Ristorazione Sostenibile 360°: how to make catering wholly sustainable
Ristorazione Sostenibile 360° is the first voluntary certification programme for regional catering, suitable for any type of restaurant in the Emilia-Romagna Region (IT).
Ristorazione Sostenibile 360° is the first voluntary certification programme for regional catering, suitable for any type of restaurant in the Emilia-Romagna Region (IT).
How to recover phosphorus through the agricultural use of digestate produced by co-digestion of sewage sludge and other organic waste.
In Italy and France, where the IN.TE.SE project has been developed, new decentralised composting services have been designed and implemented for domestic and community users, tailored to the local areas.
Ccrave is a content and ecommerce platform all in one, with a focus on waste-based and zero-waste products in the home, fashion and lifestyle categories.
All products (detergents and cosmetics) at Officina naturae are conceived to be safe and effective for humans and the environment in the name of sustainability, eco-design and circularity.
Renycle® is a product obtained from recycled nylon 6, a highly valued material because of its excellent resistance, dyeability, softness and versatility.
Coffee grounds contain many nutrients which are excellent for growing mushrooms. This secondary raw material is even ready for use, having been sterilised at 80 to 90°C by the coffee machine. What's left once the mushrooms have been collected is a good fertiliser.
Greenful products are the first ones in the market that utilise textile, plastic and rubber waste from the construction industry on a large scale. The panels are made of shredded textile waste that has been pressed and bonded together using a proprietary manufacturing process and are designed to replace various types of wood-based construction panels.
The Maallemuuttajat 2030 project and Asikkala Municipal Library set up a tool-sharing library service.
The European NONTOX Project aims to eliminate hazardous and unpleasant substances from plastic waste and thus convert non-recyclable plastics and recycling waste into new resources.
The Roadmap towards the Circular Economy in Slovenia sets the path for Slovenia to become a circular economy front runner in the region. Designed through an inclusive, multi-stakeholder approach, it identifies four priority sectors, give recommendations to the government and identifies best practices. The Roadmap introduces the Circular Triangle, a model which unites three inseparable elements – Circular Economy (business models), Circular Change (government policies) and Circular Culture (citizens), three interdependent aspects that are at the core of systemic change from a linear to a circular economy in Slovenia.
This strategy sets out our priorities for moving towards a more circular economy - where products and materials are kept in high value use for as long as possible.
It builds on Scotland's progress in the zero waste and resource efficiency agendas. A more circular economy will benefit:
Realising these benefits will mean rethinking our approach to how goods are supplied, how they are used, and what happens at the end of products' lifetimes. In this strategy, we are prioritising four areas, although we will also take action elsewhere:
The Strategy for Promoting Green and Circular Economy of the Government of Catalonia aims to foster sustainability as a strategic area to attain economic recovery, increase competitiveness, create jobs, and reduce environmental risks. This strategy is structured into key policies' areas for promoting green and circular economy: the generation of demand and creation of markets, the improvement of the access to funding, the stimulation of research, development and innovation, the boosting of internationalisation and the promotion of employment and entrepreneurship. This strategy therefore contextualises the concept of green and circular economy in Catalonia. At the same time, it is a strategic roadmap that establishes the main areas of work for the medium-term, which are essential to promote this model in Catalonia.
The London circular economy route map outlines a vision of a capital city thriving through the adoption of the principles of circular economy: an economy which keeps products, components and materials at their highest use and value at all times.
Circular Flanders is the hub and the inspiration for the Flemish circular economy. It is a partnership of governments, companies, civil society, and the knowledge community that will take action together. These organisations are the core of our partnership. Each one has committed to carrying out a specific action.
Leading the transition: A circular economy action plan for Portugal was adopted by the Portuguese Council of Ministers in December 2017.
Natural resources are defined as all components of nature: biotic and abiotic resources, physical space (such as land), environmental media (water, soil and air), flow resources (such as geothermal, wind, tide and solar energy), and the diversity of all living organisms.
Natural resources are essential for life on our planet, and always will be. Many natural resources, however, are in limited supply. Conserving natural resources is therefore of vital importance, including for future generations.
The Federal Government embraces its responsibility in this regard. As early as 2002, it set a target in the National Sustainable Development Strategy of doubling Germany’s raw material productivity by 2020 relative to 1994. The German Resource Efficiency Programme (ProgRess) of 2012 was directed towards achieving this target.
