On 17 and 18 January, the ECESP Coordination Group showcased Europe's pioneering work in the field of the circular economy at the Dubai Expo 2020.

The EROS Project, with the participation of AIMPLAS and ITC, is working to develop new recycling processes to recover composite materials from the aeronautics and wind turbine sectors to manufacture new products for the transport and ceramics industries.

Answer Ecopreneur's survey to take an active part in developing a life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) methodology as part of the EU Orienting project - it will only take 5 minutes of your time.

On 31 May, it was announced that the European Commission issued guidance on the EU rules on single-use plastics and adopted an Implementing Decision on the monitoring and reporting of fishing gear. These rules aim to reduce marine litter from single-use plastic products and fishing gear and promote the transition to a circular economy.

The European Commission is organising a series of targeted stakeholder workshops to gather input on challenges and gaps as well as opportunities for the sector towards sustainability.

The third workshop (15 June 2021) focuses on sustainable consumption and circular business models in the textile sector. 

Virtual MeetingPack 2021 is taking place on 27 May from 9:30 a.m. More than 130 packaging industry companies have confirmed their attendance at this event offering a strategic overview of the development of barrier packaging.

The 2021-2027 programme for Environment and Climate Action (LIFE) will become the EU’s most ambitious climate and environmental programme. It will enter into force retroactively from 1 January 2021.

Five consortium partners, including Ecopreneur.eu, have kicked off an EU-COSME funded project “Fashion For Change”. Over the next 3 years, they will help SMEs, designers and start-ups from the European fashion sector scale-up and accelerate their sustainable businesses while increasing awareness about circular fashion among stakeholders, including consumers. Share your views in the quick poll.

Spain manufactures 14% of all agricultural plastics in Europe. To optimize recovery of mulch films in the form of quality compost, AIMPLAS is developing the AGRO+ Project with funding from the Valencian Innovation Agency (AVI)

On 15 and 16 April 2021, participants representing governments, international organisations, the private sector, knowledge institutions, and civil society convened for the virtual World Circular Economy Forum + Climate (WCEF+Climate) hosted by the Netherlands and The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra.

New sustainable packaging will extend guacamole’s shelf life by 15% thanks to labels and additives extracted from the avocado itself. The GUACAPACK Project aims to use renewable sources to develop an innovative biodegradable packaging system that includes barrier labels and antioxidant additives from avocado waste.

Fishing industry by-products and municipal solid waste are transformed into bioplastics in the European DAFIA project, coordinated by AIMPLAS. DAFIA provides the automotive and food packaging industries with sustainable solutions by developing biopolymers, flame-retardant additives and barrier packaging.

The RepescaPlas closed its third year with the collection of 4.2 tonnes of marine litter and excellent results in terms of recovery of this litter through chemical recycling. The project has now entered its fourth phase, in which it is expected to strengthen the industrial-scale management and treatment of marine litter.

In a call for projects the PREVENT Waste Alliance was searching for innovative and sustainable solutions contributing to a circular economy in low- and middle-income countries. The eight selected pilot projects will now be implemented in 15 countries worldwide.

The RECITURF project is developing new methods for recycling artificial turf so that it does not end up in landfills. New artificial turf can be manufactured using the different plastics recovered from waste turf.

On 10 December 2020 the Commission proposed a new Batteries Regulation to ensure that batteries placed in the EU market are sustainable and safe throughout their entire life cycle.

The LOOP-Ports circular economy project, coordinated by Fundación Valenciaport and co-financed by EIT Climate-KIC, will organise its final conference in an online format open to the public, on 16 December as an official side event of the World Circular Economy Forum Online hosted by the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra and its partners.

The webinar What will the German Presidency deliver on Circular Economy? organised by FEAD will focus on the on-going discussions under the German Presidency of the Council with regard to the new Circular Economy Action Plan and the key measures that are needed to ensure the full achievement of EU ambitions. Save-the-date: 5 November!

The International E-waste Day initiative on 14 October aims to reduce the environmental burden of e-waste and to save natural resources. TCO Development has launched an e-waste quiz to support educational and awareness-raising activities linked to this initiative.

The European Commission's DG GROW is calling for applicants to select new members for the High-Level Steering Group (and its Sherpa sub-group) and the Operational Group of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw Materials.

The European Commission has decided to launch a €1 billion call for research and innovation projects that respond to the climate crisis and help protect Europe’s unique ecosystems and biodiversity. The Horizon 2020-funded European Green Deal Call is open for registration. It will spur Europe’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis by turning green challenges into innovation opportunities.

On 16 September 2020, the President of the European Commission, Ms Ursula von der Leyen, gave her first State of the European Union address. President von der Leyen presented the priorities of the Commission for the coming year where the green transition of the economy and the circular economy hold prominent places.

The 5th Circular Change Conference, one of key European meeting points of circular economy changemakers, was transformed this year into a “virtual roadshow” consisting of 5 events based on 5 partnerships

A new project addressing the systemic complexities of the Circular Economy is being submitted as a Marie Curie (MSCA) post doc proposal. As these aspects build upon multi-stakeholder knowledge and insights, you are kindly invited to join the project community and collaborate.

AIMPLAS employee is the only qualified auditor in Spain for new certification launched by Recyclass to guarantee traceability of recycled content.

AIMPLAS  - a consortium member of the OCEANETS project - has developed a material that ensures the traceability of fabric made from end-of-life fishing nets. When exposed to infrared radiation, the material changes colour and so helps identify where it came from.

GRAMOFON, a European project coordinated by the Spanish Plastics Technology Centre AIMPLAS, has ended after 42 months, with very promising results on CO₂ capture. New materials for capturing CO₂ could be used to reduce industrial emissions and as catalysts.

In April 2020, European Aluminium launched its Circular Aluminium Action Plan, a strategy for achieving aluminium’s full potential for a circular economy by 2030.

The Coordination Group of the ECESP notes with interest the Call for mobilisation for a Green Recovery to reboot and reboost our economies for a sustainable future. With most of us already having signed on, there is no question that the recovery needs to be combined with the European Green Deal. The question is how to do so.