SirPlus, based in Germany, is an example of a business which avoids food waste to its utmost. It consists of a supermarket that sells food rejected by other stores for being considered out of the regular aesthetics for a supermarket – for instance, ugly fruit and vegetables, jars labelled incorrectly, or goods near or past expiry date.
RAU has been working in the architectural sector focusing on the design of sustainable buildings. Their projects include buildings for public/private sectors, with an integrated design methodology.
CIAK is a waste management company from Croatia that focuses on recovering hazardous and non-hazardous waste. Focusing on recovering and recycling accumulators and batteries, CIAK helps closing the loop for these products.
RecycLivre.com is a website selling second-hand books which aims to establish a relationship based on solidarity between its customers and underprivileged groups. It is built around the idea of promoting the recirculation of books instead of them being thrown away by their owners.
Tropa Verde was set up in Santiago de Compostela, Spain in 2015, and seeks to encourage environmentally responsible behaviour. Its goal is to promote recycling by rewarding environmentally-friendly practices.
Filippa K is a Swedish fashion brand which has taken significant steps to support sustainable consumption and design. The brand follows the "four Rs" of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repair in order to encourage more mindful consumption and diminish fashion's impact on the environment.
Bedzzzy is a great example of a 'product as a service'. Based in the Netherlands, it targets old mattresses which are a major source of waste, producing its own recyclable mattresses – the world’s very first 100% circular mattresses.
Reet Aus is a PhD-qualified fashion designer who founded her own brand that focuses on sustainable fashion. She has studied the issue of waste in the fashion industry.
Remondis is one of the world's largest recycling, service and water companies with over 30 000 employees and 900 business locations. The Lippe plant in Lünen is one of their largest sustainable projects: it has a surface area of 230 ha and is the largest industrial recycling plant in Europe.
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 Elephant in the Boardroom: Why Unchecked Consumption is Not an Option in Tomorrow’s Markets is a working paper from the World Resources Institute that can guide discussion within companies about an uncomfortable truth: many of today’s business models are not fit for tomorrow’s resource-strained world.
Normalizing the conversation will set the groundwork for the pursuit of new business models that allow growth within the planet’s limits and generate stakeholder value in new and exciting ways.
This research, part of the CEC4Europe factbook on the circular economy published in September 2018, evaluates 131 projects from the Circular Economy Industry Platform (CEIP) regarding their contribution to circular economy from both a scientific and political perspective.
Content analysis was applied to derive qualitative and quantitative information from company statements on the platform. This was supplemented by qualitative, semi-structured interviews with company representatives on selected projects. Results showed a diverse approach to circularity across the sample projects, thereby partly expanding the sectoral focus of the circular economy package.
The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment unites businesses, governments, and other organisations behind a common vision and targets to address plastic waste and pollution at its source. It is led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in collaboration with the UN Environment Program. Launched in October 2018, the Global Commitment already unites more than 400 organisations in its common vision of a circular economy for plastics, keeping plastics in the economy and out of the ocean. Signatories include:
All 400+ organisations have endorsed one common vision of a circular economy for plastics, in which plastics never become waste. As this June 2019 report shows, the number of business signatories has grown from over 100 to nearly 200 in the seven months since the launch.
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has released a report on tackling plastic waste using circular solutions, with a focus on the opportunities chemical recycling provides. After highlighting the scale of the issue, the report presents different ways of solving the plastic waste issue by comparing the impacts of different waste treatment options and technologies, such as pyrolysis. The report concludes that:
“To tackle the colossal societal and environmental issue of plastic waste, we need proportionally meaningful efforts from the private and public sectors as well as society at large that encompass behaviors and habits. The ultimate solutions will involve a combination of judicious consumption and disposal measures as well as the development of cost-competitive and environmentally friendly alternatives. Most observers would agree, however, that these changes are years away. In the meantime—over the next decade or two—we can implement circular solutions to reuse or repurpose plastic waste in the most efficient way.” (Boston Consulting Group, 2018, p. 24).
ECESP Coordination Group members contributed to this report, including Circular Change and Circle Economy.
In March 2019, the Italian Circular Economy Network hosted a national conference on the circular economy, where it presented this Report on the Italian circular economy in 2019. Based on the methodology used, comparing the 5 most important European economies, Italy is the top performer in terms of circular economy implementation, ahead of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain (in this order). While Italy’s position has remained unchanged compared to the previous year, there are some small signs of a slowdown which must be taken into account.
The report makes the following 10 proposals for a circular economy in Italy:
The Ecopreneur.eu landscape review of circular economy policy in the EU Member States aims to inspire these countries to accelerate their circular transition. Combining the EU's Monitoring Framework with other rankings, databases and reports, Ecopreneur presents 28 country profiles using a mix of quantitative data and qualitative information to highlight specific indicators. These range from waste generated per capita to voting behaviour on EU proposals on the circular economy.
The report also describes the current performance, initiatives, most relevant organisations, policies, challenges and examples of good practice for each Member State. The country profiles show 28 unique different trajectories towards the circular economy.
The Circular Economy Competences, Making the Case for Lifelong Learning report, published by ACR+ and Zero Waste Scotland , builds on the workshop these orgnisations hosted in the Euroepan Parliament on 19 February 2019. It gathers the experiences participants shared in that workshop, and is meant to help educators, policymakers and managers of NGOs involved in training and educational organisations to promote the development of local circular economy loops.
