European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform

The Circularity Gap Report 2019 finds that just 9% of the 92.8 billion tonnes of minerals, fossil fuels, metals and biomass that enter the economy are re-used annually. Circle Economy calculates that 62% of global greenhouse gas emissions are released during the extraction, processing and manufacturing of goods to serve society’s needs; only 38% are emitted in the delivery and use of products and services.

It highlights the vast scope to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by applying circular principles - re-use, re-manufacturing and re-cycling - to key sectors such as the built environment. Most governments barely consider circular economy measures in policies aimed at meeting the UN target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Europe has an ambitious vision of a carbon-neutral future, a vision that integrates energy-intensive industries as well as the construction sector and its entire value chain.

Cement, which binds concrete together, is at the heart of solutions to turn this vision into reality. These solutions span over the entire cement and concrete value chain: from raw materials to production, use, re-use, and recycling.

CEMBUREAU, the European Cement Association, as part of its effort to move towards a carbon-neutral construction sector, has taken stock of progress done since the publication of its 2050 Low Carbon Roadmap in 2013 and mapped routes to a resource-efficient and carbon-neutral built environment.

The European Commission has published a policy booklet presenting a selection of its research, science and innovation on climate change adaptation. In order to mitigate the impacts of climate change and to adapt to the changes that are already taking place or are impossible to avoid, fundamental changes in societies and behaviours all over the world – as well as scientific breakthroughs, both technological and social - will need to be made.

The objective of the report is to provide a snapshot of the numerous projects resulting from the calls for proposals of 2016-2017 in the Horizon 2020 priorities ‘Industrial leadership’ and ‘Societal Challenges’, that are contributing to the circular economy strategy.

Without aiming to be exhaustive or exclusive, the 156 listed projects represent a good sample of actions financed by Horizon 2020 in the different stages of a circular economy (production, consumption and waste).

The spectrum of priorities contemplated by the selected projects are very diverse and address more sustainable production in all kind of industrial processes, new bio-based and biodegradable products, substitution or recovery of raw materials, conversion of CO² packaging, plastics, etc.

The objective of the report is to provide a snapshot of the numerous projects resulting from the calls for proposals of 2016-2017 in the Horizon 2020 priorities ‘Industrial leadership’ and ‘Societal Challenges’, that are contributing to the circular economy strategy.

Without aiming to be exhaustive or exclusive, the 156 listed projects represent a good sample of actions financed by Horizon 2020 in the different stages of a circular economy (production, consumption and waste).

The spectrum of priorities contemplated by the selected projects are very diverse and address more sustainable production in all kind of industrial processes, new bio-based and biodegradable products, substitution or recovery of raw materials, conversion of CO2 packaging, plastics, etc.

The Institut national de l'Economie circulaire (France) has published a White paper on Circular agricultural and agri-food systems, which focuses on :

• circular agricultural and agri-food systems: definitions, stock-taking and good practices, stakeholder awareness (consumers, professionals, decision-makers, distributors)
• territorial ecology applied to agricultural and agri-food systems: synergies between enterprises, level of application, short agricultural and agri-food chains, urban and suburban farming
• organic substances returning to the soil: identification of "brakes and levers" (societal acceptance, regulations, etc.), composting, methanation and other transformation techniques
• appreciation of the eco-systemic services rendered.

The Institut national de l'Economie circulaire (France) has published a White paper on Circular agricultural and agri-food systems, which focuses on :

• circular agricultural and agri-food systems: definitions, stock-taking and good practices, stakeholder awareness (consumers, professionals, decision-makers, distributors)
• territorial ecology applied to agricultural and agri-food systems: synergies between enterprises, level of application, short agricultural and agri-food chains, urban and suburban farming
• organic substances returning to the soil: identification of "brakes and levers" (societal acceptance, regulations, etc.), composting, methanation and other transformation techniques
• appreciation of the eco-systemic services rendered.

The joint policy paper by Zero Waste Europe, ECOS, EEB, IFIXIT and Rreuse complements Digital Europe’s publication “The Contribution of the Digital Industry in a Circular Economy” with additional perspectives, and challenges the digital industry’s conclusions with regard to policy options.

