3SIXTY Turn Recycled Plastic Bottles and Upcycled Ocean Waste Into Towels For The Hotel Industry
3SIXTY upcycled end of life, single use plastic bottles and ocean waste into towels for the hotel industry.
3SIXTY upcycled end of life, single use plastic bottles and ocean waste into towels for the hotel industry.
NAFIGATE’s Hydal Biotechnology uses waste cooking oil to produce a fully biodegradable and biocompatible PHA biopolymer named Hydal (Polyhydroxyalcanoates). This is the first biopolymer of its kind being produced on an industrial scale at an affordable price.
Gumdrop Ltd is the first company in the world to recycle and process chewing gum into a range of products such as boots or phone covers that can be used in the rubber and plastics industry.
SK-Tex takes old clothing and turns it into products that can be used in cars, furniture and buildings. The company has been in operation since 1998, beginning as a textile raw materials trading company before developing into a recycling company.
DyeCoo, based in Weesp, the Netherlands, has more than 15 years of experience in CO₂-based textile processing technology. By replacing water with CO₂ for the dyeing process, no wastewater is generated. Furthermore, DyCoo uses reclaimed CO₂ from existing idustrial processes, making it a closed loop operation.
C-SERVEES is a European project that aims to boost a resource-efficient circular economy in the electrical and electronic (E&E) sector through the development, testing, validation and transfer of new circular economic business models based on systemic eco-innovative services.
Use of recycled plastic material (rPM) in North West Europe is homogeneously low. In packaging and building, the highest plastic-consuming sectors, only 8% of plastic employed is recyclate (Plastics Europe 2016). The Interreg NWE research project Di-Plast develops digital technology to enable complete documentation and quality assurance of recycled plastic material flows.
The LIFE EPS SURE project aims to offer a technically, environmentally and economically viable solution that allows EPS fish boxes to be collected, washed and converted into new PS food contact packaging, thus closing the loop.
AquaponieBxl is introducing aquaponics across Brussels by building urban farms where vegetables grow on water using fish waste as fertiliser.
PREP is a tool used by brand owners and packaging designers. By entering all the packaging characteristics in the platform software, a detailed report lists what happens to it when recycled by consumers and to which extent it is recyclable in real-life conditions.
All societies produce waste, though its characteristics and what happens to it depend on cultural, economic and political factors at local, national and global scales. New business models, technological innovations and social enterprise have the potential to reduce waste. Policymakers have a key role to play in supporting these efforts by fostering better communication between stakeholders; through regulation that prioritises reuse and quality recycling; and by encouraging resource efficiency through education, research and manufacturing initiatives.
Waste nationally and globally is increasingly problematic and challenging to policymakers. It is a problem that is increasing in scale and scope. It matters to all of us for a series of reasons:
In a circular economy, materials are more durable and easier to repair, reuse and recycle while waste is turned into a resource. In addition, processes from production to waste management become more resource efficient. Innovative business models enable companies to create value by selling services rather than products. Digital technologies will be pivotal in bringing about this systemic change. The European Union has to make the most of digital solutions for the benefit of a circular economy. This requires addressing the barriers to their uptake, enabling the free flow of data across borders, fostering trust in the data economy, and maximising synergies between the digital and circular economy agendas.
The Knowledge Alliance on Product-Service Development towards Circular Economy and Sustainability in Higher Education (KATCH_e) is a 3-year EU funded project that was launched in January 2017. KATCH_e brings together 11 partners from four EU countries to address the challenge of reinforcing the skills and competences in the field of product-service development for the circular economy and sustainability in the construction and furniture sectors. It develops training materials targeting universities, researchers, practitioners and businesses for the development of sustainable product-services. The main results of KATCH_e are:
Our world economy is only 9.1% circular, leaving a massive ‘"circularity gap". This alarming statistic is the main output of this first Circularity Gap Report, in which we launch a metric for the circular state of the planet. The Circularity Gap Report provides a framework and fact-based to measure and monitor progress in bridging the gap, year on year. Being able to track and target performance via the Global Circularity Metric will help us engage in uniform goal-setting and guide future action in the most impactful way. Closing the circularity gap serves the higher objective of preventing further and accelerated environmental degradation and social inequality. The transition to circularity is, therefore, a means to an end. As a multi stakeholder model, a circular economy has the ability to unite a global community behind an action agenda, engaged and empowered both collectively and individually. Its systemic approach boosts capacity and capability to serve societal needs, by embracing and endorsing the best humankind has to offer: the power of entrepreneurship, innovation and collaboration.
