Based in the Danish capital Copenhagen, Veras operates several initiatives to reduce waste in the fashion sector by making it easy for everyone to swap and sell clothes. Veras is primarily an online webshop shipping to all Europe, where users can send in their own clothes. It also hosts weekly clothing markets for everyone to buy and sell clothing and has a flagship store in Copenhagen.
Vanden’s plastic recycling plant transforms plastic waste into commodities, ready to be manufactured into something useful again.
Italian startup Vaia has developed a passive loudspeaker for smartphones by using - as raw material - exclusively wood brought down by storm Vaia that badly hit the Dolomite mountains in Northern Italy in 2018.
Trifilon Revo uses an existing, consistent source of plastic from a European stream and reinforces it with hemp fibers, thus improving the impact properties of the recycled plastics, which can be used to produce a range of colours and surface finishes, matte or polished.
Billy Tannery is a micro-tannery helping to create value by reusing goatskins that would otherwise go to waste, to make leather products.
The Shellworks designers’ collective recycles seafood shells to make bioplastic, in order to reduce plastic use and waste.
Ocean Cleanup has launched design sunglasses made from plastic removed from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Complementing traditional mechanical recycling efforts, Plastic Energy has developed a patented Thermal Anaerobic Conversion (TAC) technology to convert end-of-life plastic waste into a new feedstock, called TACOIL, that can be used in the manufacturing of virgin-quality plastics suitable for food-grade packaging.
ReBlend develops textiles and textile products made from textiles that otherwise end up in incineration. Textiles made from recycled fibres offer a positive alternative for designers and companies. In collaboration with waste collectors, producers, designers, makers and visionaries, ReBlend organises a full supply chain from start to finish to accelerate a new ecosystem for circular textiles.
Niaga® and its partner future-proof everyday products by making sure materials don’t have to end up as waste. Ever. Niaga designs producted to be used again. It makes them healthier and recyclable.
How can design help the circular economy? Design is born from the need to find or adapt solutions to everyday problems.
Design is present throughout the value chain: production, location, distribution, transformation, transport, sales and user experience. Design can minimise the impact on the environment and simultaneously empower people in their habits and environmental preservation. This is done through shapes, materials, production processes, colours, legibility, concept and narratives that value what is systemic.
A design project starts by thinking about what you intend to achieve. A design collaboration (a dynamic of cause and effect) helps identify weaknesses and opportunities when it comes to adopting a circular design to each stage of the process.
In its position paper, Eurocities aims at contributing to the revision of the EU legislation on packaging and packaging waste by making proposals on:
This report explores the implications of the transition towards the circular economy for the Scottish labour market. It presents a baseline measurement of the number and geographical distribution of jobs currently related to the circular economy in Scotland and explores the types of circular jobs, roles and skills associated with opportunity areas in three value chains: construction, bioeconomy and capital equipment.
Circle Economy and Zero Waste Scotland designed this report to support enterprise agencies, workforce development, governments, universities, employers and other representatives to recognise the potential of the circular economy for the Scottish labour market and the related skills development needs of its workforce as part of a just transition.
This publication sets out the state of play of the circular economy concept in Serbia and identifies the main obstacles that may hamper the shift to the circular economy paradigm. It also includes circular economy initiatives in Serbia and an analysis of linkages between the circular economy concept and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Addressing the circular economy only through waste management shows that the circular economy concept is still in its infancy in Serbia. According to the conclusions, the circular economy goes beyond
The circular economy and the Covid-19 recovery published by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation shows how policymakers can pave the way towards a low-carbon and prosperous economic recovery. The paper highlights 10 circular investment opportunities across five key sectors:
Addressing the growing calls for a recovery response that is in alignment with other global challenges, these specifically selected opportunities all optimise the use and circulation of assets, materials and nutrients. As governments take the critical action necessary to safeguard national economies and work towards a transformation that is resilient to future global risks, the circular economy has never been more relevant.
Following the publication of the Circular Economy Action Plan in March 2020, the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) recently released a position paper to help ensure that any future regulations reflect the needs and aspirations of the lighting design profession.
The paper also addresses the impact of changes in the value chains of the lighting sector as a result of embracing circular economy - be it by creating second-hand markets or by adopting lighting as a service business model.
In its conclusion, the paper describes how lighting manufacturers, designers, contractors and clients could work together to ensure that the benefits of the circular economy can be achieved.
