Inspired by its urban surroundings, Barcelona Rugs upcycles scraps to create mosaics of rugs
In their collection named Trencadís, Barcelona Rugs uses spare scraps from various materials of high quality to create unique rugs.
In their collection named Trencadís, Barcelona Rugs uses spare scraps from various materials of high quality to create unique rugs.
reCIRCLE is the market-leading industrial solution for reusable packaging for takeaway catering. The "lunchbox as a service" concept saves millions of disposable containers every day.
Giving value to waste as a precious renewable resource: for the first time, agri-food waste can be exploited to create photovoltaic cells that produce sustainable electricity. From the residues derived from winemaking (normally disposed of without any other use), researchers can extract natural dyes that capture solar energy, transforming them into a regenerated green resource.
PET is currently the only plastic that can be 100 % recycled. Food grade PET is the key to plastic waste recycling. No other plastics are permitted for reuse in the production of new food packaging.
PU foam pressurised containers are used to fill gaps and to insulate and install window and door frames so as to make buildings airtight. OCF (one-component foam) producers have invested in a recycling company which recycles the metals in the packaging material, the reactive residual polyurethane prepolymer and the propellant.
The University of Malta has developed a patented process that recycles limestone and concrete construction and demolition waste into masonry products. These have superior mechanical properties compared to natural limestone products.
Ragn-Sells collects, treats and recycles waste and residual products from businesses, organisations and households.
Close the Glass Loop wants to achieve an average of 90% collection rate of used glass packaging at EU level by 2030 and a better quality of recycled glass.
The Circular Navarre Catalogue is a booklet showcasing 20 organisations - based on circular business models - in the Navarre region, who are looking for international cooperation.
The project idea called Urban Click is focused on finding a solution to promote recycling and reuse of construction and demolition waste (CDW) within the construction sector in urban areas of Europe.
Explore how city governments around the world are taking action to enable circular economy opportunities that deliver on a range of mayoral priorities, Sustainable Development Goals, and climate objectives. The EMF has launched Circular Economy in Cities with a global reference on the topic.
The garden, outdoor power and power tools industries have developed a joint position paper on the different principles of the circular economy the industries are already applying.
Given the proximity to nature and to the natural environment, these industries are committed towards protecting the environment and are already taking measures to minimise the life-cycle impact of products in the environment addressing the following issues:
More details on the specific measures can be found in the position paper.
Circular economy strategies have been under development in European cities, regions, and countries in the last few years. 33 strategies have been adopted since 2014, and at least 29 more are under development. Existing strategies were reviewed for this study, to identify similarities and differences, and to assess the involvement of civil society organisations, and potential for collaboration.
The study argues that documents developed in the future should put more focus on including broader sections of value chains, and on ensuring inclusive partnership approaches in all phases of the strategy’s cycle. To date, circular economy strategies show different degrees of inclusiveness in terms of value chains and partner involvement. Limited inclusive approaches can be explained by the exploratory nature of most strategy documents. This includes a stronger involvement of civil society organisations in earlier phases of strategy development, and not just for dissemination and citizen involvement.
The study highlights the role of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform in gathering and sharing civil society’s knowledge and making sure it is fed into the policy cycle for circular economy.
This study delivers the first empirical findings on the relevance of digitisation to improving material efficiency based on the German company survey ‘IW-Zukunftspanel’.
German manufacturing firms have up to now only rarely digitised material efficiency measures to a great extent. If they are - particularly in large companies - they tend to be used for process optimisation. Around two fifths of the companies are at least moderately digitised in relation to the most important industrial efficiency measures, namely process optimisation and the use of new techniques, but there is still more than a third that is not at all. Companies have most frequently digitised cross-company materials cycles, but this instrument is only applied by two fifths of industrial companies. There is still potential for more digitisation of measures relating to product design, materials cycle management and new business models.
At least every other manufacturing company reuses residue and waste materials via internal circulation systems. Nevertheless, for two fifths of these companies digital networks do not play any part and in the case of a further two fifths, the part they play is minor. Only one in ten companies is heavily digitised. More than half of industrial companies use resource-saving measures that begin at the product design stage. To date, almost half of these companies are not digitally networked, or if they are, it is only to a small extent. One third of the industrial companies up to now have considered new business models as an efficiency-raising way. Of these, three out of ten have not been digitised yet with a further two fifths having only a minor level of digitisation.
