Following the publication of the new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) by the European Commission in early March, the members of the Coordination Group of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform have issued a joint statement on the CEAP, while also reflecting on the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the world.
The project Recycling of broken Si based structures and solar cells is part of CABRISS, a European collaboration aimed to develop a circular economy mainly for the photovoltaic (PV), but also for other industries such as electronics or metallurgy.
The paper presents some tests in which broken solar cell structures coming from an early stage in the PV production process chain as well as broken finished solar cells have been recycled into new silicon (Si) feedstock through demetallisation, purification and directional solidification.
The paper explores two different routes to remove diffusion layers and anti-reflection coating (ARC) on broken cells. It also presents the characteristics of ingots produced with the Si-feedstock from the two routes by directional solidification.
Our industries and our current way of life make us produce more and more in an "ephemeral" way. We throw away big amounts of raw materials that we could easily reuse and launch back in the circular economy.
Parapluiestandupcycling decided to retrieve the fabric of broken umbrellas and to create a utility garment out of it.
The 2020 Report on the Circular Economy in Italy, developed by CEN (Circular Economy Network) in collaboration with ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) and Fondazione Sviluppo Sostenibile, analyses the state of play of the circular economy in Italy with, this year, a particular focus on the bioeconomy.
The report was presented during the 2nd National Conference on the Circular Economy livestreamed on 19 Marchfrom Rome. It was introduced by Edo Ronchi, President of CEN, and Roberto Morabito, Director of the Department for Sustainability, ENEA, and President of the Italian Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ICESP).
For a slide presentation of the report, click on the speakers Ronchi and Morabito.
The PLATIRUS project seeks to address the European shortage of Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) by recovering PGMs from alternative secondary resources. It has the potential to offer a substitute for a large proportion of these critical raw materials which are becoming ever more scarce.
On 17 and 18 March 2020 the Circular Materials Conference invites you to reimagine materials with the help of emerging technologies and novel collaborations to create a circular future together.
ETV4INNOVATION is a two-and-a-half-year long European Commission funded vocational education and training Strategic Partnership project under Erasmus+ programme. It has been designed with the aim to support the development and the implementation of an innovative practice and a new training path in the field of Environmental Technology Verification (ETV).
This retrospective report is a review of the plans set out by Circular Flanders in the Kick-off Statement.
The most important finding? A good deal more was accomplished than initially anticipated. For example, the opportunity to launch three Open Calls, permitting the funding of over 130 innovative circular economy projects. The Green Deal on Circular Construction was also an unprecedented opportunity, as was the complementary reinforcement of the OVAM team of experts in ecodesign and area-specific operations, allowing the scope to expand.
This retrospective report is an interactive PDF. External links to downloads or online resources have been embedded on each project page for easy accessibility.
The national conference on the Circular Economy is scheduled for March 19 in Rome and will be livestreamed. Developed in collaboration with ENEA, it will show the 2020 Report on the circular economy in Italy with a focus on the regenerative bioeconomy.
The live streaming of the Conference is available here.
The overall objective of the project is the "smart" exploitation of Petroleum Refinery Sludges (PRS) produced by the Refinery of Motor Oil Hellas in Corinth (Greece).
The EU-funded RE4 project has developed prefabricated energy-efficient building concepts containing up to 85 % of recycled materials and reused structures from construction and demolition waste (DMW).
Citeo est engagée pour un monde plus durable et oeuvre pour réduire l’impact environnemental des emballages ménagers et des papiers, en les transformant en nouvelles ressources.
Depuis 25 ans, les entreprises ont investi 10 milliards d’euros pour collecter, trier, recycler les emballages et les papiers. Cet engagement a permis de déployer la collecte sélective partout en France, de faire du tri le 1er geste citoyen des Français et de créer des filières de recyclage, en partenariat avec les collectivités locales, les filières matériaux et les opérateurs.
Citeo contribue à une mission d’intérêt général : ancrer la consommation durable, l’éco-conception et le recyclage dans les habitudes des entreprises et des citoyens de métropole et des Outre-mer.
