The Circular Economy in the Healthcare Sector project led by Club EMAS in Catalonia aims to identify the main challenges and opportunities of the circular economy in this sector and to shed light on how to overcome the barriers to making the sector more circular.

AIMPLAS has developed a device which demonstrates how the Digital Product Passport for plastic products will work. This tool provides essential information about the traceability, materials, recycling and carbon footprint of products.

Recycling flexible PET packaging is tricky because it is made up of layers but in Spain, recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) is the only type authorised for post-consumer recycled content for food packaging.

The BOTTLE4FLEX project has taken up this challenge and aims to develop 100% recyclable flexible skinpack packaging using rPET.

The ECOFAP project aims to make shoe soles and heels from a material manufactured from tanned leather waste using 3D printing. This research project will help solve the problem of how to recycle leather scraps from the footwear manufacturing industry.

The RECERCO project recovered fired sherds, a form of waste generated when manufacturing ceramic tiles. It proved that it is feasible to use this as a secondary raw material for manufacturing new ceramic tiles and as a reinforcement agent for polymeric matrices to obtain composites for the construction industry.

The METALLON research project aims to improve the process of reusing and recycling lithium-ion batteries in order to recondition them. If this is not possible, it wants to optimise recycling and recovery processes to extract and recover the lithium and other high-value metals and minerals contained in these batteries.

Increasingly, plastic components are being used in vehicles rather than metal ones, as plastic is lighter. The automotive industry is gradually stepping up the percentage of recycled plastic to reduce its environmental impact.

AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre, is a non-profit research association active in the plastics industry. It has launched the SURFTOP Project to develop the use of recycled plastic in vehicle parts. 

BIOBUILD, a Horizon Europe-funded innovation project, has been launched with a €4.9 million budget to provide thermal solutions for energy efficient buildings using fully bio-based building materials.

The project incorporates bio-based phase change materials (bioPCMs) into solid wood and fibres bound by plant oil resins, lignin and fungal mycelium. BIOBUILD aims to reduce the energy consumption of buildings by up to 20%.

The transition towards the circular economy entails complex economic and social changes. Using a survey, the EDUCIRC project will provide policy recommendations on rural development, with particular emphasis on women and young people.

It will devise a new methodology for assessing the capacity of rural areas to deliver this transition and identify the main obstacles, strengths and problems, as well as possible solutions.

As a growing community of European frontrunner festivals, Green Deal Circular Festivals strives for fully circular and climate neutral festivals, as festivals can play a guiding role in inspiring a green movement and accelerate society’s transition.