Companies that have already embedded digitisation in their strategy are frontrunners for greater material efficiency, since they more frequently use material efficiency measures intensively, are more likely to recognise further potential savings and their efficiency-saving approaches are also clearly more often highly digitised.
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Eines von zwei Unternehmen macht Ökodesign digital
Mountain areas face specific natural conditions, such as slope, climate, and soil types, that make the exploitation of mountain resources difficult.
Other challenges associated with connectivity and transport make economic activity all the more challenging.
The adoption of the circular economy will be particularly important in mountain areas which contain exceptional primary resources such as forests, water, and minerals, and provide ecosystems services such as carbon sequestration, clean water, landscapes, and recreation. Maximizing the value of extracted resources and managing them sustainably is particularly important for maintaining a high quality of life in mountain territories.The circular economy can create new economic opportunities that will provide much needed employment and economic growth in mountain areas.
The development of the circular economy in mountain areas will allow inhabitants to benefit from resources and services available in the mountains. It will also drive the development of new approaches, for example in governance, technology, or in the building of novel tools, in so doing providing new opportunities for jobs and growth in mountain regions.
This study focuses on the forest sector as the sector is particularly adapted to a circular approach in mountainous areas in Europe.
Since 2000, the “Slovenian Entrepreneurship Observatory” publishes a report annually providing analysis of the situation of Slovenian companies and insight into Slovenian entrepreneurship. In 2018 this report had a thematic focus on the circular economy (CE), with the authors centring in on the drivers and barriers to SMEs integrating CE into business practice.
This report first provides a theoretical framework for the CE, which aims to raise awareness and facilitate information exchange between companies and individuals looking to spread circular innovation. Simultaneously this report also provides an overview of the barriers companies face in transitioning towards circularity, which include a lack of comparable indicators to benchmark and track progress; cost of eco-design; administrative burden; access to finance and a lack of awareness about the concept itself: in 2017, a survey of businesses indicated only 32% had some understanding of what a circular economy is. This survey also revealed businesses perceive economic, environmental and regulatory opportunities as the main drivers towards circularity.
The report concludes with practical aspects of CE implementation at the level of enterprises, presenting a case study which highlights the situation and the possible use of eco-design in Slovenian SMEs operating in the construction sector and conclusions with recommended steps to overcome the barriers identified.
The built environment, consuming almost half of the world's resources extracted every year and responsible for a massive environmental footprint, is a fundamental sector in the circular transition. The circular economy has great potential to help meet global sustainability targets and the Paris Agreement's goals in particular. Moving towards a circular built environment involves a shift in roles and business models for stakeholders active in this sector. However, barriers related to culture, regulations, market, technology and education are slowing down the transition. The private and public sector need to create a level playing field in order for circular materials, products and services to become the new normal in the built environment.
Within the discussion on possible instruments that policy-makers can use to achieve waste collection targets and implement the 2015 Circular Economy Action Plan, deposit-refund systems (DRS) are often cited as a promising & useful policy tool.
In this report, ACR+ explored DRS experiences across ten European countries: Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. This analysis concludes that the launch timing in relation to other waste management systems and the positive participation of producers are both decisive in determining the success of the system.
To learn more about the hands-on implementation of DRS in Europe, read the full report here.
The Centro de Documentación Europea de la Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (European Documentation Centre, UFV) has completed a project titled Economía Circular y Empleabilidad de los Jóvenes en la Comunidad de Madrid (Circular Economy and Employability of Young People in the Autonomous Region of Madrid).
The outcomes include a report on communicating the circular economy through the lens of employment opportunities circular business models provide for young people. The project has also created a guide on communicating the circular economy to students, which introduces the subject, presents the 7R model and shows how innovative companies provide opportunities for employment in circular business.
Within the European project INCOVER, an experimental plant uses low-energy photobioreactors to cultivate micro-algae and transform wastewater into bioproducts.
