In Denmark, the interior design company Mater has developed chairs made out of brewery waste. The production method uses plastic waste and the grain left over from beer production at the Danish brewery Carlsberg.
Fjällräven is giving wool waste a second life by using it for innovative purposes, like padding in jackets or backplate in backpacks.
Marealis uses discarded prawn shells from the seafood industry to make a natural supplement that can lower blood pressure.
Studio Thomas Vailly's project makes use of what is left of the sunflower crop to produce innovative materials.
TailoredTile creates decorative tile pieces completely made of recovered plastic. The company also promotes circular economy by accepting used tilegrams in exchange of purchase discounts, as this material can be crushed and shaped more than once.
Sonae Arauco is a wood-based panel producer that contributes to the circular economy through the recovery of wood waste. It has developed a close value chain that reuses and recycles the wood residues generated during the production process.
In the Douro Valley of Portugal, the research and development project Da Vide has created a range of products using grapevine residues – from paper to pens – avoiding the use of plastics and wood and using agricultural waste as a resource.
SEAclic is a project developed by the German company Storopack, which has created a packaging technology suitable for temperature-sensitive food products, such as fish. The bio-based version of the Storopack SEAclic Box is made from a new, compostable plastic.
On the Asphalt (O.T.A) is a French brand that has developed sustainable and eco-friendly unisex sneakers made of recycled tyres and leather scraps from a glove factory.
Salomon is a French company that has developed a running shoe that is 365º sustainable. This shoe has been designed to be 100% recycled easily.
Soeco Kontorsmöbler is a Swedish company that recycles and refurbishes office furniture. Its goal is to take furniture which would most likely be thrown away and transform it into an item that either looks like or is new.
SEA2SEE, based in Catalonia, designs and produces optical frames and sunglasses in Italy, as well as watches in Switzerland, entirely made from recycled marine plastic collected by fishermen in Spain, France and West Africa.
The Norwegian company NCP delivers sustainable furniture from recycled plastic materials through innovation and design. The S-1500 chair, designed by Snøhetta, is produced by NCP showing how plastic waste from Norway’s fish farming can be transformed into a sustainable design object with an expected lifetime of at least 50 years.
Portuguese startup Benefício devels limited edition products, with particular attention to the use of materials local knowledge. By adopting artisanal production methods and respecting fair trade and the environment, the company mostly applies the principles of circular economy, in particular upcycling.
Music business can be circular, too! MWfono makes vinyl records from the waste that remains after cutting other records. Kayax label then packs the discs in recycled paper and employs a protection film made from maize.
Re-Match has a recycling process for synthetic turf, recovering up to 95% of the materials, which is accredited with the EU’s Environmental Technology Verification. Their patented technology separates the sand, backing, rubber and plastic fibre from used synthetic turf. These materials can then be sold or used in a wide variety of new products in different industries.
LENZING™ ECOVERO™ produces a sustainable and fully biodegradable fibre brand for apparel. It is developed from renewable pulp and wood sources. Importantly, the wood which serves as raw material come from certified sustainable sources.
Fil&Fab has developed a technique to transform disused end-of-life fishing nets into plastic sheets, which are then used to create a series of new plastic products.
Fibracat has developed cellulose-based absorbents from paper for use in the cleaning and industrial hygiene sectors.
Bio2Materials is a company which makes a 100% biodegradable 'leather' from apples – the main type of fruit grown in Poland.
Veolia has developed expertise and built specific facilities to tackle the complex process of treating, depolluting and dismantling Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). This is a valuable source of recyclable raw materials: ferrous metals, plastics and precious metals can all be recovered and reused.
SIGUREC was the most advanced household waste collection service operating in Romania until March 2020. It was a broad initiative, implemented following an official agreement between private companies and public authorities.
Neocomp has developed a method for recycling glass fibre polymers used in the rotor blades of wind turbines. The polymers are shredded, then used as an additive in cement.
Green Dot Cyprus is the first collective compliance system for packaging and packaging waste in Cyprus.