Circular economy practices are gaining importance in the global textile and apparel value chain. However, the circular economy's social dimension is often overlooked.

To address this problem, this study develops transformative circular futures (TCFs), co-created circular economy scenarios that are diverse and systemic and embed social impact considerations. The aim is to inform policy and business decision making in the textile and apparel value chains of India, the Netherlands and Spain.

The study recommends normalising living wages for direct, indirect and informal workers, implementing regulations challenging the patriarchy, eliminating gender pay and establishing permanent global committees of social actors.

Companies in the textile and apparel value chain have been increasingly implementing circular economy practices. However, implementation has focused on the techno-environmental (hard) dimension, and partly overlooked the (soft) social dimension. There is a lack of empirical knowledge about how businesses in this value chain simultaneously manage soft and hard aspects of circularity and what kind of socio-environmental impact they generate.

This research analysed the soft and hard aspects of ten circular business cases from three countries. It demonstrates that both aspects are integral components of a comprehensive transformative circular transition framework that facilitates the adoption of more inclusive and circular practices while improving sustainability performance.

The transition to zero emission and energy positive buildings, neighbourhoods and communities is key to unlocking the EU's climate and energy ambitions by transforming both new and existing buildings into drivers of decarbonisation.

This policy recommendation paper puts forward 10 key policy recommendations for national and regional policy makers for overcoming financial barriers for building renovation and transforming existing buildings into zero emission or positive energy neighbourhoods by 2050. 

The recommendations are based on experiences and learnings from 8 research and innovations projects in Europe, including 33 demonstration sites around Europe.

ADVANCE Circular is an Erasmus+ project, focusing on linking the tourism industry with VET (Vocational Education and Training) to embrace circularity. The brochure describes the project which aims to assess the readiness of the tourism sector and VET institutions for adopting circular principles in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia and Spain.  
 

"Are we ready for circularity?" is part of the second stage (Mapping the Scene & Creating Bridges). It finds that despite progress in raising awareness of circularity, significant efforts are needed to overcome financial, educational and regulatory barriers. Strengthening strategic partnerships, increasing funding support and enhancing training opportunities will be vital to advance circularity readiness in the tourism and VET sectors in these countries.

This report delves into the business case for accelerated EU action on the circular economy. 

It provides policy recommendations for the forthcoming Circular Economy Act, focusing on the business perspective and how the Act could support the EU’s resilience and competitive sustainability. It highlights barriers and actions identified by companies across various sectors.

The report stresses that a more ambitious and integrated approach, driven by the Circular Economy Act and other strategic EU initiatives, is essential for achieving the EU’s broader goals of climate neutrality, industrial success and social equity. 

The authors aim to improve the understanding of both businesses and policy makers about the urgent need to accelerate the circular economy transition.

The report presents the progress the Commission has made in implementing the 2022 strategy for the outermost regions. It shows that the Commission has delivered on its commitment to reflect the outermost regions’ characteristics in legislative proposals, policy initiatives and programmes.

The outermost regions have high potential to develop circular economy solutions. Cohesion policy supports circular economy development there. Both the ERDF and Interreg support waste management and recycling, for instance in Réunion with EUR 18 million of ERDF funding dedicated to the circular economy. Outermost regions also benefit from support under the LIFE programme. Several of these regions have designed circular strategies, such as the Circular Economy Conference of the Azores.

This paper reviews digital tools that support the transition to a circular economy in the built environment. 

It explores how computer-aided design, building information modeling and computational plugins can assist architects and engineers in creating more sustainable buildings. While Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) remains the main approach for evaluating environmental impacts, the study highlights other methods and tools that can help assess circular design strategies, such as computational methods to design with reused elements and circularity indicators. The paper identifies both the strengths and limitations of these digital tools. 

This research is useful to academics and to practitioners designing buildings aligned with circular economy principles.

Concrete accounts for 8% of the world's CO₂ emissions. Efforts are being made to reduce its embodied carbon, but reusing concrete from existing buildings has significant untapped potential.

This study presents an innovative digital workflow for predicting the lifespan of concrete elements, CO₂ uptake via natural carbonation and embodied carbon savings through reuse. The workflow was tested in a building from the 1960s with high reuse potential. 

It found that most precast elements would last long enough to be reused effectively and that reuse is better for the environment than carbonation.

The digital workflow is useful for quickly assessing lifespan, carbonation and embodied carbon of concrete. It is a useful tool when designing for reuse.

With progress on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) badly off track, solutions are needed - and the circular economy has clear potential.

This Chatham House paper explores how the circular economy could support each of the 17 SDGs and argues for this concept to be put at the heart of emerging plans to drive sustainable development towards 2050. 

It identifies five priorities for action: embedding principles of justice and inclusivity into the circular transition; increasing international policy coordination; reforming the financial architecture to ensure the circular economy gets the investment it needs; rewiring the global system of trade to make it easier to trade circular products and services; and developing common standards and metrics.

This JRC report emphasises the importance of standardisation in promoting circular construction and the circular economy. 

It discusses the need for future standardisation and pre-normative research for circular construction in terminology, metrology, performance characterisation, compatibility and operability assessments.

The report highlights the need for clear objectives, focused standards, cost-effectiveness, common future scenarios, resource indicators, and practical implementation aspects to advance circularity in the construction industry. The recommendations provided aim to guide future standardisation activities, aligning with circular principles to drive industry competitiveness and environmental stewardship.