Nasekomo is a company based in Bulgaria that uses insects (specifically Black Soldier Flies) to produce sustainable insect protein, oils and fertilisers that can be used for feed and in agricultural industries. Nasekomo’s goal is to use – and increase the usage of – these insects as part of a global solution to the issues caused by the exponential consumption of meat.
The Carlsberg Group, in cooperation with innovation experts EcoXpac, packaging company BillerudKorsnäs and post-doctoral researchers from the Technical University of Denmark, have been working on "Green Fibre Bottles" – a "paper bottle" for beer.
Rombat is the largest producer of car batteries in Romania. Since 2005, the company has been collecting vehicle batteries to extract the lead they contain, recycle them and manufacture new batteries. The batteries are processed at the 3.7 ha Rebat facility in Copșa Mică.
The Hungarian fashion brand Sharolta makes upcycled denim clothes and bags in Budapest. They collect jeans at several collection points in the city, and work with companies that can provide them with textile waste.
PDR is a German company with extensive expertise in recycling materials, which has developed a groundbreaking technique to reuse polyurethane (PU) foam cans. In Germany, about 25 million cans are used each year, and a federal legislature has classified used PU foam cans as polluting waste which must be recycled.
Fortunale is entirely eco-friendly, and it is inspired by modern principles of circular economy: a Fortunale sweater is designed, from its origin, to be recycled at the end of its natural use until 80%, because it is made of pure wool, and this precious characteristic allows us to regenerate its fibers into new prime materials.
Nuova Sara oil separator centrifuges apply centrifugal force to separate shavings and metal waste. The de-oiled shavings can be recovered and valorised as secondary raw materials.
PeelPioneers is the first company in the world to use citrus peel to create new raw materials. The peels are left over from making fresh juice, collected from supermarkets and the catering industry.
The City of Turin is financing some circular-economy oriented projects, among them the Balon Marketplace, an e-commerce portal for stakeholders who are active in the antiques, second-hand, vintage and reuse sectors, for a sustainable consumption of goods with a high cultural and heritage value. The portal aims to share ancient and past know-how and skills by promoting handycrafts shops.
Quid provides jobs for vulnerable people, especially women, in a field for which Italy is renowned: fashion. Quid markets its ethical and sustainable clothing under the label Quid Project. The project sources the raw material from the Italian fashion and textile world, using production surpluses and end-of-series fabrics. It therefore combines social and environmental impact.
This preliminary study stimulates public debate on the circular economy in Germany and serves as a basis for discussion within the recently launched Circular Economy Initiative Deutschland. With a sizeable industry, there is substantial opportunity for Germany to adopt circular policies, but this paradigm shift would mean no less than a reinterpretation of the "Made in Germany" model.
In the past years, both the European Union and several Member States have adopted circular economy strategies to transition to a resource-efficient economy based on keeping resources in use for longer. While countries outside Europe also follow this guiding principle in their industrial and resource policies, e.g. China, Japan or Canada, such a plan is still missing in Germany.
This report discusses the preconditions for a successful implementation of a circular economy within the German context, before discussing the experiences of European countries, which have already initiated the transformation to a circular economy by developing roadmaps or comparable strategies. The learning experiences and best practices of these countries are examined with a view to transferring some of these to Germany.
The paper provides an overview of the literature on Circular Economy (CE) theoretical approaches, strategies and implementation cases. After analyzing different CE approaches and the underlying principles the paper then proceeds with the main goal of developing tools for CE implementation. Two tools are presented: a CE Strategies Database, which includes 45 CE strategies that are applicable to different parts of the value chain and secondly a CE Implementation Database, which includes over 100 case studies categorized by Scope, Parts of the Value Chain that are involved, as well as by the used Strategy andImplementation Level. An analysis of the state of the art in CE implementation is also included in the paper.
One of the observations from the analysis is that while Parts of the Value Chain (recovery/recycling, consumption/use) are prominently featured, others, including manufacturing and distribution, are rarely involved in CE. On the other hand, the Implementation Levels of the used Strategies indicate that many market-ready solutions already exist. The Scope of current CE implementation considers selected products, materials and sectors, while systemic changes to the economy are rarely suggested. Finally, the CE monitoring methods and suggestions for future development are also discussed in this paper. The analysis of the theoretical approaches can serve as an introduction to CE concept, while the developed tools can be instrumental for designing new CE cases.
Circular economy increasingly attracts the interest of business, policy makers and academia in the search for answers to sustainability challenges. While earlier studies have presented drivers that support the introduction of new business concepts for circular economy, as well as barriers that hinder the rate of innovation in the field, no systematic categorizations of such factors have been brought forward.
Drawing on current literature, a framework of drivers and barriers is introduced, including seven distinct areas: environmental, economic, social, political and institutional, technological and informational, supply chain, and organizational factors. The appearance and content of these areas in practice have been examined in four case organizations by conducting thirty-six qualitative, semi-structured interviews. Empirical illustrations of the potential barriers and drivers provide managerial implications for better execution of circular business.
The transition to a more circular economy is underway. But what can be done to speed it up? This report, authored by Institut Montaigne, recommends five principles that must drive circular economy policy:
The concept of circular economy is gaining traction. This has led to various policy actions throughout the life cycle of a product ranging from measures on eco-design to recycling targets. Despite the progressive incorporation of the circular economy in industrial and innovation policies, the EU and Member States policies have a strong focus on increasing recycling rates, reducing landfilling and creating markets for secondary raw materials. On their own these measures are insufficient to result in a paradigm shift in resource use and current targets inadequate to provide a clear direction of travel.
