Borealis manufactures polypropylene using renewable feedstock provided by Neste. Specifically, Neste produces renewable propane and Borealis converts it to renewable propylene and subsequently to renewable polypropylene.
EtMoi@Work is a Belgium-based circular, social, economy project. It consists of the production of a collection of office articles: badge holders, card holders, cushions for office chairs and new masks in silk by local prisoners. It is a circular economy project, since all its productions use recycled conference lanyards, silk ties and scarves that are no longer worn and, if possible, old jewelry.
Czech company Brens, which produces rail tracks, tram and railway lines, has turned to production processes using recycled materials.
In May 2019, the Belgium-based fruit and vegetable cutting business Allgro set up its own water plant. The facility turns wastewater into drinking water, thereby slashing the food company’s mains water consumption.
Veolia and Knauf have established a partnership to collect, process and transform waste glass into mineral wool for use as an insultating material.
Charity shops are the most basic form of circular economy-driven supply chains: people donate unwanted items rather than throwing them away so that they can be put to use by someone else. La Poubelle is a variation on the theme of charity shops: it's a goods bank tailored specifically to the needs of people facing hard times.
ALBA Group is a major company active in recycling, environmental services and the supply of raw materials. It has come up with a method for producing plastic using secondary raw materials.
Upcycling is a straightforward way to reuse items which would otherwise be considered waste. Lucirmás has found a way to upcycle bottles.
Peecycle aims to reduce the production and import of fertilisers from all over the world while making more efficient use of an inexhaustible source of minerals which is currently viewed as waste: urine!
In cooperation with VA Syd, the City of Malmö has established a pilot project in which kitchen waste disposers have been installed as an easy-to-manage method of dealing with food waste.
The intention of EIT Climate-KIC's City Loops Programme is to build circular capacity by addressing cross-sectoral collaboration on a system-level, and within an urban context. To achieve this, each of the five project partners - Circular Berlin, Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation (ECCI), Provadis Hochschule (Frankfurt), Cleantech Bulgaria (Sophia) and Wuppertal Institute - held various workshops in 2020 implementing a 'Circularity Thinking Innovation Process'.
The following case studies give an overview of the different situations circular economy innovation tools can be applied to and the value it creates.
The Commission's DG Environment and DG for International Cooperation and Development commissioned a study on the circular economy in Africa, and eight country reports were drawn up in preparation for a continent-wide report on the prospects of the circular economy in Africa.
The Rwanda report examines the scope and status of the circular economy there. It looks at the policy framework, trade and investments and the impact and benefits of the circular economy. It also explores circular economy-related cooperation between the EU and Rwanda. It concludes that the government is acting on circular economy principles and is well placed to be the regional hub for Africa in the area of the circular economy.
The Commission's DG Environment and DG for International Cooperation and Development commissioned a study on the circular economy in Africa, and eight country reports were drawn up in preparation for a continent-wide report on the prospects of the circular economy in Africa.
The Senegal report examines the scope and status of the circular economy there. It looks at the policy framework, trade and investments and the impact and benefits of the circular economy. It also explores circular economy-related cooperation between the EU and Senegal. It concludes that Senegal is promoting the green economy as a way to meet basic social needs and support sustainable development, and has adopted a national circular economy policy.
The Commission's DG Environment and DG for International Cooperation and Development commissioned a study on the circular economy in Africa, and eight country reports were drawn up in preparation for a continent-wide report on the prospects of the circular economy in Africa.
The Nigeria report examines the scope and status of the circular economy there. It looks at the policy framework, trade and investments and the impact and benefits of the circular economy. It also explores circular economy-related cooperation between the EU and Egypt. It concludes that there has been no real circular economy shift away from Nigeria's dependence on oil.
The Commission's DG Environment and DG for International Cooperation and Development commissioned a study on the circular economy in Africa, and eight country reports were drawn up in preparation for a continent-wide report on the prospects of the circular economy in Africa.
The Morocco report examines the scope and status of the circular economy there. It looks at the policy framework, trade and investments and the impact and benefits of the circular economy. It also explores circular economy-related cooperation between the EU and Morocco. It concludes that while Morocco is committed to implementing policies in favour of the circular economy, the concept is fairly new.
