About 50 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions are related to materials and the manufacturing of products. Strong Circular Economy policies are therefore needed to meet the climate goals. Ecopreneur.eu has worked out far-reaching proposals as input for the EU Green Deal.

From shoemaker to wind energy park engineer: 7.5% of all jobs in Belgium are circular, shows new analysis by the King Baudouin Foundation and Circle Economy. The baseline measurement of employment in the Belgian circular economy provides insights into the nature and number of jobs in the country’s circular economy.

On 20 September 2019, more than 100 public and private partners covering the whole plastics value chain signed the declaration of the Circular Plastics Alliance, which promotes voluntary actions for a well-functioning EU market in recycled plastics.

As global leaders gather in New York for Climate Week NYC in September 2019, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation has issued a new paper, in cooperation with Material Economics, revealing the need for a fundamental shift in the global approach to tackling climate change. As set out in Completing the Picture: How the Circular Economy tackles Climate Change, moving to renewables can only address 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve UN climate goals, the paper highlights the urgent need to tackle the remaining 45%.

Circular economy, the new concept for attaining sustainable consumption and production, will not be implemented without multisectoral and international cooperation. INNOWO, Circular Change, INCIEN Czechia, and INCIEN Slovakia are launching the International Circular Week this year to promote circular economy across countries. This International Circular Week will take place from 7 to 13 October 2019, and aims to engage all circular stakeholders in central Europe and beyond.

Ecopreneur.eu has created an overview of circular economy policy for all EU Member States, which reveals 28 different paths with inspiring best practices. Countries that lead the way typically have the highest waste production as well. 

ACR+, the Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management, celebrated its 25th anniversary in June 2019. At this event, member organisations presented their respective work on the circular economy and committed to continue furthering the circular transition.

To address the gap on behaviour change for the circular economy, the CSCP, Sitra and DBU have set up the Consumer Insight Action Panel, a new European multi-stakeholder initiative designed to support the transition to the circular economy by generating, applying and testing consumer behavioural insights in circular strategies for textiles, plastics and electronics. How might we innovate to enable people to reuse, repair, share, recycle, lease or use differently? Find out with us!

During its Presidency of the Council of the European Union in late 2019, Finland will highlight the EU’s role in leading the transition to a climate neutral Europe with a versatile selection of Finnish artists’ work and a number of exhibitions that will give the public a new view on sustainable development and the circular economy.

Citeo Circular Challenge is a programme to detect innovation, essentially in the paper and packaging sectors, which has supported over 700 projects across the entire circular value chain in 2016. Submit your project until 15 September 2019, and win up to €40,000 in grant funding and business services.

The Urban Agenda Partnership on Circular Economy has identified several barriers and bottlenecks regarding the use of secondary raw materials (recycling) or products (re-use) originating from waste streams and has now commissioned a basic assessment of the current legislative framework, the implementation and application of that framework, and the definitions of waste in the context of a circular economy.

Are you an urban waste manager or regulator? Share your experiences and best practice to provide valuable feedback on implementing waste legislation and contribute to recommendations seeking to improve this framework.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched its Circular Economy 100 (CE100) programme in 2013 and includes city and government authorities, universities, and companies. Within the context of this programme, the Foundation organised an Acceleration Workshop in Catalonia May 2019.

While standards and initiatives abound for components of the circular economy, such as recycling, there is no current agreed global vision on how an organization can complete the circle. A new ISO technical committee, inspired by France's XP X30-901 standard for the circular economy, TC/323 has just been formed to do just that.

Waste and pollution from the production of textiles and clothing have become critical global issues. With only one percent of fibres being recycled, the current ‘linear’ model is outdated and unsustainable. There is an urgent need for a strategy to transform industry into a circular model. A new report launched by Ecopreneur.eu, the European Sustainable Business Federation, calls for decisive policy measures to create an enabling framework.

On March 27, the European Parliament voted to adopt the Single-Use Plastics Directive, thus banning single-use plastic cutlery, cotton buds, straws and stirrers to be banned by 2021, setting a 90% collection target for plastic bottles by 2029 and introducing more stringent application of the “polluter pays” principle.

On March 19, GLOBE EU and the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) organised a conference to look back on what the 2014 - 2019 EU mandate has achieved for the circular economy and present GLOBE EU’s recommendations with priorities for the next European Commission.

On 22 January 2019, Circle Economy launched the second annual Circularity Gap Report in Davos during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting.

The World Circular Economy Forum 2018 took place in Yokohama, Japan, from 22 to 24 October. ECESP was represented by Ladeja Godina Košir, coordination group member for Circular Change. 

The XI International Environmental Congress took place in Bogotà, Colombia on 23 and 24 October 2018, with participation from Cillian Lohan, ECESP coordination group member for the EESC. 

The first seminar on 'the City as a Business Model' was held at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands on 4 October. It aimed to share knowledge and discuss about how cities can make the transition to sustainable, inclusive circular economies, based on various European best practices.

Five European Circular Hotspots signed an agreement at the Holland Circular Economy Week to continue and intensify cooperation, joining forces in accelerating the transition to a Circular Economy in Europe.

The European Commission proposed new EU-wide rules to target the 10 single-use plastic products most often found on Europe's beaches and seas, as well as lost and abandoned fishing gear.

Today EU Member States approved a set of ambitious measures to make EU waste legislation fit for the future, as part of the EU's wider circular economy policy.

12 firms, led by Aquafil, secure 7.1 million euros from the European Union H2020 program.

AIMPLAS takes part in the project ECOXY, coordinated by CIDETEC, to develop reinforced composites meeting the strict requirements of the construction and the automotive sectors.

Toxic substances linked to a range of adverse health impacts can be present in carpets sold in the European Union.

The project Bio+, led by the bag manufacturer PICDA and coordinated by AIMPLAS, will allow to develop customized compostable materials for plastic packages, bags and tableware.

EU ambassadors approve new rules on waste management and recycling.