“Towards a Model of Circular Economy for Italy - Overview and Strategic Framework” is a document that defines Italy’s strategic positioning on the issue in line with the commitments adopted under the Paris Agreement, UN Agenda 2030, G7 Communiqué and within EU.
The document calls for a "change of paradigm" for Italy's economy, for a new way to consume, produce and do business. There is a need for a new industrial policy aimed at sustainability and innovation capable of increasing the competitiveness of products and manufacturing.
Considering the importance of the document, the Italian government decided to collect the contributions of all institutions, firms, experts and citizens who deal with the issue to develop a document that is the result of a shared and participatory process.
The Government-wide programme for a Circular Economy is aimed at developing a circular economy in the Netherlands by 2050.
Its ambition is to realise, together with a variety of stakeholders, an (interim) objective of a 50% reduction in the use of primary raw materials (minerals, fossil and metals) by 2030.
It has as main priorities: Biomass and food, plastics, the manufacturing industry, construction sector and consumer goods.
Brussels Capital region Circular Economy strategy, adopted in 2016, sets a 10 year framework to move Brussels' economy towards a circular model.
The strategy is focused on three objectives: transform environmental goals into economic opportunities, anchor the Brussels economy, where possible, to local produce and to minimise transportation whilst optimising the use of available territory in order to create additional value for the people of Brussels and to contribute to the creation of employment. It is structured in 4 different axes (combining 111 actions):
This report details the research conducted by the Steunpunt Circulaire Economie, covering the results of a consumer survey with over 2000 respondents, as well as four interviews with car-sharing companies and interest groups.
The main objective is to get a better understanding of the position of car-sharing in Flanders, what people think of car-sharing, including the barriers people face, and what impact car-sharing is having on behaviour and the environment.
The report concludes with a set of implications and recommendations for policy relating to car-sharing and its place in the circular economy.
This short-term assignment attempts to improve our understanding of the data availability of biomass flows within the Flemish economy and develops a methodology to approximate the flow of biomass between different industries.
This needs to be done in order to maximise their potential and reduce unnecessary waste flows. However, the report finds that the data currently available are insufficient, and considers that the construction of a physical counterpart to monetary input/output tables might be the answer.
This study starts from the draft version of the Flemish Climate Policy plan. It assesses how specific measures and strategies reduce the impact on the climate. It also aims to illustrate the added value of the circular economy, which is intrinsically focused on reducing the material footprint.
The study looks at the climate impact from a consumption or footprint perspective, starting with Flemish consumption and including the value chain both inside and outside Flanders. Territorial GHG emissions are included separately to distinguish between the global and Flemish impact. The mobility sector has been selected as a case study. The study focuses on passenger transport by car.
The production of Portland cement (PC) is responsible for 8-10 % of the global anthropogenic CO2 emissions. PC and PC-based blends are the most common binder in concrete production (< 99 % of cases). As PC is accountable for 74-81% of the CO2 footprint, substantial climate impact reductions for concrete requires eco-innovation at the cement level.
One of the most promising technologies to lower CO2 emissions consists in partially replacing traditional PC with industrial byproducts displaying cementitious properties, such as blast furnace slag from iron production, or coal combustion fly ashes from power generation, but their availability and properties are rather constrained.
A diversification of local (secondary) raw materials to extend partial substitution of PC is ongoing.
This research paper is the first output of the research line that studies employment and actor analysis for the circular economy. The study aimed to gain insight into how the transition to a more circular economy could affect the labour market, with an emphasis on net job creation or loss, job creation at different skill levels, and geographical job concentration. The methodology used was a combination of literature review and exploratory data analysis, the latter focusing mainly on the Belgian region of Flanders.
In order to identify and analyse possible bottlenecks and opportunities in the current post-consumer plastic recycling landscape in Flanders, available data sources were summarised and relevant sector organisations and companies interviewed. Specifically, interviews were organised with companies working on polyolefins in order to gain greater insight into the potential for circularity of the value chain for this type of polymer and its applications.
To evaluate the impact of adopting circular economy principles in cities – in terms of emissions, quality of life and resilience – Enel and ARUP, with the scientific support of the Enel Foundation, have collaborated on a research project focusing on four cities: Bogotá, Genoa, Glasgow and Milan, all committed to enhancing the energy transition.
The study concerns three key urban sectors:
It entailed interviews with stakeholders and analyses of existing decarbonisation policies and circular strategies. A reference model was used to help identify the most significant circular actions that could lead to a reduction in GHG emissions in three sectors.
