igniting citywide change are invited to apply for a $250,000 cash prize and exposure to a world-class advisory council.
The WRI Ross Prize for Cities is a global, biennial competition supported by Stephen M. Ross to celebrate transformative projects that have ignited citywide change. Five finalists will be chosen in Fall 2018 and one winner of the $250,000 prize will be announced in April 2019.
Urban transformation is more important than ever, and often goes unnoticed beyond its immediate environs— help us spotlight the best cases from around the world to elevate these stories and inspire others.
Five European Circular Hotspots signed an agreement at the Holland Circular Economy Week to continue and intensify cooperation, joining forces in accelerating the transition to a Circular Economy in Europe.
Tonight at 21:55 CET don't miss the latest SmartRegions episode on Euronews, dedicated to one of the most important recycling projects (biological waste treatment) in Europe. RCERO Ljubljana combines 37 municipalities and serves a third of the Slovenian population.
Businesses making a difference: call for pledges open and extended. The goal: 10 million tonnes in recycled plastic finding their way into new products by 2025.