The three chapters of this booklet cover different areas of the lifelong learning landscape:
Businesses across Europe are fully engaged to maximise the value of materials, transition to circular business models and achieve a circular economy. This can be best achieved through a functioning market for secondary raw materials (SRMs) and circular products. A real market for SRMs requires a global level-playing field with similar regulatory frameworks and standards, but within the EU several challenges and untapped opportunities still remain. Among others, BusinessEurope recommends policy-makers to put more emphasis on removing inconsistencies and filling the gaps in the current policy framework, starting with a better implementation of the existing waste acquis, including more guidance to Member States and performing ex-post impact assessments on the benefits of full compliance.
The "No time to waste: unlocking the circular potential of the Baltic Sea Region" report, prepared by Politiyka Insight for the 10th annual forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) attempts to review the state of circular economy in that region, while assessing the challenges and opportunities connected with a circular transition. The report also looks into the future by trying to identify key trends that will impact the BSR countries until 2030, and on that basis project the future development of the circular economy, along with alternative scenarios.
The report shows that as of 2019 only Finland and Germany have adopted a circular economy strategy, while Poland, Estonia and Sweden are drafting one. On the other hand, there are circular economy projects active or planned in all countries neighbouring the Baltic sea, except for Lithuania and Latvia. According to its baseline scenario, "the transition to a circular economy will only happen partially. Cooperation between the BSR countries will remain on a roughly the same level, with EU policy as the main unifying factor. The most significant changes will be visible in the production sector".
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 EU Circular Talks is a new exchange concept of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform. It aims to encourage stakeholders to interact and discuss the circular economy topics on the Platform. The workshop aims to debate the role of the circular economy for the retail and wholesale sectors, particularly in the context of their recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
"Research & Innovation in circular economy and bio-based systems: opportunities for circular economy stakeholders" is a side event organised by the European Commission's DG Research and Innovation. It will provide circular economy stakeholders with practical insight into current and future funding opportunities.
On 20 October 2020 at 13:15 – 17:30 (CET), the Competence Centre for Sustainable Procurement and the European Commission are organising the first online networking seminar for European Governmental Competence Centres for Sustainable Public Procurement and other governmental actors active in this field.
Want to discover the latest on industrial symbiosis and the future of sustainable industrial practices? Join this event on 27 October to learn about experiences and case studies regarding successful implementation of industrial symbiosis, find out about tools and gain access to guidelines to kick-start resource efficiency in your own industry.
The Global Sustainable Technology and Innovation Community (G-STIC) plays a crucial role in strengthening interactions between the digital and circular community, and the online G-STIC Conference on 26-28 October is the place to join the discussion on how to spur all players and make digitalisation the decisive instrument for accelerating circular economy.
The 2020 edition of EU Green Week 2020, focussing on nature and biodiversity, is taking place from 19 to 22 October 2020 in an entirely virtual format. Join exciting virtual discussions on how protecting and restoring nature can stimulate recovery and create jobs, helping us to build more resilient and healthier societies.
Consumer buy-in is key to unlocking the potential of circular approaches. How can we encourage consumers to engage in the circular economy? Drawing on the results of CIRC4Life, the webinar on "How to encourage consumer engagement in the circular economy?" on 20 October 2020 will present examples of circular business models and discuss how to engage consumers in circular practices.
Drawing on the results of CIRC4Life, which implements circular economy business models in value chains, the webinar on "Incentivising new circular economy business models" on 14 October will present examples of circular business models and discuss barriers, enablers and the new Circular Economy Action Plan's role in accelerating towards a circular transition.
The EU Circular Talks is a new exchange concept of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform. It aims to encourage stakeholders to interact and discuss the circular economy topics in the platform.
The workshop aims to provide a platform to share good practice, experience and lessons learnt in the use of packaging in the circular economy.
Are you a programme owner or a policy maker keen to advance the transition to a circular economy? Join CICERONE in building a circular economy joint programming platform to enable more cooperation!
The European Commission is conducting a stakeholder consultation on the EU Ecolabel to gather views and identify opportunities to increase uptake of this voluntary ecolabelling scheme.
Registration is now open for the 2019 Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference: Success Stories and New Challenges, to be held March 6 and 7 in Brussels. Apply until January 31st to attend this conference, grow your network of circular partners and participate in taking stock of the Circular Economy Action Plan’s achievements while setting the ground for new horizons in the circular economy.
On 22 January 2019, Circle Economy launched the second annual Circularity Gap Report in Davos during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting.
Encourage individuals and organizations to contribute to a more sustainable use of electronics by sharing tips and inspiring others to re-use products with the hashtag #CircularElectronicsDay!
Scientific journal Nature addresses setting up an international platform to share data and experiences, and coordinating industrial policies and trade to conserve resources and energy.
The European Commission’s Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance is inviting stakeholders to give their feedback, and is hosting a series of expert workshops. Register before 4 January 2019!
On December 6, European Commissioner for the Environment Karmenu Vella and other EU representatives met Romanian government ministers and civil society leaders including ECESP Coordination Group member Dr Elena-Simina Lakatos.
Polish Circular Hotspot builds on COP24 to sign cooperation agreement with circular networks across Europe, including ECESP Coordination Group member Circular Change.
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the initiative "Towards an EU Product Policy Framework contributing to the Circular Economy".
