This publication contains the results of over 74 projects completed as part of the Circular Ecoinnovation Programme between 2017 and 2023. The programme, managed by Ihobe, the environmental management agency of the Basque Government’s Ministry for Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment, drives ecodesign, circular economy demonstration and strategic ecoinnovation in Basque companies.
The market, commercial, economic, technical or environmental feasibility of each project has been graphically included in each datasheet.
See also the website listing all the Basque Country's circular solutions to date.
ISO 59004 belongs to the ISO 59000 family of standards which is designed to foster a shift towards a circular economy.
Focusing on Circular economy — Vocabulary, principles and guidance for implementation, this standard advocates for a circular economy model which emphasises the sustainable management and renewal of natural resources.
It aims to help organisations contribute to the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development by facilitating the transition to circular use of resources. It sets out key terms and concepts, a vision for a circular economy, core principles and practical guidance for delivering on sustainability goals.
You can read a sample or purchase the full version on the ISO website.
ISO 59010 covers Circular economy — Guidance on the transition of business models and value networks.
This standard provides guidance for organisations wishing to take their value creation models and networks from linear to circular. It focuses on business-oriented strategies to implement circular economy practices at both organisational and inter-organisational levels. It complements ISO 59004 by offering more detailed guidance on assessing current value creation models, mapping value chains and value networks, and developing strategies for circularity. ISO 59010 is designed to help organisations make this transition effectively.
You can read a sample or purchase the full version on the ISO website.
ISO 59020 covers Circular economy — Measuring and assessing circularity performance.
It provides a structured approach for organisations to measure and assess their circularity performance. It aims to standardise the process by which organisations collect and calculate data, using mandatory and optional circularity indicators.
This standard will:
help organisations align with global sustainability goals
enhance transparency and accountability in environmental reporting
support strategic decision-making for sustainable resource management.
You can read a sample or purchase the full version on the ISO website.
Together with ISO 59004 and ISO 59010, these standards offer a complete toolkit for achieving a circular economy, from principles to measurement.
Re-using textiles locally is the most sustainable way to close the textiles loop as well as to deliver local jobs for the circular and just transition.
Social enterprises in the re-use sector seek to implement the waste hierarchy and abide by the proximity principle. As such, they manage to extend textile products’ lifetime locally while equipping vulnerable individuals with circular skills and building local communities.
This paper by RREUSE outlines good practices in responsible used-textile management carried out by our social enterprises community. It focuses on ways to improve textile collection and local reuse and bolster textile transparency.
Urban agriculture comes with its own share of environmental impacts. Circular strategies promise to reduce these impacts, but not all strategies are resource efficient and environmentally effective.
This paper finds that the most eco-friendly and circular strategies for urban agriculture, taking a Mediterranean tomato crop as a case study, include:
Struvite (phosphate mineral recovered from wastewater treatment) instead of non-renewable phosphate fertiliser to conserve freshwater
Recycled steel and materials for urban agricultural infrastructure to reduce carbon emissions, toxicity and freshwater pollution
Closed-loop irrigation to minimise ocean and freshwater pollution. However, if new infrastructure is required, it could lead to an increase in carbon emissions.
The French National Institute for Circular Economy (INEC) has published its Programme Ecole circulaire(in FR), whose objective is to use schools - a place familiar to all - as showcases for the circular economy. It contains a series of good practices (for public and private actors, youth) - over 40 territorial initiatives and 50 operational solutions - on the following themes:
school buildings (construction, renovation)
energy supply
inner/outer spatial planning
stationery-equipment-furniture
school cleaning (products and apparel, staff training)
food loop (local and sustainable food, waste, water fountains)
By designing and enabling the use of Electric Vehicle (EV) batteries for multiple use-cycles, valuable materials are maintained, and a range of economic and environmental benefits can be unlocked.
Innovators from the automotive industry, Dutch and French public authorities, and the European Commission have collaborated to identify regulatory barriers to reusing EV batteries as energy storage devices and unlock solutions.
France’s Anti-waste and Circular Economy Law is a great example of cross-sectoral collaboration. Policymakers, municipalities, NGOs and businesses worked together with the public administration to identify a richer range of needs, solutions, and policy measures. As a result, the law is ambitious and contributes to a system-wide transition towards a circular economy.
The circular economy has become a priority policy topic in Europe (EC, 2015, 2020) and is a key objective of the European Green Deal. There is increasing interest in the potential for altering traditional business models to enable materials and products to be reused and remain in the economy for as long as possible — as opposed to being used once and then discarded.
This briefing presents an analytical framework, identifying actions that can be taken to implement circular business models effectively.
