The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) has issued a report on how to make the textile sector more sustainable. It provides proposals for a more resource-efficient and smart textile sector, covering topics such as challenges and definitions of solutions towards a smarter sector. It suggests, for instance, to introduce tax relief programmes and industrial parks for resource-efficient textile production.

This report is one of several sector reports from IVA project Resource Effectiveness and Circular Economy (ReCE). The purpose is to make Sweden more competitive in a future with finite resources in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The project has established platforms for dialogue between actors in the public and private sectors.

Between 2017 and 2020, Aalborg (Denmark), Malmö (Sweden) and Smiltene and Pļaviņas (Latvia) piloted innovative new approaches to buying circular goods and services as part of the Circular PP project. Their experiences have been collated in this report, which is a very useful guide for public buyers interested in trying out circular procurement. A summary of the report is also available.

The main results and lessons from six public procurement pilot schemes are outlined in the report:

• Buying back ICT equipment (City of Aalborg)
• Outdoor learning environment tender (City of Aalborg)
• Non-new furniture tender (City of Malmö)
• Waste management tender (City of Malmö)
• Catering services for schools (Latvia)
• Furniture for school dormitories (Latvia)

Knowledge Hub is an open access collaborative library of circular economy case studies from Europe and around the world. It contains over 2000 case studies.

Knowledge Hub is based on the following three principles:

• Everyone contributes: the knowledge base grows quicker if everybody adds case studies.

• Everyone edits: It's not meddling, it's co-authoring! Version history ensures nothing is lost.

• Everyone curates: See any irrelevant, duplicate or promotional content? Report it to the Knowledge Hub admins!

EU institutions and agencies are increasingly raising awareness about the circular economy agenda. They are encouraging marketplace stakeholders to engage in sustainable production and consumption by reducing, reusing, restoring, refurbishing and recycling resources throughout their value chain.

This research evaluates the latest European environmental policies including the new circular economy plans for a cleaner and more competitive Europe. It then goes on to present a systematic literature review focused on the circular economy in the EU context. The findings suggest that there are a number of opportunities and challenges for the successful planning, organisation, implementation and measurement of circular economy practices.

This publication is the first outcome of the Policy Lab 2.0. It sets itself as the result of the fruitful collaboration between cross-regional officers and stakeholders in their attempt to co-build new standards for circularity. They are also willing to provide effective solutions for the main challenges European regions need to face in the transition towards a circular economy (CE).

This report provides valuable insights into the creation of a common set of circularity criteria for the overall assessment of CE projects, with the aim of providing European regions with the right tool to foster a smooth transition towards a CE. It also emphasises the importance of promoting cross-regional knowledge through education and training.

The Desig4Circle training course allows learners to understand the necessary shift in the textile industry towards a more sustainable Circular Economy approach and to acquire the necessary knowledge to transform their organization.

The course includes interactive materials such as videos, infographics, presentations, quizzes and additional readings to deepen your knowledge on different topics of interest:

M1. Introduction to Circular Economy

M2. Sustainability challenges in the textile and fashion industry

M3. Materials for a Circular Economy

M4. Design for a Circular Economy

M5. Manufacture for a Circular Economy

M6. Recycling technologies for a Circular Economy of textile and fashion industry

M7. Business management in a Circular Economy.

The European Green Deal provides the impetus to find more resilient, fair and sustainable economic systems. To deliver this ambition and recover from the economic impact of COVID-19, a systemic approach is needed.

The System Change Compass re-examines the driving forces of our socio-economic system, addressing the issues of resource consumption and environmental pressures.

The report presents future-fit policy directions and economic ecosystems (among them, nature-based, circular materials), and shows how these can better serve our societal needs and work within planetary boundaries. It also highlights 50+ champion orientations outlining a next-generation industrial landscape, with investable opportunities for jobs and a more sustainable future via COVID-19 recovery funds.

The report on Sustainable Plastics Strategy was prepared by the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry (SusChem) and its partners: Cefic, PlasticsEurope, European Plastics Converters (EuPC) and the European Composites, Plastics and Polymer Processing Platform (ECP4).

One of the keys to tackling plastic waste is the creation of a circular economy. However, the circular economy for plastics is not just about waste. Eliminating leakage and stepping up the use of secondary materials may be part of the picture, but the transition to renewable inputs completes it.

This report outlines the future research needed to fulfil the objectives of the European Strategy for Plastics and the Green Deal priorities.

The Nordic working group on Circular Economy and Nordic Swan Ecolabel have investigated the potential for developing ecolabels for the growing sharing economy. Their findings are set out in a Study into the Potential Framework for Ecolabelling of Sharing Based Services in a Circular Economy Perspective.

The study examines sharing economy sectors and gives some recommendations:

• a screening model has been developed which indicates which market/business models ecolabels should focus on in future;
• ecolabels should adopt a medium broad definition of the sharing economy, divided into its three main groups: gig, peer-to-peer and access economy;
• ecolabels should focus on the transport sector and the entertainment business.

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.