This article describes this new experimental plant and the start-up stage, starting from the new design of three semi-closed horizontal photobioreactors with low energy requirements, for microalgae cultivation (30 m3 total), using agricultural runoff and urban wastewater as feedstock.
The inflow nutrients concentration is adjusted to select cyanobacteria, microalgae able to accumulate polyhydroxybutyrates, which can be used for bioplastics production. Part of the harvested biomass is used as substrate for anaerobic co-digestion (AcoD) with secondary sludge to obtain biogas. This biogas is then cleaned in an absorption column to reach methane concentration up to 99%. The digestate from the AcoD is further processed in sludge wetlands for stabilization and biofertilizer production.
On the other hand, treated water undergoes ultrafiltration and disinfection through a solar-driven process, then it is pumped through absorption materials to recover nutrients, and eventually applied in an agricultural field to grow energy crops by means of a smart irrigation system. This plant presents a sustainable approach for wastewater management, which can be seen as a resource recovery process, more than a waste treatment.
The CircLean Open Day Event, which will be held in virtual format on 10 September, 2-3.30 pm CET, is an opportunity to learn and discuss about the CircLean network, monitoring and reporting approach, tool and label.
On 8 September 2020 the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Commission (EC) will hold the 16th meeting (online) of the Technical Platform for Cooperation on the Environment, dedicated to "How can local and regional authorities use the circular economy as an enabler of a sustainable recovery?"
Les Assises de l’économie circulaire reviennent les 7 et 8 septembre 2020 avec un événement inédit - web et 100% gratuit - pour aborder des sujets de fond, concrets, au bénéfice et à la portée de tous et de chacun.
100 eco-innovative solutions supporting the transition towards CE, an unprecedented detailed mapping of waste flows and wastescapes, a multi-dimensional and multiscalar LCA based sustainable assessment and a transdisciplinary knowledge generation methodology, all developed within innovative co-creational peri-urban living labs (PULL) and an online geodesign decision support environment (GDSE).
An interactive event incorporating a holistic view of the Circular Economy. Come hear how Nordic Values are driving the Circular Economy with both Nordic and international speakers to be announced.
Participate in a series of short online events aimed to inspire housing organisations, policy-makers and communities. They will focus on circular economy in housing and on how communities can develop new homes or retrofit existing homes with minimal impact on the planet.
The Circular Week is an international campaign staging a series of events on circular economy and sustainable development throughout Poland and Europe, in order to promote the idea of a circular economy, support sustainable business models and establish cooperation between interested stakeholders.
EVENT POSTPONED! On 10 September 2020 CEPS was willing to organise a webinar on the circular economy - a key feature of the European Green Deal - as a concept that offers potential for economic growth at EU level decoupled from resource use, which is particularly important in these times of unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
WCEFonline - the first fully virtual event as part of the World Circular Economy Forum - will dive into why and how a circular economy can help reboot and build resilience in the economy.
An online certificate course to get a profound knowledge about the social, economic and ecological challenges of a sustainable transformation in the private and public sector, in just seven weeks.
Presentazione e lancio ICESP Italian Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform
Video highlights of the 3rd Circular Change Conference
Today EU Member States approved a set of ambitious measures to make EU waste legislation fit for the future, as part of the EU's wider circular economy policy.
Deutschland entkoppelt - Rethinking Circular Economy in Germany
El modelo de Economía Circular, ese que está tan de moda, asegura que todo, o casi todo, puede tener más de una vida, que todo puede volver a la cadena de producción... ¿Y cómo puede ser eso?
Tetra Pak aims to launch a paper straw that is suitable for its portion-sized carton packages before the end of the year, as part of a broader programme to help address the issue of plastic straw waste.
The purpose of the business unit is to develop the Group’s business in the circular economy, in the aftermarket. Created to answer a major societal challenge, it offers a solution for responsible consumption.
12 firms, led by Aquafil, secure 7.1 million euros from the European Union H2020 program.
The quarterly newsletter "Beyond GDP" discusses the use of economic, social and environmental indicators in monitoring key policies, beyond the GDP indicator.