The Commission's DG Environment and DG for International Cooperation and Development commissioned a study on the circular economy in Africa, and eight country reports were drawn up in preparation for a continent-wide report on the prospects of the circular economy in Africa.
The Kenya report examines the scope and status of the circular economy. It looks at the policy framework, trade and investments and the impact and benefits of the circular economy. It also explores circular economy-related cooperation between the EU and Kenya. It concludes that Kenya can be seen as one of Africa's frontrunners in furthering a transition to circular economy but still has steps to make to mainstream it further in its broader economic policy framework.
The Commission's DG Environment and the DG for International Cooperation and Development commissioned a study on the circular economy in Africa, and eight country reports were drawn up in preparation for a continent-wide report on the prospects of the circular economy in Africa.
The Ghana report examines the scope and status of the circular economy there. It looks at the policy framework, trade and investments and the impact and benefits of the circular economy. It also explores circular economy-related cooperation between the EU and Ghana. It concludes that while Ghana has become one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most politically stable economies, various issues prevent it from moving to a circular model.
The European Carpet and Rug Association (ECRA) welcomes the European Circular Economy Action Plan 2.0 and believes in its ability to accelerate the transition from a linear to a circular economy.
In its support of the European Commission's strategy, the carpet and rug industry would like to present its ambition for a robust and consistent shift to a circular economy.
ECRA's strategic document “Leading the carpet industry towards circular economy – a 2030 strategic approach“ presents realistic objectives and adequate measures to guide an orderly shift to full circularity and a low carbon industry.
The European Commission's DG Environment and the DG for International Cooperation and Development commissioned a study on the circular economy in Africa, and eight country reports were drawn up in preparation for a continent-wide report on the prospects of the circular economy in Africa.
The Egypt report examines the scope and status of the circular economy there. It looks at the policy framework, trade and investments and the impact and benefits of the circular economy. It also explores circular economy-related cooperation between the EU and Egypt. It concludes that the macro-economic and structural reforms enacted recently by the Egyptian government helped the economy grow but did not improve social conditions due to high inflation rates from 2016 to 2018.
Recovery from the Covid-19 crisis presents an important and unique opportunity for the EU to accelerate its transition towards a climate-neutral and circular economy. While there is little dispute about the opportunities offered by the funds available for the low-carbon and circular economy, the longer-term impact on Europe’s decarbonisation trajectory will depend on the choices made in the National Recovery and Resilience Plans and on how the overall policy framework is adapted.
After describing the EU recovery plan, this paper discusses various policy instruments – both new and existing – to create demand for circular materials and lower-carbon products, illustrated by examples of four resource and carbon-intensive sectors, namely construction, steel, textiles and plastics.
Initially designed as The Circulars Award program - which received 1,500+ applications from 70+ countries over 5 years - the initiative has evolved to a six-month program connecting innovators and entrepreneurs with industry leaders and circular experts for tailored mentorship.
The program aims to catalyze circular innovation and unlocks opportunities for accelerator participants to work directly with cross-industry leaders to scale their circular solutions.
Application categories include:
The Circulars Accelerator is led by Accenture in partnership with Anglo American, Ecolab and Schneider Electric, and run in collaboration with UpLink and the World Economic Forum.
The Netherlands Institute for Circular Construction (Nederlands Instituut voor Circulair Bouwen):
Its key areas are modular construction, high-quality recycling, circular business models and circular contracting.
Cities and entrepreneurs are expected to be full of inspiring and sustainable ideas but they often have a lot of questions before they can implement those ideas. How do you set up a product-as-a-service business model? How do I protect my logo? How can you support cititzens initiatives? How can the financiers be involved...
To get an answer to all these and other questions, you can ask experts at CircleAid. They have all their specific experience with circular economy: in business models, procurement, governance, financing...
These experts are mentors who can guide you through your circular questions. Consultants who want to become part of this database can apply if they have experience or knowledge in Circular Economy.
For the moment this platform is only available in Dutch.
