Remondis Acqua Group is a company specialising in systems for the production of high-quality water. They have developed new methods to protect raw materials and treat wastewater, with a new model of municipal sewerage treatment plant.
Po-Dzielnia is a freeshop and sharing economy centre in Poland. It is run by a team of nearly two dozen volunteers and five activists.
Neocomp has developed a method for recycling glass fibre polymers used in the rotor blades of wind turbines. The polymers are shredded, then used as an additive in cement.
L&T organises the collection of waste oils, oil-contaminated water and a range of emulsions from industry. The collected materials are analysed and processed at L&T’s recycling plant.
Green Dot Cyprus is the first collective compliance system for packaging and packaging waste in Cyprus.
The cooperative Fruta Feia (“ugly fruit”, in Portuguese) has been preventing the waste of so-called “ugly” fruit in Portugal, that are not usually sold in markets.
Better World Fashion produces new quality products from waste materials. Their primary material, leather, is from discarded post-consumer products collected by NGOs.
Mutualia, a social services and medical care provider in the Basque Country, Spain, has installed water fountains connected to the public water network to use tap water instead of buying bottled water.
In 2018, Hjørring Municipality decided to embark on a pilot project to increase the recovery and recycling of bricks when procuring demolition services for two buildings at the end of their functional life. Once cleared, the sites were destinated to be a part of a new climate adaptation project including a new rainwater collection basin and a recreational area.
See how circular procurement can help reduce waste in the Catalan La Mercè Race.
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:
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.
You can enrol here.
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.
What does the circular economy (CE) mean from a territorial perspective?
This report by the ESPON CIRCTER project provides:
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.
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.
A broad selection of articles on Circular Economy and its practices in Poland collected by prof. Joanna Kulczycka. After definitions and interperatations, this work is about circular economy related issues
Over the last 2 and a half years, CICERONE has worked closely with over 100 stakeholders, primarily programme owners, to build more alignment for circular economy programming and funding in Europe. The event on 30 March is an excellent opportunity to hear the partners present some of the project's results and experience first-hand the launch of the new EU Circular Cooperation Hub.
The Global Alliance on Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency brings together governments and relevant networks and organisations to provide a global impetus for initiatives related to the circular economy transition, resource efficiency and sustainable consumption and production, building on efforts being deployed internationally. Join the official launch on Monday 22 Feb - 12:00-13:15 CET.
EU Interreg Alpine Space Project CIRCULAR4.0 takes you on a virtual study tour on Circular Design Business Models in a Circular Economy.
EU Interreg Alpine Space Project CIRCULAR4.0 takes you on a virtual study tour on Optimal Use Business Models in a Circular Economy.
Organised in the context of the 2021 EU Industry Days, this event aims at understanding how the recently proposed Sustainable Batteries' Framework will impact the batteries' recycling industries. The event will gather input from EU institutions, the batteries' recycling industry and think tanks.
The session on Chemical waste as a resource – examples from the distribution sector (hosted by Fecc) on 22 March highlights opportunities for and experience of using high-quality second-hand chemicals, while connecting a variety of value chains. Result: reduced waste, CO2 emissions saved, plus the implementation of a circular business model in the chemical supply chain.
This webinar on 17 March aspires to address the developments set out in the 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan and the bioeconomy's huge potential for tackling environmental and societal challenges. The discussion will focus on how best to empower the circular bioeconomy through an enabling policy framework.
Industry is driving the recovery in Europe. The 2021 edition of EU Industry Days - Europe’s flagship annual event on industry - will take place from 23 to 26 February. On that occasion the EESC will organise a workshop on "Circular Procurement: public and private" on 24 February.
Virtual MeetingPack 2021 will take place on 27 May. It is a strategic overview of the development of barrier packaging and a prelude to Meetingpack 2022.
On 17 and 18 February the Lithuanian Innovation Center will hold a webinar on Sustainable Transport and Mobility Solutions with Circular Procurement. It will consist of presentations from public and private sectors including topics like green public procurement, sustainable mobility and transport innovation.
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.
The EU’s largest National Promotional Banks and Institutions and the European Investment Bank launch a EUR 10 billion initiative to accelerate the transition to a sustainable and circular economy
Citeo Circular Challenge is a programme to detect innovation, essentially in the paper and packaging sectors, which has supported over 700 projects across the entire circular value chain in 2016. Submit your project until 15 September 2019, and win up to €40,000 in grant funding and business services.
In the context of European Commission’s Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) pilot programme, ADEME (Agence de l’environnement et de la maîtrise de l’énergie) supports innovation projects that include an ETV performance verification step.
To help stakeholders and citizens understand the circular economy, Didier Bourguignon from the European Parliamentary Research Service answers three key questions on circular economy.
The Urban Agenda Partnership on Circular Economy has identified several barriers and bottlenecks regarding the use of secondary raw materials (recycling) or products (re-use) originating from waste streams and has now commissioned a basic assessment of the current legislative framework, the implementation and application of that framework, and the definitions of waste in the context of a circular economy.
Are you an urban waste manager or regulator? Share your experiences and best practice to provide valuable feedback on implementing waste legislation and contribute to recommendations seeking to improve this framework.
Soda production (for the glass, water softening, pulp and paper or detergents industrial processes) generates by-products called lime, which accounts for approximately 40 % of the soda ash production volume.
So far the soda lime has been traditionally used in agriculture as a calcium fertilizer, with limited added value.
CIECH, a leading European soda manufacturer, is seeking for new applications for “post-soda lime” such as new marketable solutions or products (other than calcium fertilizers for agriculture), and launches a competition for best proposals in:
