The Go Circular Summit brings together stakeholders from across the plastics value chain to review regulatory developments, exchange information on current practices and innovations, and discuss approaches to advancing circularity in Europe.
There will also be a preconference day focusing on textiles recycling!
The EU-funded FRANCESCA project focuses on improving circular design practices and supporting the development of circular business models in the furniture sector.
It has launched two surveys to help steer the creation of a circular design tool and circular business models - furniture companies are asked to give their input!
The European Commission recently adopted a legislative proposal to increase demand for low-carbon, European-made technologies and products. The Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) aims to boost manufacturing, grow businesses and create jobs in the EU, while supporting industry's adoption of cleaner, future-ready technologies.
This conference will present leading solutions and innovations for replacing fossil carbon with biomass, CO₂ utilisation and recycling.
There will be three days of discussions and presentations, focusing on the defossilisation of the chemical industry, fossil-free plastics, and policies, frameworks and regenerative business models.
Bio-based plastics are wholly or partly derived from biomass and so help reduce reliance on fossil fuel-based plastics.
Feedstocks include primary and secondary sources. Agricultural and forestry residues and post-consumption organic waste have lower environmental impacts than primary feedstock but collection and transportation issues make scaling up a challenge.
As a whole, the sector is struggling to achieve real scale: bio-based plastics account for only 0.5% of global plastics production and are projected to reach 1% by 2030.
Scaling is hampered by feedstock sustainability, competitiveness, technological maturity and cost: currently, producing bio-plastic is generally 1.5 to 2 times more expensive than conventional plastics.
Servicios Medioambientales de Valencia processes used mattresses into fractions for reuse. Their scalable model produces bales of polyurethane foam and steel which can be used as secondary raw materials.