The results could be used as a guide for decision makers.
This study highlights that, while international trade has a vital role to play, policy responses to-date have largely been designed at the national level and in an uncoordinated manner.
ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton says that "the report shines a light on how well-intentioned national policies are inadvertently hindering the adoption of circular solutions in the real-economy. Simply put: the transition to a circular economy can only be enabled at scale by harnessing the power of cross-border trade to unlock economies of scale and comparative advantages. We hope our analysis will serve as a clarion call for a concerted global effort under the auspices of the World Trade Organization to enable new patterns of trade capable of meeting global climate and sustainability goals".
Recycling is key for the circular economy. Chemical recycling could one day become a trouble-shooter solution for any remaining unrecyclable applications and replace incineration. However, it is not yet a sustainable technology.
Ecopreneur.eu - the European Sustainable Business Federation - has concerns about linear economy lock-ins, high CO2 emissions, competition with mechanical recycling, lack of scale, low quality, toxic residues, and large investments being drawn away from SMEs going circular.
Therefore it advocates to support the development of chemical recycling only if:
This policy paper sheds light on the false claims and misleading communication campaigns advertised by the fashion industry. It discusses the environmental impacts associated with these Greenwashing claims in relation to three issues: materials, circularity and climate.
The paper further presents the most common statements and strategies used by fashion companies to convey their alleged engagement in environmentally sustainable practices.
Finally, recommendations are given on the policies needed on the EU-level to ensure that fashion brands are providing accurate and verifiable information to consumers, for them to make informed choices.
With this policy paper, Generation Climate Europe (GCE) calls on the EU to address the growing issue of Greenwashing in the fashion industry.
Fab City Challenge is an initiative launched in 2014 by the then mayor of Barcelona, “challenging” cities to become self-sustainable by 2054. Since then, the project has expanded to a global network of 28 cities and one country (Georgia), cooperating with each other to improve, implement and exchange their urban practices.
The end-goal is for each city to produce everything they consume. In order to reach its objective, the Challenge vividly promotes increased collective action and co-designed solutions for the common well-being of the planet. That is the main idea of its Manifesto, which contains 10 guiding principles for promoting sustainability and liveability – with actions at local and regional levels.
CIRCLES is a platform dedicated to disseminating circular economy solutions in the Eastern Netherlands. It encourages entrepreneurs to participate in the green transition, promoting their sense of ownership in the transition process. It offers a space for stakeholders to interact and exchange views on circular economy – digitally or physically - or simply a space to establish partnerships.
Several organisations – public, private and NGOs – interact in a range of ways, including workshops, publications, opportunities to access finance. One of the initiatives, for instance, consists of a space to submit ideas. If viable, cooperation with regional universities can be established, and entrepreneurs can collaborate to reach solutions.
BauKarussell is a consortium supported and co-run by industrial actors and the City of Vienna. It seeks to establish circular loops in the city's construction sector, with an emphasis on large-scale demolition. The platform focuses on compliance with new regulations and ensuring that reusable components are dismantled and made available for reuse through partnerships with large property developers.
Green practices are becoming standard practice in the construction sector in Austria, and this initiative is in line with that trend. Workers from social enterprises actually prepare material for reuse. It is estimated that the consortium could create around 9 000 jobs in Austria.
Som Mobilitat is a non-profit cooperative working for a more sustainable mobility model. It seeks to promote the use of public transport, cycling and walking.
The cooperative also offers an electric carsharing service if none of the other options are available for certain routes. The cooperative is structured around communities where the shared electric vehicles can be used by individuals and private and public organisations.
ACCEZ is a platform which aims to foster circular economy practices in the southern Netherlands. It pools initiatives by several regional universities and public and private actors in the following fields:
The platform bolsters cooperation between partners to develop solutions for knowledge-intensive issues. To do so, they oversee and fund triple-helix research projects. The end-goal of the platform is to enhance the regional knowledge base and networks, with a view to substantially accelerating the transition to a circular economy.
The Sustainable Procurement platform is managed by ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability with the aim of disseminating information to the public with case studies, events, guidance, and other resources about sustainable and circular procurement at the world level.
According to the platform, circular procurement refers to a range of ways of acquiring goods and services, taking into consideration the whole lifecycle of products throughout their supply chain.
