Reliance on electronics comes with steep environmental costs, from mining minerals to disposal of end-of-life devices. As the use of electronic products has grown, their average lifespan becomes shorter. This in turn results in an increased volume of discarded and obsolete electronic devices.
Gruppo FOS in Caserta (Italy) provides a T&G (technology and groupware) Repair Centre and Swap & Repair services for electronic devices.
Eco Repair Score NV and VITO have developed the Eco Repair Score® to assess the environmental impact of a specific car repair job. It does this using a single score, with categories from A to E and associated colour coding.
CuCilento (which can be understand to mean both "Sew slowly" and "Sew in Cilento", a region in Campania) is an innovative business project designed by Sarah Khoudja as part of the EU's 'Empowering Women in Agrifood' programme led by the Future Food Institute. It is an upcycling workshop which processes agricultural by-products and other materials (boat sails, factory scraps, etc.) classified as waste and turns them into net or fabric bags that can be used for food packaging or shopping.
Parma Municipality, the Confederazione Nazionale dell’Artigianato e della Piccola e Media Impresa (National Confederation of Crafts and SMEs) and La coperta di Linus have launched a project called Arteinborsa (A-Bag-from-Art). This project uses old posters from local exhibitions to create bags and accessories.
The "Waste REcycling Project" (WREP) is a pilot scheme developed by PVC Forum Italia, the national association of producers, converters and recyclers of PVC (polyvinyl chloride), in collaboration with VinylPlus, the European PVC value chain association.
It aims to make the collection, sorting and recycling of PVC waste from demolition/renovation, bulky waste and waste management centres more efficient, using a consolidated and accredited traceability methodology.
The Circular Economy Lab was set up in 2018 by Cariplo Factoryand Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center. It is a hub of circular economy competences that aims to help spread the principles and methods of the circular economy and support companies as they go circular.
The Lab is involved in various projects, such as the Iren Startup Award Call4Circular | Circular products and materials. It promotes the circular economy by holding workshops on key topics and by creating networking opportunities for innovative ecosystem players, such as startups, innovative SMEs, universities, research centres and technology transfer centres.
The Economy of Francesco is a platform set up upon a call from Pope Francis for young entrepreneurs, researchers and economists to work together to transform today’s economy with a view to combating the culture of waste and promoting social justice.
The initial call received over 3000 applications from 120 countries, showing that there is a whole community that feels deeply about this. Annual events are in line with the Ecology of Francesco's principles for reduced environmental impact.
EoF provides a regular programme of initiatives organised at regional or local level in the form of workshops, laboratories, seminars, conferences, round tables, calls for action and much more.
ED is a digital label providing information about the product's packaging: its components, the materials it's made of, and how to dispose of them properly.
All you need to do is scan the QR code on the packaging to get real-time, geolocated and accurate information on how to dispose of it.
Taranto Circolare is a platform that connects up companies, projects and funding with a view to fostering circular opportunities in the region.
It aims to create a network of actors that are in synergy locally, while also catering for national and international companies looking for opportunities in Puglia. It is driven by the Tondo association, which aims to develop and consolidate sustainable and circular projects in this urban area.
The platform will give companies, public authorities and organisations the opportunity to be part of a network implementing circular projects, provide specific tools and help actors measure the circularity of services and products.
There can be no doubt that circular demand creates opportunities for circular supply. But how can closed loop criteria be integrated into public procurement, which represents nearly 14% of Europe's GDP? To figure it out, Renewable Matter interviewed Helena O'Rourke-Potocki and Simon Clement, respectively circular economy and procurement officer and senior coordinator on the circular economy at ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.
ICLEI is a global network working with more than 2 500 local and regional governments committed to driving local action towards a social and ecological transition. In future, whether purchasing services or products such as buildings, furniture and food, local authorities will need to look for increasingly sustainable supplies.