This reflection paper explains how materials will enable solutions for a healthy, safe, resilient society and stronger economy to answer citizen demands. It includes strategic research agendas (SRAs), proposals, solutions, and recommendations of Alliance for Materials A4M community towards Horizon Europe in the post-COVID scenario. COVID-19 has affected the development of current strategies to face societal challenges and led to a reflection on a new global economic model where circular economy will play a prominent role.
The paper puts forward proposals for strategic research and innovation activities to the European Commission, Member States, and the European Parliament, taking into account the objectives of the Green Deal Priorities and Recovery Plan.
The Circular Cities Week report presents the outcomes of the global event Circular Cities Week including circular challenges and opportunities for cities. It represents a crowdsourced tool for cities worldwide to implement the circular model.
The report explores the association between municipalities pursuing circular economy policy and investments in circular business that create jobs. It also takes a closer look at how businesses perceive this municipal support for circular economy.
The report summarises the findings of a study by the Circular Economy Club (CEC) and the CEC local chapters. The key learnings are as follows:
Closing the Loop (CTL) and Fairphone have partnered with other circular innovators, such as the Dutch government, in a project that is likely to become a game-changer for the electronics industry - proving that scrap batteries from Africa can be used to produce clean materials for the future.
In the first-ever shipment of scrap Li-ion batteries from West Africa to Europe, CTL has taken the first step towards proving that these scrap batteries can be a sustainable source for resources.
The results of this pilot have been recorded in a white paper, available here.
NOx (nitrogen oxides) are emitted during combustion in air at high temperatures and/or pressure; if they exceed recommended levels, this has a negative impact on the population. The authors found that when moist, limestone (CaCO3) readily sorbs NO2 to form calcium nitrate, which provides the basis for developing a surface flow filter. The substrate was made from “over-recycled” cellulose fibres such as newsprint, magazines and packaging fibres which are too weak for further recycling. The substrate was coated with fine-ground calcium carbonate and micro-nano-fibrillated cellulose, which was used as a binder and essential humectant to prevent a stagnant air layer forming. Pre-oxidation countered the action of denitrification bacteria colonising the cellulose substrate.
Vlaanderen Circulair (Circular Flanders) is the hub and inspiration for the Flemish circular economy. It is a partnership of policymakers, companies, civil society, and the knowledge community taking action together. Its six core activities are:
Key to the Circular Flanders approach are several pillars with a great deal of potential, which bridge and bring together different sectors. Currently, these are circular purchasing, circular cities, and running circular businesses.
Cradlenet is a multi-stakeholder association founded in 2009 to disseminate the Cradle2Cradle concept across Sweden, which has become the country's foremost circular economy network.
Cradlenet aims to accelerate Sweden's transition to a circular economy among companies, organisations and people in order to provide inspiration and momentum, and knowledge about developments in circular thinking.
With all seminars free of charge, Cradlenet members have access to further networking events and knowledge research.
Cradlenet is a non-profit association operating out of Stockholm, and with local networks in Umeå , Malmö and Gothenburg.
Through the Brussels Regional Programme for a Circular Economy, the government of the Brussels-Capital Region has defined a framework to encourage the transformation of a linear economy (extract – produce – consume – dispose) into a circular economy (recover – produce – consume – reuse) within Brussels.
The be circular portal is the entry point to the BRPCE, and networks the regional government with businesses and civil society delivering change on the ground, while also providing information to entrepreneurs about the various direct and indirect support programmes available.
Its projects include the Annual General Meeting linking more than 300 Brussels and European participants, and yearly Prizes for Circular Entrepreneurship. In 2017, be circular supported 222 entrepreneurs and financed 139 projects. A year later, the programme had reached nearly 1,300 businesses.
be circular also collects good practices from the Brussels region, with a particular focus on its four priority sectors: construction, logistics, retail and waste management.
ont créé collectif-grandest.org, la plateforme collaborative de l’économie circulaire des acteurs de la région. Ce portail territorial rassemble les initiatives, les acteurs, les connaissances, les outils, les actualités et les événements de l’économie circulaire.
Espace de valorisation, de partage et de rencontre, il est au service des collectivités locales, des entreprises et des associations du territoire.
L’économie de la fonctionnalité et de la coopération consiste à fournir aux entreprises, individus ou territoires, des solutions integrées de services et de biens reposant sur la vente d’une performance d’usage ou d’un usage et non sur la simple vente de biens. Ces solutions doivent permettre une moindre consommation des ressources naturelles dans une perspective d’economie circulaire, un accroissement du bien-être des personnes et un developpement économique.
