The Journal on Circular Economy is an initiative by the International Council for Circular Economy (ICCE). The journal explores various dimensions of the circular economy, including policy frameworks that support sustainable practices, research initiatives that drive innovation, and collaborative efforts that foster knowledge sharing among stakeholders. 

The January 2025 edition features an article by Freek van Eijk from Holland Circular Hotspot, one of the ECESP Coordination Group co-chairs. The article focuses on the Netherlands: embracing circular economy as a business opportunity and a necessity. It looks at the origin and future of circular economy developments there and what lessons might be learned for India.

INEC, a leading think tank on issues related to the preservation of natural resources, has published its European Resource Programme.

It defines ways to preserve natural resources, focusing on six resources that will be crucial for energy, the economy and the environment: water, wood, li-ion batteries, permanent magnets, copper and building materials.

The Circular Economy package has merely resulted in measures targeting consumers rather than authorities. Positive initiatives such as the digital product passport aside, this vision of the circular economy is not sufficiently integrated into decarbonisation goals. 

INEC's realistic measures, the result of broad debate between stakeholders, aim to transform the economy and make it genuinely circular.

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.

See also Eco-innovation in the Basque Country - 105 industrial projects for new circular solutions.

The network properties of the global waste trade were assessed using time series data of material and monetary flows between 2000 and 2022 from Chatham House's experimental database. The study focused on the distribution of monetary and material flows, policy recommendations and future research avenues useful for obtaining a more comprehensive understanding of socio-economic systems such as trade networks.

This work is a solid example of the application of network-based methods as an eco-mimicry approach for assessing the sustainability and fragility of socio-economic systems which can be helpful for researchers and policy makers interested in transitions towards regenerative circular economies.

This study assesses the network properties of the global trade in waste metals and the distribution of material and monetary flows across trading countries using a bio-inspired approach.

Due to homogenization, high network redundancy and low network efficiency, the trade remained robust yet outside the "window of vitality" characterising natural ecosystems. A few, mostly high-income countries dominated the market, consolidating imports of high-value metal waste, mostly from low- and middle-income exporters.

Policies should address circularity and trade inequities, accounting for environmental and social ramifications throughout the lifecycle of products and materials.

The European Commission's Joint Research Centre has published a study on new product priorities in connection with the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. The ESPR entered into force this year and aims to make sustainable products the norm.

The study looked at a number of product groups and horizontal requirements to see if they were suitable for action under the ESPR. The criteria used were environmental impacts and improvement potential, market relevance, policy coverage in the EU, cost reflections, and contribution towards EU Open Strategic Autonomy.

It identified 11 final products, seven intermediate products and three horizontal requirements (durability, recyclability, recycled content) as potential priorities for the next steps in preparing the first ESPR Working Plan.

Driven by government support, decarbonisation efforts and technological advancements, electric vehicles – with their lithium-ion batteries – are becoming increasingly common. Electric vehicles produce fewer emissions than combustion engine ones, but fewer is not zero. The emissions they do produce across their lifespan (production, use, recycling) need to be mapped.

Calculating their carbon footprint (the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions that come from the production, use and end-of-life of a product or service) is key and required by the Batteries Regulation (EU) 2023/1542.

This paper looks at the challenges of calculating batteries’ carbon footprint and implementing the relevant obligations for companies introducing batteries into the EU market.

The Sustainable Fashion Academy launched the Scandinavian Textile Initiative for Climate Action (STICA) in collaboration with various apparel and textile companies. STICA aims to ensure that the Nordic region and Europe reduce their climate impacts in line with the 1.5°C global warming pathway, while transforming their businesses and the industry.

Signatories to STICA undertake to set targets on scopes 1 to 3 and report back. The focus of this report is emissions reduction, and circular business models are presented as part of the solution. The information provided by the signatory companies as part of their reporting covers circular business models, breaking down how these contribute to scope 3 reduction and their place in the companies' climate action transition plans.

Berlin began its circular economy transition in 2020 with the adoption of the Waste Management Concept 2020-2030, aiming to implement measures to reduce household, water and construction waste. To advance this transition, it established the Coordination Office for Circular Economy, Energy Efficiency and Climate Protection in Business in 2022 and the Zero Waste Agency in 2023, and commissioned a study to analyse the circular economy’s potential in the industrial sector.

Despite these efforts, the circular economy in Berlin is still often perceived only in terms of sustainable waste management. This paper looks at challenges holding back progress on the circular economy, including policy coherence, and provides recommendations to accelerate the transition.

Multilateral development banks have a key role to play in supporting and financing circular approaches. Recognising this, a group of these banks came together to discuss how to better support the circular economy and promote an exchange of knowledge with the private sector, civil society, and local, regional and national authorities.

This report is a result of their work. It presents 20 case studies from around the world that highlight the kinds of support on offer, such as advisory activities, public-sector lending, private-sector investments and backing for the financial sector. Sharing these experiences is important for identifying and adopting successful approaches that can be replicated and scaled up around the world.