Within the framework of THINK 2030, an IEEP project to support a science-based agenda for European environmental policy beyond 2020, the authors set out what policy actions the EU and Member States can and should take in the coming decade to achieve a circular shift in Europe.
The Barriers & Drivers to a Circular Economy report provides a review of pre-Circular Economy Action Plan studies on green growth, and showed that "a Circular Economy demands a system change with parallel actions along the value chain rather than a purely sector and/or product focused approach".
While many strategies by national and regional governments have been launched since the report's publication in 2015, its succinct overview of the issues impeding a circular transition remains useful for policy researchers. Many barriers, especially with consumer acceptance or price incentives of recylced materials, persist till today.
The Challenges, Opportunities and Pathways for European Business in Circular Economy report is a EUROCHAMBRES initiative launched in order to better understand if and how the circular economy will benefit European businesses, and to delineate a successful transition. This will be the basis for a policy strategy to contribute to an enriching debate on future legislative proposals at European level.
This report is a comprehensive meta-analysis of the most up-to-date quantitative studies on the circular economy, and elaborates on nine industrial sectors (agriculture, construction, mobility, hospitality and food services, metal manufacturing, electronics, textile, food & drink manufacturing, and plastics) including case studies. Bearing in mind the future of European manufacturing industries and businesses, the paper focuses on European trends derived from available data regarding investment costs, cost savings, and investment opportunities.
Today, most electrical/electronic equipment (EEE) is not designed for recycling, let alone for circulation. Plastics in these products account for 20% of material use, and through better design, significant environmental and financial savings could be made. Technological solutions and circular design opportunities already exist, but they have not yet been implemented. Some challenges, such as ease of disassembly, could be resolved through better communication and by sharing learnings across the value chain. Instead of WEEE, we should focus on developing CEEE: Circular Electrical and Electronic Equipment. The case examples of this report show how different stages of the lifecycle can be designed so that circular plastic becomes possible and makes business sense. It is time to take a leap in material flow management and scale up these circular solutions across the industry.
To increase clarity in circular projects, France's standardisation body AFNOR developed a voluntary standard, XP X30-901, that proposes a common understanding, laying out the terms, principles, and practices for all actors to agree to work with on the subject.
XP X30-901 proposes a 3 x 7 matrix covering the three dimensions of sustainable development - environment, economy, society - and the seven areas of action of the circular economy: sustainable procurement, ecodesign, industrial symbiosis, functional economy, responsible consumption, extension of service life, and the effective management of materials and products at the end of their life cycle.
In this report, six members of the standardisation commission share their experiences on this voluntary standard.
Local government programmes that encourage and support circular economy practices, such as repair, recycling and circular design activities help attract new investment, create jobs and result in tangible socio-economic benefits for the city and its people, reveals the report: The Role of Municipal Policy in the Circular Economy: Investment, Jobs and Social Capital in Circular Cities.
The report explores the connection between municipalities pursuing circular economy policy and investments in circular business that create jobs. In order to maximise circularity's benefits for society, municipalities can employ a series of regulatory, economic and soft instruments that include strategies, targets, loans and subsidies, which are all also conducive to generating employment.
Join a series of livestream events to understand better how the private sector can help accelerate the world’s transition toward a regenerative and circular economy. The webinar on 16 November 2020 will be on Circular Economy & Emerging Technologies.
This online Policy dialogue on Innovative solutions for a circular economy will explore the role of innovative approaches, notably digital solutions and new technologies, in the transition to a circular economy, including the barriers to their development and scale-up.
European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) encourages people in Europe and elsewhere to raise awareness about sustainable resources and waste management during a single week in November.
The CL-HUB project organises a series of training webinars (in Italian) on the circular economy for Italian businesses. In these five seminars, participants will learn how to use worthwhile circular economy approaches for the success of business activities.
An online study tour on re-use & repair for municipalities and public waste companies which aims to create an inclusive circular economy at local level.
Pantheon Performance Foundation is organising a series of webinars to take place on 15, 16 and 17 December 2020 from 3 to 4.30 p.m. (CET), focusing on policy, technology and practice in the field of reducing CO2 emissions from concrete manufacturing and use. It aims to draw up a manual of sustainable materials for CO2 neutral constructions.
Always wondered how the circular economy could help your city/region in its energy transition? This FEDARENE webinar on The energy dimension of the circular economy is for you!
The 2021 ACI European Food & Beverage Plastic Packaging Summit will focus on reusing and recycling plastic packaging and future directions and scientific development in this field. It will also review relevant European legislation.
On 4 November 2020 (3:30 p.m.), as a side event to the Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference, the OECD will prepsent its synthesis report onThe Circular Economy in Cities and Regions.
Circular Innovation Fair 2020 is an early stage circular innovations pitching event taking place on 26 November. This pitching and networking event for co-developed innovative circular design concepts and ideas is organised by Aalto University, GTK, Luke, SYKE and VTT.
The SCREEN Final Conference was held in Rome on 18 and 19 October 2018, during the two-day Forum CompraVerde (BuyGreen), in order to present the results of the SCREEN project.
The Consumer Insights into the Circular Economy event took place on 25 October 2018 in Brussels.
The Be Circular Annual Meeting took place on 24 October 2018
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 updated bioeconomy strategy for Europe was launched on Monday 22 October as part of an event held under the Austrian Presidency.
The second meeting of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform Coordination Group took place on 18 and 19 October 2018.
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.
World Food Day is a day of action dedicated to tackling global hunger.
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.