L’Institut est un organisme d’intermédiation dont l’objectif est de favoriser la coopération entre tous les acteurs (publics, parapublics et privé)s engagés dans la démarche relevant de l’économie fonctionnelle et de coopération.
Notre mission est de faire mieux connaître le modèle de l’EFC car il ne peut pas y avoir de transition sans transition économique et sans changement du travail.
Pour y arriver, l’Institut s’appuie sur
Enfin l’Institut assure la promotion, la communication et la diffusion du modèle de développement de l’EFC en France, en Europe et à l’international.
The Circular Economy Task Force is a business group convened by the Green Alliance. It is a forum for policy, innovation and business thinking on resource use in the UK and is currently chaired by Colin Church, chief executive of IOM3. This task force has already produced a number of reports on resource policy, recycling opportunities and manufacturing productivity.
The task force’s most recent report, Completing the Circle, has placed a spotlight on the amount of material often lost to the economy, once collected, and proposes new measures to complement recycling targets which would help to 'pull' these materials back into use in manufacturing.
Some of the task force's recommendations were picked up by the UK’s Environmental Audit Committee’s Growing a circular economy report, and by the Scottish Government’s Resource Use and the Circular Economy inquiry.
The task force has also established the North Sea Resource Roundabout project, working with the Embassy of the Netherlands in the UK to identify the regulatory barriers to the trade and use of recycled materials across European countries, and working with regulators to develop solutions.
The current members of the task force are Kingfisher, Viridor, Walgreens Boots Alliance, SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, and Veolia.
Versnellingshuis Nederland Circulair! (Netherlands Circular Accelerator) is a business support network created by VNO-NCW / MKB Nederland, their regional affiliates and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water. Despite much interest in the circular transition, creating a successful enterprise that effectively keeps resources and products in use longer is not that straightforward due to a lack of knowledge and too little collaboration with stakeholders.
The Versnellinshuis helps overcome these challenges by:
In addition to hosting a website for circular innovators to connect directly, the Versnellingshuis launches 5 groundbreaking projects and fosters 3 regional collaborations yearly and contributes to a circular transition with the following programmes as well:
For a brief overview, view the video below:
Circwaste is a 7-year LIFE IP project that promotes efficient use of material flows, waste prevention and new waste and resource management concepts. It is coordinated by the Circular Economy Service Centre established by the Finnish Environment Institute.
The Service Centre provides regional operators with expert support and disseminates information on good practices in the context of the circular economy. It distributes information on material-efficient public procurement, harmful substances, establishing industrial symbioses and the possibilities of funding new initiatives. In particular, it supports regional working groups and a select number of pioneering municipalities in preparing their own circular economy roadmaps, which should be adopted by late 2019.
A regional cooperation network provides support and expert assistance for developing the circular economy and implementing the national waste plan in Southwest Finland, Central Finland, South Karelia and North Karelia.
The circwaste.fi portal (in English), which distributes information on national good practices in circular economy, similar to 'Good news from Finland', is an abridged version of the Finnish-language service materiaalitkiertoon.fi.
To learn more about circwaste activities watch the video below:
The Swedish Life Cycle Center is an initiative by the Swedish Energy Agency, hosted by Chalmers University of Technology, which strengthens collaboration and engages more organizations to apply a life cyle perspective in Sweden.
The platform, designed for academia, industry, research institutes and government agencies, has been active for 20+ years, counts 14 partners and is supported by 7 government agencies. In 2018, it organized 80 meetings for 370 lifecycle professionals.
The lifecycle center accomplishes its objectives with partnerships for several activities such as: network conferences, seminars, webinars, education, initiating research projects, collaboration and communication activities.
The Circular Economy Academy is a free mentoring and support programme, set up by the Rediscovery Centre, which is the National Centre for the Circular Economy in Ireland. The programme assists social enterprises and community organisations in any part of Ireland to move their activities towards sustainability and embrace the circular economy.
The Academy provides business support services built on the Rediscovery Centre’s vast knowledge of social enterprise development and design thinking concepts. The service includes advice for start-up, circular business planning, development, funding, diversification, and training. The Academy also supports organisations to replicate the Rediscovery Centre’s successful paint, furniture, fashion and furniture reuse initiatives.
Each service is tailored to suit the needs of the participating organisation. The Academy also offers incubation and regional clinics.