Europe is facing a growing mountain of used textiles. In North-West Europe 4700 kilotonnes of post-consumer textile waste are generated annually. Still, less than 1% of textiles produced are currently recycled into new ones, and around 50% are downcycled, incinerated or landfilled.
Automated sorting technologies could enable the industry to turn non-rewearable textiles into valuable feedstock for high-value recycling. Fibersort, a Near Infrared based technology, is able to categorise textiles according to their fibre composition, structure and colour.
At the end of each chapter of the report, recommendations are formulated for recyclers, manufacturers and brands to address the socio-cultural, physical and economic barriers for uptake of sorted textiles.
restado is a platform that offers a circular economy approach to construction by promoting the reuse of reclaimed construction materials.
It provides support and knowledge on how to reclaim and reuse the materials, and offers a marketplace to trade them.
Sustainable construction guidelines for public authorities – A circular economy perspective aims to help public authorities navigate through the topic of sustainable construction, understand what it means and determine how to encourage it.
The guidelines are especially targeted at local and regional authorities, as they play a crucial role in the whole construction life cycle not only by stimulating innovation and cooperation between all actors but also because they work at a level close to citizens.
Unlike most of the literature on the topic, these guidelines focus on circularity and material resource efficiency, rather than covering only energy efficiency extensively. Moreover, the report goes beyond waste to integrate the whole value chain of the construction sector.
This webinar will outline a framework to classify indicators according to the measurement characteristics of the circular economy, but also provide an alternative pathway to monitor the circular economy.
RacionaLUSO offers a compact system that meets the recently-introduced Portuguese quality legislation for water reuse. With the availability of just 2m2, the system can treat 15m3 of water per day with a recovery efficiency of 80 % of water and 45.6 % of energy (thermal).
A seminar where actors in the building and construction sector, policy-makers, academics and others can explore possibilities to accelerate the circular transition in the building and construction sector.
"Chambers for a Circular Economy - Actions to Support SMEs' Transition to a Circular Economy" aims to offer a clear overview of the wide range of initiatives led or co-managed by Chambers in the field of the Circular Economy, with the intention not only to inform and share innovative actions, but also to spur and motivate synergies, triggering collaborations and the creation of new business models. The aim of each and every of these projects is to enable businesses to evolve from a linear to a circular mode of production and consumption.
This publication presents a total of 32 projects initiated or co-led by Chambers in 13 countries, and categorized under 5 main topics:
Le concours Design Zéro Déchet invite depuis 2012 les étudiants et jeunes diplômés en design, sciences de l’environnement, ingénierie et arts appliqués à réfléchir sur le sujet de l’écoconception et de la prévention des déchets à travers l’élaboration de biens ou services innovants et durables.
Drawing on the results of CIRC4Life, the event aims to present examples of circular business models, discuss barriers and enablers, as well as how to incentivise consumers to engage with circular practices. It will also discuss the new Circular Economy Action Plan by the European Commission.
The GLOPACK project is investigating food packaging with no environmental footprint and the ability to extend the shelf life of food products.
The project is focusing on three food packaging areas:
The GLOPACk project operates a multistakeholder platform to gather the experts of the whole food and packaging supply chain. The members of the Stakeholders' Platform are involved in the actitivies of the project via webinars, stakeholder events and joint development of documents.
Unfortunately, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the event is cancelled.
Want to discover the latest on industrial symbiosis and the future of sustainable industrial practices? Join our event to hear experiences and case studies from successful industrial symbiosis implementation, meet a network of committed actors and work together to build common goals and objectives.
Circular Economy IL (CE-IL) is a non-profit organization serving as the Israeli Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform. CE-IL acts on national, regional and international levels to integrate new resource strategies and circular based business models with Israeli innovation capabilities.
CE-IL aims to connect between Israeli initiatives, start-ups, companies, municipalities, academic, researchers and policy makers and European circular economy stakeholders, in order to collaborate and find common ground, making reference to European policies, to accelerate the circular transition, inter alia, to exchange know-how, knowledge and information.
These goals are already set into action in several cooperation projects with many European experts.
