Legno Urbano is an innovative project developed in Italy to promote wood recovery from trees which are felled in urban areas because of their age, their instability or spatial planning needs.
Rigiocattolo collects used toys, regenerates and puts them back into circulation. Its ambition is to become a bigger and renowed re-use centre that can also offer people a decent job.
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).
This factsheet on Metal Recycling developed by EuRIC highlights the importance of both ferrous and non-ferrous metal recycling and their substantial benefits for the environment and the economy in Europe. The Brochure outlines the environmental benefits, the economic and international trade aspects of steel, aluminium and copper recycling.
Samen werken aan circulaire fietsinfrastructuur. Een integrale en systematische aanpak by Stichting Circulair Bouwen is a report on a 2-year programme carried out with EU funds on building a circular bicycle road infrastructure. Over this period of time, valuable information has been gathered on how to promote and organize circular building efficiently.
To follow up on the programme, a multi-year project will be carried out in cooperation with governments, companies, educational institutions and NGOs, under the lead of the Radboud University Nijmegen, which will include two important policy fields:
encouraging cycling (low carbon, public health, better access to congested cities, car traffic reduction) and
Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) is offering a 100 % online course on Sustainable Packaging in a Circular Economy. Students and professionals with basic knowledge of the circular economy and an interest in or experience of packaging can start studying anytime, at the time and place of their choosing. The course material is accessible 24/7. This is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) that runs on edX.
The course programme includes:
Business strategies that support sustainable packaging systems
Opportunities for designing with renewable, bio-based materials
Best practices through case studies with industry frontrunners
How circular design principles can be applied to create 'closed loop' packaging systems.
The Polish Chamber of Digital Economy, an Ecommerce Europe member, has published a report on sustainability in e-commerce.
This report, titled Green Generation, shows that Polish consumers generally spot environmentally-unfriendly behaviours of retailers, but they do not quite want to take responsibility for making e-commerce less harmful to the environment; only one in five consumers is willing to wait longer for a shipment to be delivered through a grouped consignment.
As they already engage in some environmentally-friendly practices, such as collecting parcels from dedicated points, they do not seem willing to take up financial responsibility, such as paying extra charges for more ecological packaging or deliveries.
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.
On 17 and 18 January 2022, the ECESP Coordination Groupwill present Europe's pioneering work done by its Leadership groups in the field of the circular economy before a global audience at the Circular Europe Days in Dubai.
As the Horizon 2020 research programme becomes Horizon Europe, now is the time to see how great ideas have turned into real projects.
LOOPS is an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the cutting-edge research carried out and how it can change our communities. For those who are not familiar with it, LOOPS is a live webinar series committed to exploring innovation in the circular economy.
Re-think Circular Economy Forum Milan 2022 on 10 and 11 February 2022 is designed to present a vision on macro-trends, possible evolutionary paths, and main projects concerning the Circular Economy both at a national and international level.
Its main purpose is to stimulate the birth and development of innovative and entrepreneurial activities that could have a positive impact on local and national economic systems. Over the two-day forum, corporates, startups, research bodies, and institutional actors will present the projects they are carrying out and supporting at different levels.
The transition to a circular economy entails the systemic transformation of entire value chains, covering design, production and consumption. Cities and regions are hubs of innovation and socio-economic transformation, with great potential to lead the transition to a circular economy. However, such a deep transformation often requires supporting mechanisms to make it happen.
ACR+, EIB Advisory Hub, the European Commission, the Government of Navarra, the Interreg MED Green Growth community, EIT Raw Materials, Dublin city, EUCF and the ECESP invite you to attend this #EUCircularTalks to discuss how different supporting initiatives are being used by cities and regions in their transition towards a circular economy. The talk will take place on 13 December at 10:00-11:30 CET.
As the Horizon 2020 research programme becomes Horizon Europe, now is the time to see how great ideas have turned into real projects.
LOOPS is an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the cutting-edge research carried out and how it can change our communities. For those who are not familiar with it, LOOPS is a live webinar series committed to exploring innovation in the circular economy.
Within its main topic “Economic resetting in the post-Covid period”, the Economic conference of Montenegro 2021, which will take place in Budva on 2-3 December, will try to provide answers relevant to the economic future of the Western Balkans region.
The conference will be organized at the same time as the Central European Initiative CEI Summit of the Heads of Governments as the concluding event of the Montenegrin CEI Presidency. Circular economy framework will be discussed during the panel on “Green Circular Economy – economic recovery and a different culture of living and doing business.”
Since 2020 the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Circular Economy Community has been engaging with civil society, EU and international stakeholders as well as the EIT network by supporting actions to strengthen and optimise the transition towards a more circular and innovative future.
Join this webinar on 17 December to find out more about EIT's work on the ground and hear the stories of involved actors working with EIT to increase the uptake of circular innovative solutions. Participants will get the opportunity to interact with the panel of experts and find out more about opportunities coming from the EIT Circular Economy Community programme.
Join this Nordic debate, co-hosted by Danish MEP Pernille Weiss and ANE, the Association of Nordic Engineers, on how to ensure that engineers and STEM professionals have the necessary skills for the Circular Economy.
As the Horizon 2020 research programme becomes Horizon Europe, what better time to witness how great ideas turn into real projects? LOOPS is the opportunity to show what cutting-edge research has been produced, and the changes it can bring to our communities. For those who are not familiar with it, LOOPS is a live webinar series committed to spotlighting innovation in the field of circular economy.
German industry commits to the goals of the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, industry is a crucial enabler to reach the SDGs of the Agenda 2030. The circular economy is already offering a wide array of innovative solutions. However, we need international dialogue between stakeholders, the right framework and a global approach if we are to achieve a sustainable world society.
Follow the webinar on Circular Economy: Examining Toolkits To Combat Climate Change on 30 November.
Share your preference regarding consumer labelling and sustainable lighting design with the CIRC4Life project! This H2020 project is looking for end-user input in the creation and design of new circular business models, and your opinion counts.
Are you active in the collaborative (sharing) and circular economy? Fill in the Collaborative X Circularsurveyto share your knowledge and support an EU-wide mapping exercise.
Writing for The Banker, European Investment Bank President Werner Hoyer says that "By moving to a circular economy, the world can create less waste, design better products and adopt healthier habits" -> more here.
Ecopreneur.eu has created an overview of circular economy policy for all EU Member States, which reveals 28 different paths with inspiring best practices. Countries that lead the way typically have the highest waste production as well.
ACR+, the Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management, celebrated its 25th anniversary in June 2019. At this event, member organisations presented their respective work on the circular economy and committed to continue furthering the circular transition.
At the 14thBled Strategic Forum, Ladeja Godina Kosir, Chair of the ECESP Coordination Group, will be moderating panels on sustainability policy and circular economy.
The CSCP, Sitra and DBU have set up the Consumer Insight Action Panel, a new European multi-stakeholder initiative designed to support the transition to the circular economy by generating, applying and testing consumer behavioural insights in circular strategies for textiles, plastics and electronics. How might we innovate to enable people to reuse, repair, share or recycle? Find out with us!
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s DIF welcomes contributors from across the globe for its November 2019 sessions to share their ideas, stories and innovations to spark conversations with a worldwide audience.
During its Presidency of the Council of the European Union in late 2019, Finland will highlight the EU’s role in leading the transition to a climate neutral Europe with a versatile selection of Finnish artists’ work and a number of exhibitions that will give the public a new view on sustainable development and the circular economy.