The Circularity Gap Report 2019 finds that just 9% of the 92.8 billion tonnes of minerals, fossil fuels, metals and biomass that enter the economy are re-used annually. Circle Economy calculates that 62% of global greenhouse gas emissions are released during the extraction, processing and manufacturing of goods to serve society’s needs; only 38% are emitted in the delivery and use of products and services.

It highlights the vast scope to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by applying circular principles - re-use, re-manufacturing and re-cycling - to key sectors such as the built environment. Most governments barely consider circular economy measures in policies aimed at meeting the UN target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Europe has an ambitious vision of a carbon-neutral future, a vision that integrates energy-intensive industries as well as the construction sector and its entire value chain.

Cement, which binds concrete together, is at the heart of solutions to turn this vision into reality. These solutions span over the entire cement and concrete value chain: from raw materials to production, use, re-use, and recycling.

CEMBUREAU, the European Cement Association, as part of its effort to move towards a carbon-neutral construction sector, has taken stock of progress done since the publication of its 2050 Low Carbon Roadmap in 2013 and mapped routes to a resource-efficient and carbon-neutral built environment.

The Institut national de l'Economie circulaire (France) has published a White paper on Circular agricultural and agri-food systems, which focuses on :

• circular agricultural and agri-food systems: definitions, stock-taking and good practices, stakeholder awareness (consumers, professionals, decision-makers, distributors)
• territorial ecology applied to agricultural and agri-food systems: synergies between enterprises, level of application, short agricultural and agri-food chains, urban and suburban farming
• organic substances returning to the soil: identification of "brakes and levers" (societal acceptance, regulations, etc.), composting, methanation and other transformation techniques
• appreciation of the eco-systemic services rendered.

The Institut national de l'Economie circulaire (France) has published a White paper on Circular agricultural and agri-food systems, which focuses on :

• circular agricultural and agri-food systems: definitions, stock-taking and good practices, stakeholder awareness (consumers, professionals, decision-makers, distributors)
• territorial ecology applied to agricultural and agri-food systems: synergies between enterprises, level of application, short agricultural and agri-food chains, urban and suburban farming
• organic substances returning to the soil: identification of "brakes and levers" (societal acceptance, regulations, etc.), composting, methanation and other transformation techniques
• appreciation of the eco-systemic services rendered.

The joint policy paper by Zero Waste Europe, ECOS, EEB, IFIXIT and Rreuse complements Digital Europe’s publication “The Contribution of the Digital Industry in a Circular Economy” with additional perspectives, and challenges the digital industry’s conclusions with regard to policy options.

These include an observation that the 28,000 tonnes of Category 3 IT equipment being shipped for repair or reuse annually in Europe represent only 2.2% of ICT products placed on the market, and 4.5% of the e-waste collected.

The strategies being applied to ensure longevity in the digital industry are also insufficiently comprehensive. In practice the lifetime of many IT products is linked to that of the battery.

Destination: a circular tourism economy aims to increase the innovativeness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the tourism sector by supporting the integration of circular economy elements into their services, products and business models. This handbook is the result of work carried out in the Interreg South Baltic innovation project, CIRTOINNO.

In addition to providing an overall understanding of the concept of circular economy and the specificities of tourism and the South Baltic partner regions, the CIRTOINNO handbook investigates and discusses the opportunities and barriers for tourism SMEs to adopt circular economy principles, and identifies best practices.

In "The contribution of the Digital Industry to repair, remanufacturing and refurbishment in a Circular Economy”, DIGITALEUROPE describes longstanding business practices in the ICT sector which represent, next to waste collection and treatment facilities, the circular economy backbone of the ICT industry in Europe.

With roughly 28,000 tons of IT equipment and spare parts being shipped cross-border annually in Europe, the ICT sector is adopting circular business practices such as designing for longevity, durability and reliability, stimulating reuse, and facilitating refurbishment. There is significant market opportunity for circular economy in the ICT sector: in 2015, the business of refurbishing IT equipment already accounted for €3.1 billion in annual turnover.

When 68 Dutch architectural firms signed a manifesto for circular construction in 2018, it became apparent that this field is committed and eager to apply circular economy principles in designing and building for sustainable development. Nonetheless there are few available resources on commencing such a process, which is why the BNA (Dutch Association of Architects) commissioned a study on 'Designing Circularity Jointly: Circular Architecture and Construction' in 2018.

The transition to a circular economy is a quest where nobody has the correct and precise information on what inputs are required to reduce carbon emissions, ensure raw materials are processed in a circular loop and the built environment is repurposed at end of life.

Please note that the original document is in Dutch language.

In this position paper, the Spanish Fondacion para la Economia Circular (Foundation for the Circular Economy), summarises the policy initiatives on plastics published by the European Commission in 2018, which includes both the Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy and the Proposal for a Directive on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment.

Outlining its position, FEC argues for instance that:

• the plastics strategy is based on ambiguous definitions
• rigorous implementation of existing legal obligations in relation to plastics is a priority
• concrete measures reducing single-use plastics require greater precision
• a coherent policy framework for reducing microplastic is also necessary.

100 Italian circular economy stories compiles successful innovations from companies, research institutes and non-profits across 11 sectors throughout Italy. Their stories show the transition towards a circular economy is gaining traction on the ground as a sustainable alternative to the incumbent methods of production.

A circular economy will not happen through policy alone: it requires companies, start-ups, foundations, research centres, universities, consortia and associations to apply the principles of a circular economy to practice. This book features 100 such examples from Italy, including Aquafil's regenerated nylon yarn and Favini's non-virgin papers. The whole collection of stories ranges from across the following 11 sectors:

• Clothing and accessories
• Agri-food
• Furniture / Construction
• Industrial automation and other Manufacturing
• Chemistry and Pharmaceutics
• Research & Development
• Electrics and Electronics
• New Materials and Resources
• Enablers and Platforms
• Promotion and Dissemination

​​These 100 stories clearly demonstrate that change is underway by showing how Italian products are brought to market using increasingly integrated technologies and supply chains which exchange materials and energy. The diffusion of such circular processes will enable more and more companies to free themselves from using costly virgin resources, gradually rendering the whole economy more sustainable.

For reference with the Italian circular economy strategy, please check the 2017 white paper "Towards a model of circular economy in Italy"