Coffeefrom is an innovative project from Italy. It recovers coffee grounds from the food industry and blends them with biopolymers to form a new bio-based material that is a durable and resistant alternative to single-use plastic.
The Osservatorio Innovazione Packaging is run by the Advanced Design Unit in the University of Bologna's Architecture department.Itaims to trigger innovation in the area of packaging. It collects, prepares and provides case studies, knowledge and experience in order to promote circular, collaborative and responsible innovation projects along the packaging chain.
One of the observatory's goals is to create a regional and national "network of networks" within the packaging sector so as to foster connections between stakeholders.
The platform provides planning services, bridging research, students and businesses through talent labs and competitive projects.
There are levels of access depending on the type of membership.
Bioforcetech aims to reduce energy and labour costs while reducing emissions and generating by-products (fertilisers) with added value. The company's vision is simple: instead of transporting "waste", machines are designed to transform organic streams into renewable energy and biochar right at the wastewater plant.
Food waste causes loss of materials and energy, environmental damage and negative effects on people's health and quality of life. In response to this, two Italian consumers' associations have decided to provide a series of nationwide services and activities, investing in innovative tools that promote the information needed to curb daily food waste.
NP-bioTech uses a biocatalyst, adsorbed onto an inert material (catalytic substrate). This enables the accelerated fermentation of critical biomass (such as citrus pulp or sewage sludge), transforming it into a biostabilised and pasteurised material with excellent agronomic properties.
The Hydro Ben project focuses on resource recovery for reuse in other industrial activities. It consists of recovering fatty substances from wastewater in professional catering facilities, by means of a special device which is placed under the sink.
Under the framework of the INSIGHT project, a Blueprint has been developed to provide specific recommendations on how to promote the application of Industrial Symbiosis and its facilitation to various stakeholders, as well as a roadmap of how the organisations are expected to apply the IS principles, by making use of educational specific inputs and resources.
The Italian Cartiera is an ethical fashion workshop founded in Lama di Reno, Marzabotto, in 2017 which makes leather and fabric items.
Believing strongly that work is an extraordinary tool for social inclusion, Cartiera offers paths for employment and integration of disadvantaged people, mainly refugees and asylum seekers.
CircularTool is an instrument developed by Matrec to measure the product circularity. It supports designers in the product design phase as it evaluates the choice of sustainable materials and helps them apply the Circular Economy EU Action Plan strategies and the Ecodesign Directive.
Atelier Riforma started as a social economy startup with a pioneer marketplace for upcycled garments. Realising that the sorting and cataloguing of textile waste were too labour-intensive for industry standards, founders came up with the idea of developing an AI-based automated solution - called Re4circular - to create a digitized and truly efficient post-consumer clothing supply chain.