These include an observation that the 28,000 tonnes of Category 3 IT equipment being shipped for repair or reuse annually in Europe represent only 2.2% of ICT products placed on the market, and 4.5% of the e-waste collected.

The strategies being applied to ensure longevity in the digital industry are also insufficiently comprehensive. In practice the lifetime of many IT products is linked to that of the battery, as this has become impossible to change and its degradation thus defines the performance of the overall device.
In response to DIGITALEUROPE, the authors believe that while repair centers organized or certified by manufacturers certainly have a role to play, the example of the automotive industry

shows that the two systems should not be opposed.

, with manufacturers required to make spare parts and information available to independent repairers whilst also offering certified repair services,

Destination: a circular tourism economy aims to increase the innovativeness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the tourism sector by supporting the integration of circular economy elements into their services, products and business models. This handbook is the result of work carried out in the Interreg South Baltic innovation project, CIRTOINNO.

In addition to providing an overall understanding of the concept of circular economy and the specificities of tourism and the South Baltic partner regions, the CIRTOINNO handbook investigates and discusses the opportunities and barriers for tourism SMEs to adopt circular economy principles, and identifies best practices. Focusing on Hotels, Restaurants and Spas, the handbook provides overall recommendations to:

• implement monitoring systems and strategies to reduce energy and water use
• build relationships with suppliers to rethink material flows
• train staff to improve resource use and reduce spillage

In "The contribution of the Digital Industry to repair, remanufacturing and refurbishment in a Circular Economy”, DIGITALEUROPE describes longstanding business practices in the ICT sector which represent, next to waste collection and treatment facilities, the circular economy backbone of the ICT industry in Europe.

With roughly 28,000 tons of IT equipment and spare parts being shipped cross-border annually in Europe, the ICT sector is adopting circular business practices such as designing for longevity, durability and reliability, stimulating reuse, and facilitating refurbishment. There is significant market opportunity for circular economy in the ICT sector: in 2015, the business of refurbishing IT equipment already accounted for €3.1 billion in annual turnover across 2,500+ European firms.

Alongside a series of case studies on best practice such as Nokia's Global Asset Recovery & Remarketing Services, DIGITALEUROPE outlines the following position on legislating circular economy for ICT:

• reuse, repair and refurbishment should not be addressed under waste legislation
• recognise authorised repair networks and protect IP rights
• consult stakeholders when legislating ecodesign to ensure feasibility
• ensure requirements for spare parts continue to exist
• keep the two-year guarantee and revise consumer protection without increasing refunds / replacements
• remove administrative burden for and regulatory barriers to shipping products for repair, reuse and refurbishment

When 68 Dutch architectural firms signed a manifesto for circular construction in 2018, it became apparent that this field is committed and eager to apply circular economy principles in designing and building for sustainable development. Nonetheless there are few available resources on commencing such a process, which is why the BNA (Dutch Association of Architects) commissioned a study on 'Designing Circularity Jointly: Circular Architecture and Construction' in 2018.

The transition to a circular economy is a quest where nobody has the correct and precise information on what inputs are required to reduce carbon emissions, ensure raw materials are processed in a circular loop and the built environment is repurposed at end of life. Designing truly circular buildings requires frameworks and insights. These are summarised in the report's eight key messages:

• circular economy is a shared quest full of complexity, obstacles and uncertainty, which is why openness, trust and courage are crucial;
• architects need more circular assignments to be able to benchmark and share experiences with each other;
• architects should play a greater role in designing buildings that can actually be built, maintained and recycled;
• collaboration across the entire value chain is necessary to map out resource flows and design in a truly circular fashion;
• regulation stimulates either renovation or newbuilds, becoming an obstacle when architects attempt to fuse old structures with new materials, linear raw materials with circular processes, and outdated standards with pioneering ones;
• despite a lot of information being available, architects find it difficult to access sustainable materials that have passed the necessary quality checks;
• the lack of clear guidelines about what is circular in the construction sector limits the adoption of corresponding principles;
• there are no easily accessible and understandable tools to guide practitioners in designing a circular structure.