The second-hand clothing industry significantly reduces the environmental impact of textile production and has an underexplored socioeconomic impact.

This report, commissioned by Humana People to People and Sympany+, analyses the socioeconomic impact of this industry in the EU and the United Kingdom, as well as in three African countries: Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique.

It found that the second-hand clothing industry generates significant economic value through green jobs in both continents, supporting economic activity in line with environmental policies.

Moreover, the industry contributes to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, for example by supporting the livelihoods of thousands of second-hand clothing traders and providing affordable clothing options to people around the world.

This report describes what Circle Economy achieved in 2024.

In 2024, they rolled out a new approach to delivering impact which focused on three key objectives to accelerate the global transition to a circular economy: empowering decision-makers (they provided indicators and evidence to ensure accountability in circular economy ambitions), financial support for solutions (they raised sufficient financial capital for circular and just solutions) and building capacity (this involved equipping key actors with the tools needed to implement circular solutions).

The report gives figures to describe their impact. For instance, they have directly supported over 970 businesses and organisations and trained over 7200 people in circular economy principles.

This CEPS In-Depth Analysis examines the role, state of play and future prospects of standardisation of critical raw materials (CRM) from an EU perspective. 

It begins with an overview of the key benefits and actors in both the EU and global technical standardisation system. 

It then maps key recent developments and initiatives in CRM standardisation, in the EU and globally. Drawing on consultations with experts, it identifies three fundamental risks and challenges: the limited participation of EU stakeholders and experts, specific content gaps in recycling and traceability, and a highly fragmented ESG standardisation landscape. 

Lastly, it provides policy recommendations to help address these challenges and enhance the EU’s role in CRM standardisation.

This report is the outcome of a collaborative endeavour by IFC, the Romanian Government, PIVOT-C and FEPRA GROUP. 

A year of in-depth consultations and workshops (2023-2024) involving Romanian experts from the public and private sectors resulted in a guide setting out operational actions and recommendations for Romania's circular economy transition. The recommendations are intended for the Romanian government and central authorities and aim to facilitate the implementation of the National Circular Economy Strategy and the Circular Economy Action Plan launched in 2023.

The proposals cover regulatory frameworks, financial incentives, educational initiatives and infrastructure development.

 It is a roadmap for practical, impactful change.

This publication featuring Holland Circular Hotspot shows the state of play and potential of circularity within the textile value chain in the Netherlands and beyond. 

It aims to engage international dialogue on accelerating the transition to a fully circular textile economy, with policymakers, researchers, entrepreneurs, consumers and investors.

The challenges of achieving sustainability and circularity in textiles are complex and interconnected, from reducing environmental impact to improving labour conditions. This underscores the importance of international and multi-stakeholder collaboration to drive innovation, scale up sustainable practices and create a thriving circular textile industry.

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.