Through circular procurement, it should also be guaranteed that the products and services acquired get value for money and generate benefits not only for the buyer, but also for the environment, society and the economy.
The Mercado Organizado de Resíduos (MOR) is a Portuguese online platform that can be used to trade different types of waste for recovery (with the exception of waste classified as hazardous by the general waste management scheme).
MOR provides the space for waste of all categories to be traded, whether for recovery or for disposal under the country's general waste management scheme. This includes transactions and exchange of by-products and recycled materials.
The Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente (Portuguese Environment Agency) has licensed MOR Online as the first integrated management platform in the waste market.
The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra is a future fund collaborating with partners to research, trial and implement bold ideas that shape the future. It aims to make Finland a pioneer in sustainable well-being.
Since 2015, Sitra has been working to lead the way to a circular economy – a new kind of society in which everyday lives and well-being are no longer based on excessive consumption and fossil fuel use.
Currently, Sitra’s work focuses on supporting a fair transition to a circular economy and investigating how business can be based on sharing instead of ownership. Sitra is also working to advance circular trade policies, to increase the understanding of environmental effects of digitisation and to explore the potential of the circular economy to safeguard biodiversity.
Specialized in establishing and nourishing dialogue between different stakeholders particularly in the process of creation of circular economy (CE) roadmaps, it is promoting new narratives, orchestrating interests, exchanging knowledge and enabling innovation.
CIRCULAR STRATEGIES
ROADMAPPING PROCESS
EXPERT CONTRIBUTION
Circular Point is a service hub set up by Geonardo Ltd to provide practical and business circular economy solutions for companies and organisations. Its versatile services allow its clients to choose the most suitable and relevant support their company or organisation needs to apply circular economy principles in their daily practice or product development.
Circular Point has a mission to serve both the efficiency and profitability of its clients, while creating a positive environmental, social and consumer impact as well. The circular economy offers a wide range of opportunities for innovation, better and long-term consumer relations as well as for reducing the negative ecological footprint and for the sustainable management of natural resources.
Book launch for "Social and Cultural Aspects of the Circular Economy: Towards Solidarity", edited By Viktor Pál.
During this open and free webinar on 5 April, the book chapter authors will be sharing some of the insights set out in chapter 9 on "Assessing through a gender-inclusion lens the social impact of circular strategies in the apparel value chain: The Dutch case".
At this side event of the UNECE Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, to take place on 6 April at 17:15 CEST, government officials and other stakeholders will discuss how to facilitate coordination between government institutions and share good practices on administrative requirements for policy making in the circular economy context.
After two years of cancellations due to COVID-19, EuRIC is delighted to announce that the European Recycling Conference is back and will take place on 14-15 June 2022 at IFEMA in Madrid.
The 4th conference will offer unique networking opportunities, brief participants on the latest regulatory and business developments and be part of the International Recycling and Recovery Trade Fair in Madrid which attracts over 10 000 visitors and 200 exhibition stands. The event will bring together top-level executives from companies, federation leaders and officials from EU institutions.
This interactive webinar with experts, organised by HiCircular, will take participants through essential steps in the transition towards a more circular way of doing business.
RREUSE is excited to invite you to its forthcoming webinar discussing a burning question: Who should finance re-use policies?
Taking place on 7 April, the event aims to provide an opportunity for the exchange of good practices between members of the RREUSE network, policymakers, local authority representatives, and waste management and prevention experts. After a showcase of good practices from the RREUSE network, the audience will be invited to brainstorm on the most efficient way for re-use policies to be financed.
The 3rd Symposium on Circular Economy and Sustainability will take place in Chania, Greece on 27-29 June 2022. Researchers, practitioners and entrepreneurs are invited to submit both empirical and theoretical papers that are broadly consistent with any of the topics covered by the Symposium.
This EU Circular Talk aims to share insights and impressions from the collaboration of the German-based Packaging Club, learn about experiences in other European countries and regions, and discuss implications for the future with interested European stakeholders.
The circular economy has the potential to tackle the main drivers of biodiversity loss, including land-use change, climate change, overexploitation, and pollution, by transforming how we produce, consume and manage materials. During this official side-event on 24 March 2022 at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity negotiations, the role that a circular economy can play in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework through supporting sustainable use of biodiversity will be explored.
Let’s fight food waste together: have your say on the open consultation for the Irish Government's Food Waste Prevention Roadmap.
