ReTuna Återbruksgalleria revolutionises shopping by being the world's first recycling mall in Eskilstuna, Sweden. ReTuna takes old items and gives them new life through repair and upcycling. The public can leave items in the recycling containers provided by the mall, and they are then redistributed to the shops.
European project BIOnTop obtains promising results in development of new recyclable and compostable packaging. In its first year, BIOnTop has achieved good results in its experimental work on copolymers and compounds with customized biodegradability and multifunctional coating solutions with customized properties.
Swappis is a clothing retail store in central Budapest that attempts to counteract the linear approach of the fashion industry by introducing a business model that focuses on circularity and the reuse of second-hand clothes. Their membership loyalty mechanism is designed to build a strong relationship with customers by encouraging them to choose sustainable options.
Red Alimenta is an organisation of volunteers that collects surplus food and delivers it to people in need. The network of volunteers in different neighbourhoods of the city collects and distributes surplus prepared food from restaurants, schools or hospitals.
FLOOW2 is working locally and internationally, to identify the need, and the opportunities of asset sharing for businesses by offering a sharing marketplace solution for every business, organization and network.
PharmaSwap is a unique sharing marketplace for pharmacists, hospital-based or otherwise. It creates transparency in the supply and demand for expensive medicines.
In cooperation with Renewi and Coolrec, Circular Clockworks has launched the 'Circular Watch'. It is made from raw materials provided by Renewi, such as secondary plastic granules produced from recycled electronic and electrical appliances. Black watches are based on materials from recycled televisions, while the white ones are made from recycled fridges.
This publication, managed and delivered by C40 Cities, provides 40 thorough examples of practical circular economic initiatives from cities around the world, for inspiration and replications by other cities.
The Climate-KIC Circular Cities project is investigating how city governments can be transformational change agents and creators of smart and sustainable neighbourhoods.
The results are expected to improve how cities manage building, construction and utility waste and, through productively utilizing household and industrial waste streams, can increase the growing perception that what was once viewed as waste can now be viewed as resource streams.
The EU faces multiple challenges (climate crisis, environmental disasters, a lack of competitiveness, falling behind in the digital race, etc.) that it will need to address if it is to ensure long-term sustainable prosperity for European citizens. At the same time, there are two ongoing transitions – the creation of a circular economy and the digital transformation – that could provide the means to address these challenges, if they are managed well.
As the EU and national policymakers are making significant efforts to promote a circular economy on the one hand and a digital economy on the other, Annika Hedberg and Stefan Šipka, together with Johan Bjerkem, argue that it is time to align the agendas as a means to achieve greater sustainability and competitiveness.
The report of the Institute of Innovation and Responsible Development, is the result of a collaboration between the representatives of the organizations participating in the "Circular construction in practice" debates under the Polish Circular Hotspot. It presents an analysis of the implementation of the circular model in the construction sector.
First, it identifies the causes of the current state of play, which have elevated the built environment to the top spot among the largest polluters of the natural environment.
Second, it analyses the basic barriers on the way to circular construction.
Third, it presents specific ways to reduce these barriers, with a view to making sustainable construction a reality.
Fourth, special attention is paid to specific, innovative technologies.
Circle Economy has recently published a report entitled The Role of Municipal Policy in the Circular Economy: Investment, Jobs and Social Capital in Circular Cities, which summarises the results of a study in collaboration with the Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organisation and the support of the Goldschmeding Foundation. The report explores the link between municipalities pursuing circular economy policy and investments in circular business for job creation. It also examines more closely how businesses perceive municipal support for the circular economy.
The report provides an overview of the estimated gross employment effects of municipal circular economy policy; it shows how municipalities can use a range of regulatory, economic and soft instruments for that purpose.
On 19 June 2019, Altstoff Recycling Austria (ARA) and Circle Economy released the Circularity Gap Report Austria, the first measure of circularity for a nation state.
Experts and peer reviewers included CEC4Europe, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism, the Federal Environment Agency, the Federation of Austrian Industries, the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, TU Vienna, the INZIN Institute and the City of Vienna. This landmark report paves the way for nations to lead the transition from a linear economy of Take-Make-Waste to a circular economy.
The analysis, commissioned by ARA, found a circularity rate for Austria of 9.7%, ahead of the figure of 9.1% in Circle Economy’s Global Circularity Gap report published in January 2019.