The OCCE is a Brussels-based federation that provides support for European investors, territories and innovators in the field of circular economy.
For investors, the OCCE can provide a link between investors/investment companies and the EU/EIB with a view to accessing funding. For territories, the OCCE supports regions, communities and local actors in becoming promoters of innovation, which can then be transformed into CE investments, jobs and industrial success stories. For SMEs, start-ups and project leaders, it can provide support and knowledge, primarily with regard to the EU's financial support mechanisms. And for its members, by sharing its international networks, the OCCE allows them to integrate an international dimension into their projects.
Citeo est engagée pour un monde plus durable et oeuvre pour réduire l’impact environnemental des emballages ménagers et des papiers, en les transformant en nouvelles ressources.
Depuis 25 ans, les entreprises ont investi 10 milliards d’euros pour collecter, trier, recycler les emballages et les papiers. Cet engagement a permis de déployer la collecte sélective partout en France, de faire du tri le 1er geste citoyen des Français et de créer des filières de recyclage, en partenariat avec les collectivités locales, les filières matériaux et les opérateurs.
Citeo contribue à une mission d’intérêt général : ancrer la consommation durable, l’éco-conception et le recyclage dans les habitudes des entreprises et des citoyens de métropole et des Outre-mer.
restado is a platform that offers a circular economy approach to construction by promoting the reuse of reclaimed construction materials.
It provides support and knowledge on how to reclaim and reuse the materials, and offers a marketplace to trade them.
The GLOPACK project is investigating food packaging with no environmental footprint and the ability to extend the shelf life of food products.
The project is focusing on three food packaging areas:
The GLOPACk project operates a multistakeholder platform to gather the experts of the whole food and packaging supply chain. The members of the Stakeholders' Platform are involved in the actitivies of the project via webinars, stakeholder events and joint development of documents.
Circular Economy IL (CE-IL) is a non-profit organization serving as the Israeli Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform. CE-IL acts on national, regional and international levels to integrate new resource strategies and circular based business models with Israeli innovation capabilities.
CE-IL aims to connect between Israeli initiatives, start-ups, companies, municipalities, academic, researchers and policy makers and European circular economy stakeholders, in order to collaborate and find common ground, making reference to European policies, to accelerate the circular transition, inter alia, to exchange know-how, knowledge and information.
These goals are already set into action in several cooperation projects with many European experts.
ReThink is a platform aiming at promoting sustainable and circular economy in Ukraine, through education and advocacy campaigns, multi-stakeholder dialogue and innovation facilitation.
A prominent activity for the platform in 2019 focused on single-use plastic bags, with a call to the Ukrainian government to tackle the issue, and partnering with law firms for the drafting of a law proposal to restrict the use of plastic shopping bags and plastic packaging in Ukrainian retail stores.
The project „Prosperkolleg“ in Bottrop started on the 1st of June 2019 with the objective to explore how to transfer the idea of circular economy to the industry. The "Hochschule Ruhr West", the "WiN Emscher-Lippe GmbH", the city of Bottrop, the "Effizienzagentur NRW" and the "Prosperkolleg association" joined forces to research and demonstrate innovative circular product and business model developments. The project is funded by the ministry of economics, innovation, digitalization and energy of the land NRW.
Join the TCO Certified webinar Sustainable IT purchasing trends and the road forward on 19 May 2021 from 3 to 4 p.m. CEST to get some inspiration on how you can take action for more sustainable IT in your organisation.
The World BioEconomy Forum is a think tank and global communication platform for the circular bioeconomy and arranges roundtables and forums. WCBEF aims to create an open platform for discussion, strategising and idea sharing for circular bioeconomy stakeholders. It raises awareness about sustainable social and economic development and the efficient use of natural resources using the latest innovations in the circular bioeconomy.
The World BioEconomy Forum 2021 will be moving to Latin America. The main Forum will take place in Belém, the capital of the state of Pará, Brazil on 18–20 October 2021.
The circular economy promises a brighter future for the European economy. Industrial symbiosis is a way to achieve a more sustainable and integrated industrial system, identifying business opportunities that leverage underutilised resources. Join the EIT Community Circular Economy, Circlean and the ECESP for an event on Industrial Symbiosis and the Green Deal, on Wednesday 16 June from 9.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. CEST.