Fecc is pleased to co-host this event on 21 March 2022 with the European Commission as part of EU Industry Week. EU Industry Week is Europe’s annual flagship event, highlighting industrial frontrunners and ongoing policy discussions whilst improving the knowledge base of European industry.
Biomimicry is sustainable innovation. With biomimicry, embrace sustainable innovation and solve your business problems by finding inspiration from nature. Learn and apply this philosophy, its methods and tools within your company. In this 16 hour, cohort-based course, you will learn life principles and how to use them in your business or with your customers.
As part of the European LIFE Waste2Build project, INEC and SYNETHIC launched a survey to identify existing circular economy approaches in the construction and deconstruction sector. One of the questionnaire's objectives is to showcase the initiatives already on the ground.
The Circular Economy Hotspot Catalonia 2021 will take place in Barcelona. The 5th edition of the event aims to share circular economy strategies and experiences.
The celebration of this event strengthens the Circular Catalonia hub, a meeting point for companies, institutions, and people ready to put into practice solutions and strategies to consolidate the circular economy in Catalonia.
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the rules on compensation for damage caused by defective products. A specific focus will be on the use of artificial intelligence in products and services. You can take part in this consultation until 10 January 2022, thus contributing to the process of further developing and fine-tuning this initiative.
Innovative, sustainable, and circular technologies or products don’t always fit the ‘traditional mould’ within a sector which can make it difficult to prove their performance. The EU Environmental Technology Verification Programme (ETV) is set to create credibility for environmental products on their own terms.
If you are involved in the built environment sector then Level(s) is for you! It is the European Union’s common language framework for assessing and reporting on the sustainability performance of buildings, a simple entry point for applying circular economy principles to residential properties and offices.
Level(s) will be introduced and explained in a conference on 24 November.
The new EU Ecolabel criteria for cosmetics and animal care products will soon be here! It is the moment for industry, consumers, and pet lovers to join the green transition and the zero pollution ambition.
The roadmap Policy Framework on biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics has been published on the European Commission’s portal. You are welcome to give your feedback on it until 27 October!
Answer Ecopreneur's survey to take an active part in developing a life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) methodology as part of the EU Orienting project - it will only take 5 minutes of your time.
Just a couple of weeks left to apply for the 2021 Cluster 4 & 6 calls under the Horizon Europe Research & Innovation programme!
On 1 September 2020, the 5th Circular Change Conference, held under the theme of “Mainstreaming the Circular Economy Mindset”, will set the trends for the discussion on sustainable leadership, business-led innovation and the EU’s sustainability goals based around the European Green Deal.
Together with its 26 members the WBCSD has jointly developed a universal and consistent framework to measure circularity. The Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) provides a simple, objective and quantitative framework that can be applied to businesses of all industries, sizes, value chain positions and geographies.
After three years of hard work, the URBANREC project has been brought to a successful completion. The main outcomes of the project include a comprehensive guide on bulky waste management, the implementation of demonstration activities on innovative practices for the re-use, collection and treatment of urban bulky waste, as well as knowledge transfer activities.
Between 2018 and 2019, knowledge brokerage between Slovenia and Portugal took place on waste collection and treatment, reuse and repair facilities as well as communication strategies.
Over 100 participants joined the Circular Economy on the City Level webinar of the Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) which sparked interesting discussions about smart and efficient ways of leveraging the potential of cities and municipal utilities in the transition towards more circularity.
The ECESP Coordination Group met for the third time on 17 October 2019 in Brussels to review the Platform's 2019 activities and define its objectives for 2020.
On 9 May 2019, the National Institute for Circular Economy (INEC) and Orée, the two main circular economy organisations in France, presented their collaborative research on the political dynamics of circular economy in Europe and the civil society networks that drive this circular transition.
ACR+ has made substantial contributions to developing monitoring systems with corresponding indicator sets for urban and regional authorities. Among others, ACR+ has continued its Circular Europe Network projects within the Urban Agenda Partnership on Circular Economy, while also contributing to the CIRCTER final report on sub-national circular economy monitoring.
Following a 19 February 2019 workshop on Circular Economy Competences - Making the Case for Lifelong Learning in the European Parliament, ACR+ and Zero Waste Scotland have produced a report detailing how to introduce circular thinking in education, create vocational training programmes in waste management, repair and reuse, and developing training programs for local authority staff.
ACR+ has consistently advocated to accelerate the circular economy, while also showcasing urban best practice in circular economy throughout 2019 at various events across the European continent.