One of the Interreg DTP MOVECO (Mobilizing Institutional Learning for Better Exploitation of Research and Innovation for the Circular Economy)project results is the Transnational Strategy to accelerate transition towards a circular economy in the Danube region.
Be transnational – reducing disparities within the Danube Region can only happen through cooperation, capacity building and knowledge exchange across borders. This holds also true for the implementation of the circular economy to make the Danube Region, as a resource poor region, less dependent on imported primary resources.
MOVECO identified key challenges with regard to the transition towards a circular economy and offers recommendations for progress. The strategy further provides the reader with many good practice examples.
The report was commissioned by the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) to inform a workshop on "the future of the waste sector in Europe: challenges and opportunities for workers" held on 7th December 2017 in Brussels.
The report deals with the following questions:
What are the EU policies towards waste management?
What are the implications of the circular economy for the waste management sector?
What is the public/private provision in waste management in Europe?
Which multinational companies dominate the sector?
What are the current collective bargaining arrangements?
What are the opportunities and obstacles for organising waste management workers in Europe?
These factsheets outline circular economy opportunities to design out urban waste and pollution, ensure products and materials maintain their value, and regenerate the natural systems in our cities.
Easy-to-reference, the factsheets are a collation of research and case examples that answer some of the most prevalent questions around what circular economy can bring to cities:
Why is change in cities needed?
What circular economy opportunities address key urban system issues?
What can urban policymakers do to harness circular economy opportunities?
What are the potential economic, social, and environmental benefits of these opportunities?
These factsheets outline circular economy opportunities to design out urban waste and pollution, ensure products and materials maintain their value, and regenerate the natural systems in our cities.
Easy-to-reference, the factsheets are a collation of research and case examples that answer some of the most prevalent questions around what circular economy can bring to cities:
Why is change in cities needed?
What circular economy opportunities address key urban system issues?
What can urban policymakers do to harness circular economy opportunities?
What are the potential economic, social, and environmental benefits of these opportunities?
These factsheets outline circular economy opportunities to design out urban waste and pollution, ensure products and materials maintain their value, and regenerate the natural systems in our cities.
Easy-to-reference, the factsheets are a collation of research and case examples that answer some of the most prevalent questions around what circular economy can bring to cities:
Why is change in cities needed?
What circular economy opportunities address key urban system issues?
What can urban policymakers do to harness circular economy opportunities?
What are the potential economic, social, and environmental benefits of these opportunities?
The transition to the circular economy needs collaboration. That’s why the first German Circular Economy Festival is an open social innovation event, calling on all relevant actors to pool their efforts to speed up the transition. For a societal endeavour of this scale, stakeholders from civil society, academia, policy making, industry and more need to be actively engaged. The festival aims to spur on stakeholders and serve as a platform for open social innovation.
The European Commission is organising a webinar about the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method in the tourism sector on 14 October 2021. The training is free of charge and open to all. You are most welcome to join and participate!
The Directorate-General ENV of the European Commission is inviting you to participate in a webinar on Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) for newbies - a basic training on the PEF method - on 8 October 2021. No previous experience in the field is needed.
EU Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius will join RREUSE to explore the meaning of social value in the circular economyand whether social dynamics have been inherent factors in developing EU policies related to the green transition.
The webinar on 17 December 2021 will also focus on the way forward in ensuring that tools such as the Social Economy Action Plan and the Circular Economy Action Plan work together to create a more favourable policy and funding environment for social enterprises, safeguarding a socially fair and inclusive circular transition.
On 27 September, take part in Going Global with a Data-Driven Nordic Circular Model - a webinar organised by Circular Regions during Oslo Innovation Week 2021.
TOMRA, a global leader in collecting beverage containers for recycling, invites you to attend its second webinar on lessons learned from the world's highest-performing deposit return systems. This webinar will take a deep dive into how high-performing systems make retrieving containers convenient, and why convenience is key to an effective deposit recycling programme.
Urban Agenda Partnership for Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement
The workshop on Delivering the EU Green Deal through Circular Procurement will take place on 14 October during the European Week of Regions and Cities. This event will help procurement specialists, policy makers and other stakeholders understand how public procurement can accelerate local and regional transitions towards a circular economy.
Join the EU Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) programme's online webinar on 29 September 2021 to learn how ETV can help innovators, investors, and buyers improve their confidence in new environmental technologies through verification. ETV works to boost innovative environmental technologies adoption and contribute to the circular economy.
High-level foresight conference on positioning sustainable and circular bioeconomies in Central and Eastern Europe to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
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.
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.