Join us for an international online conference which is an EU Green Week 2021 Partner Event!
Producing clothes takes enormous amounts of chemicals (fertilisers, pesticides, insecticides, bleach, dyes, etc), so clothes should stay in use for as long as possible. Second-hand counts! The conference will explore the second-hand sector in the EU and its Member States, with presentations and group discussions.
The Circular Electronics Initiative is part of the European Commission's new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), announced in March 2020. The initiative aims to promote longer product lifetimes and includes, among others, the 'right to repair' and an improvement in the collection and treatment of no longer used electronic appliances.
CSCP, its partners and ECESP invite you on 25 May (11.00 a.m. - 12.30 noon CEST), to an #EUCircularTalks to share Insights on the EU Circular Electronics Initiative & the Skills required to make it happen.
The ECESP Leadership Group on Food waste, Food system and bioeconomy organises its first #EUCircularTalks of a series of four. This first talk will take on the subject of governance and system change, that is indispensable for a just and effective bioeconomy and food system circular transition that simultaneously tackles food waste. The talk, organized by Innowo, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Alchemia Nova, Interreg MED Green Growth Community, and the ECESP, takes place on 18 May, 10.00 a.m. - 12.00 noon.
On 18 May 2021, AIMPLAS will hold an online workshop on innovative uses of CO2 for industry. The event is geared to companies committed to recovering CO2 and will present existing innovations in the field of CO2 transformation and new developments in CO2 use.
The Re-Use conference on 19 May will focus on the shift towards the circular economy in the textile sector. There will be exciting contributions on textiles and the circular economy from speakers such as Dr Willi Haas. The conference will be accompanied by the Theater im Bahnhof. Please note that the conference will be in German!
The conference on "Young Researchers’ Innovative Ideas: Science - Start-Ups - Industry" will be held on 27-28 May 2021. The organisers are inviting young researchers and PhD students to prepare presentations about innovative solutions (social, organisational, marketing, product and process-related) relevant to businesses.
Save the Date for FEAD's online event which is a registered EU Green Week 2021 Partner Event:
Waste management: combining the circular economy with the zero-pollution ambition
Tuesday 1 June 2021 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. CEST
On 18 January 2021, the co-design phase of the New European Bauhaus is officially starting! The launch was announced by Commissioners Gabriel and Ferreira.
The roadmap for the EU strategy for sustainable textiles has been published and will be open for feedback until 2 February 2021.
Call for proposals for textiles implementing partners in Africa - deadline extended until 25 January 2021.
Jacqueline Cramer, Chair of Holland Circular Hotspot’s supervisory board, invites other Circular Hubs for an interview to discuss experiences of circular economy governance. She plans to hold individual Zoom meetings in January and February with hubs interested in sharing their experiences.
Maria Nikolopoulou, member of the European and Economic Social Committee and keen supporter of circularity, reflects on the circular economy as a recipe for success in an article published on Open Access Government.
On 10 December 2020 the Commission proposed a new Batteries Regulation to ensure that batteries placed in the EU market are sustainable and safe throughout their entire life cycle.
New EU Ecolabel criteria have been adopted for Electronic Displays and Printed paper, stationery paper and paper carrier bag products. Stringent criteria ensure that EU Ecolabel products are among the best on the market in terms of environmental performance. Follow the webinars on 9 and 10 December to learn more about these new criteria.
The LOOP-Ports circular economy project, coordinated by Fundación Valenciaport and co-financed by EIT Climate-KIC, will organise its final conference in an online format open to the public, on 16 December as an official side event of the World Circular Economy Forum Online hosted by the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra and its partners.
SECOND HAND COUNTS is a market survey on second-hand clothes in the EU. It aims to provide facts needed for decision making on second-hand clothes both in general and on a country by country basis for all EU countries plus the United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland.
How to stop plastics ending up in the ocean? The Rethinking Plastics – Circular Economy Solutions to Marine Litter project is working on solutions together with seven countries in East and South East Asia.