The circular economy is attracting significant interest worldwide, as evidenced by the numerous government strategies, business commitments and partnerships devoted to its development. At the EU level, the Action Plan for the Circular Economy and several other policy documents have demonstrated a strong commitment to move towards a low-carbon and circular economy. While the calls for a new economic model grow louder, it is clear that the transformation of markets and industries on a large scale will not be an easy achievement. It will require well-designed and ambitious policies to foster the transition as well as new business models. Against this background, CEPS brought together executives from major multinational companies as well as representatives of business associations, non-governmental organisations and research institutes to form a Task Force charged with tackling the immense challenges associated with the circular economy. This report is the outcome of their deliberations. It analyses the key obstacles that need to be addressed, explores numerous policy areas at the EU and national level where support can act as a catalyst for market transformation, and puts forward actionable policy recommendations.
Toxic substances linked to a range of adverse health impacts can be present in carpets sold in the European Union, the European Public Health Alliance and the Health and Environment Alliance warned today following a new study by Anthesis. The study identifies over 59 hazardous substances found in carpets sold in the EU, including endocrine disruptors and carcinogens, linked to serious health conditions such as cancers, learning disabilities and fertility problems.
Transforming the linear economy, which has remained the dominant model since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, into a circular one is by no means an easy task. Such a radical change entails a major transformation of our current production and consumption patterns, which in turn will have a significant impact on the economy, the environment and society. Understanding these impacts is crucial for researchers as well as for policy-makers engaged in designing future policies in the field. This requires developing an in-depth knowledge of the concept of the circular economy, its processes and their expected effects on sectors and value chains.
This paper reviews the growing literature on the circular economy with the aim of improving our understanding of the concept as well as its various dimensions and expected impacts. On the basis of this review, it attempts to map the processes involved and their application in different sectors.
The paper suggests that research on the circular economy is currently fragmented across various disciplines and there are often different perspectives and interpretations of the concept and the related aspects that need to be assessed. This fragmentation is also evident in the available studies that adopt different approaches in calculating the impacts, which makes efforts at comparing the results from different sources very challenging.
Finally, this paper suggests that there is limited information on the indirect effects on the economy (e.g. impacts on the value chain or changes in consumption spending patterns) as well as the social impacts of the circular economy transition.
8 billion plastic bags end up in the environment in Europe every year. They have dramatic impacts on the environment, and especially on marine ecosystems, killing every year thousands of marine animals, and affecting no less than 260 different species.
Au sein du défi global qu’est le développement durable, l’économie circulaire est un levier important pour les autorités publiques et les industriels. Le recyclage est l’un des leviers qui permet d’atteindre les objectifs d’économie de ressources et de diminution des émissions de gaz à effet de serre fixés à travers différents textes européens et nationaux. Ainsi, En France, on peut citer la loi n° 2015-992 du 17 août 2015 relative à la transition énergétique pour la croissance verte fixant, parmi d’autres, l’objectif d’augmentation de la quantité de déchets non dangereux non inertes valorisés sous forme de matière à 55% (en masse) en 2020 et 65% en 2025 ainsi que l’objectif spécifique aux déchets du bâtiment et des travaux publics de valoriser sous forme de matière 70 % des déchets en 2020.
CEMBUREAU is organising a pop-up event that will show participants how everyday materials can be recycled and recovered for energy through co-processing.
The objective of this seminar is to explore how families can be better integrated and considered in the circular economy. Different experts and stakeholders at various levels of action will be brought together - from policy-makers to community-led initiatives combining a top-down and bottom-up approach. The aim is to exchange and build a constructive dialogue among different actors of sustainable development in Europe.
Can the tourism sector become more circular?
The interactive workshop Squaring-up for a circular economy – Let’s make a change happen! will discuss how all members of society can contribute to achieving a prosperous and sustainable economy.
IRCEM and the Romanian Ministry of Environment, in collaboration with the Department for Sustainable Development, as well as other 12 ministries and other partners, will participate in 8 different working groups, one in each region of Romania, in order to develop Romania's Strategy for the Transition to a Circular Economy (ROCES) 2020-2030.
The ICLEI Europe Brussels Office organises the 29th Breakfast at Sustainability's entitled Fostering the circular food economy through stronger rural-urban linkages.
The 4th Circular Change Conference will address the circular economy situation on the ground and explore the everyday challenges of circular companies.
From Setting Recycling Targets to Achieving Them - Workshop Organised by FEAD will take place April 9 in Brussels to discuss the implementation of waste management strategies and pathways towards moving up the waste hierarchy.