The Environmental Coalition on Standards (ECOS) is organising a webinar on Durable, repairable and mainstream - how ecodesign can make our textiles circular. The webinar will take place online, on 20 April at 10.30 a.m. CEST. It will last around an hour, including a Q&A session.
During the event on 8 April the Innowo Institute will launch the report "Circular Business Opportunities in Poland" commissioned by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. After a presentation of the main findings of the report, a panel will discuss the possibilities of business development of circular solutions in Poland.
On 11 May at 3 p.m. CEST, join Rijkswaterstaat, Madaster, Restado/Concular and Institut National de l’Economie Circulaire for online interactive workshops showcasing success stories and identifying challenges and opportunities in fields such as public procurement, digital logbooks and circular design for infrastructure work. Registrations are open!
On 15-16 April, the Netherlands and Sitra will be organising a high-level digital conference, the World Circular Economy Forum + Climate, to meet up and discuss the crucial role of a circular economy in achieving climate neutrality.
In the run-up to the WCEF+Climate event in April 2021, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management is organising a WCEF+Climate pre-event: the Circular Climate Booster, hosted by Holland Circular Hotspot and Springtide International.
RREUSE is organising its second online study tour designed to help public authorities implement re-use activities. The tour is tailored for representatives of local, regional and national authorities, municipalities and public waste companies wishing to develop re-use activities in their area using a social enterprise model.
As the Horizon 2020 research programme becomes Horizon Europe, what better time to witness how great ideas turned into real projects? LOOPS will be the opportunity to show what cutting-edge research has been produced, and which changes it can bring to our communities. The topic of the episode on 12 April will orbit around the concept of circularity in the textile industry.
TCO Development has invited H&M to talk about their work on the sustainability initiative “Double Sales – Half Impact”. The session will explore how the initiative changed the organisation and what H&M has learned from it.
Circular Innovation Lab invites you to the launch event for ShopC - the first ever marketplace for circular fashion & lifestyle. Circular Innovation Lab has invited an exciting panel of participants – representatives of international organisations and fashion brands and circular economy experts – exploring topics such as sustainability, innovation and circular fashion & lifestyle.
On 26 March, the Dutch provinces of Overijssel, Drenthe and Northern Netherlands organise a webinar on the greening of Europe’s transport system and the contribution of inland ports to the transition to a sustainable and circular mobility sector.
The European Commission's DG GROW is calling for applicants to select new members for the High-Level Steering Group (and its Sherpa sub-group) and the Operational Group of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw Materials.
Major Cities in Europe - like Budapest, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Ljubljana, Oslo, Prague and Tirana - have signed the European Circular Cities Declaration inviting peers to join them! The have committed themselves to leading the circular transition and to new models of production and consumption, whilst improving human wellbeing and reducing emissions.
The European Commission has decided to launch a €1 billion call for research and innovation projects that respond to the climate crisis and help protect Europe’s unique ecosystems and biodiversity. The Horizon 2020-funded European Green Deal Call is open for registration. It will spur Europe’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis by turning green challenges into innovation opportunities.
On 16 September 2020, the President of the European Commission, Ms Ursula von der Leyen, gave her first State of the European Union address. President von der Leyen presented the priorities of the Commission for the coming year where the green transition of the economy and the circular economy hold prominent places.
Until 30 September 2020, the University of Helsinki is seeking contributions for a planned edited volume, exploring the various social and cultural aspects of the shift from the current take-make-waste extractive industrial model to the restorative circular economy concept.
The Sustainable products initiative, which will revise the Ecodesign Directive and propose additional legislative measures as appropriate, aims to make products placed on the EU market more sustainable. You are welcome to give your feedback on it until 2 November 2020.
The EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste publishes a monthly newsletter to help Platform members stay connected, inform all interested stakeholders about Platform members’ activities and inspire further action in food loss and waste prevention.
The 5th Circular Change Conference, one of key European meeting points of circular economy changemakers, was transformed this year into a “virtual roadshow” consisting of 5 events based on 5 partnerships
We are launching a Call for Expression of Interest for the new mandate of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform Conference (ECESP), that will run from November 2020 to May 2022, open to stakeholders who wish to take part in this unique European initiative.
A new project addressing the systemic complexities of the Circular Economy is being submitted as a Marie Curie (MSCA) post doc proposal. As these aspects build upon multi-stakeholder knowledge and insights, you are kindly invited to join the project community and collaborate.
