European Union
ISATIÓ is a Brussels SME that recovers samples from the textiles industry to create unique designer clothing, with manufacturing all done locally and the supply chain covered entirely by bicycle couriers.
For four days in 2019, Antwerp was the epicentre of the circular economy. More than 750 company leaders, scientists and policy makers from all over the world came to the city from February 24 to 27 for the World Resources Forum (WRF), organised by OVAM - the Public Waste Agency of Flanders. On the menu? Sessions on the power of the circular economy and the link with climate change, and an introduction to numerous pioneering projects and initiatives that are driving the transition.
Nutripeople, a Murcian start-up producing superfoods for the developing world, actively engages Spain's agri-food industry to sell its vegetable surplus as a resource to produce superfood pouches, which are then distributed in areas afflicted by famine.
The company O.C.O Technology Limited recycles a hazardous by-product of waste incineration in order to produce a carbon-negative material for the construction industry.
Valorisation of urban biowastes into key strategic resources (proteins and fertilisers) in a cascading process.
Karün is a Swedish-Chilean company producing sunglass frames entirely from discarded fishing nets and jeans, collected in Patagonia.
Cycle Terre project aims to set up an industrial process to reuse soil extracted from the excavation sites of the new subway and other construction sites in Sevran, France.
REDEL is an energy provider in Italy. Its activities comprises decommissioning outdated energy installations (de-risking), generating a vast amount of discarded power cables. The PVC Upcycling project aims to initiate a circular model for reclaiming resources by:
Along with PVC, copper and aluminium are also reclaimed and turned into metal granules for new production purposes.
This year took place the third The World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF), beginning Monday 3rd June in Helsinki, Finland. The Forum is organised by SITRA, the Finnish Innovation Fund.
The Fair Plastic Alliance believes that plastic waste management based on a not-for-private-profit business model is a powerful solution to generate a positive impact on the environment and on the society as a whole, in both developed and developing countries. It is a multi-stakeholder network spreading social responsibility in plastic waste management, especially in low-income areas and adverse contexts, to achieve social as well as environmental sustainability.
The Super Circular Estate (SCE) project addresses the challenge of changing housing needs due to demographic evolution. The Parkstad Limburg region’s population, is estimated to shrink by 27% in the next 30 years, calling for a radical reorientation in housing facilities. The project aims at demolishing vacant outdated high-rise apartment buildigs (built in 1968), and reuse all of their components to establish new social housing units - co-designed with the residents.
Fra’ Sole is a sustainability project involving the monumental complex of Saint Francis of Assisi and its nearby areas, which has resulted in the elimination of disposable products, infrastructure for rainwater reuse and a 20% reduction in waste overall.
Greenrail sleepers consist of an outer cover made of a blend of ELTs and recycled plastic, and an inner core of pre-stressed, reinforced concrete.
ecoHORNET, a Romanian SME, has developed a recycling station that uses pyrolysis technology to transform industrial biomass, household waste and sewage sludge into bio-gas, bio-oil and biochar in addition to creating thermal energy for hot water and air generators.
WREP (Waste REcycling Project) 2018 was a pilot project by the Italian PVC forum designed to improve the collection and recycling of polyvynil chloride in Venice. This pilot forms part of a wider, 3-year project to increase recycling of post-use PVC, and focused on the demolition and recycling sectors in particular.
Ultra Thin White Topping is a road hardening innovation, applied to pilot projects in Frysland and Overijssel by Schagen Infra BV. To replace damaged asphalt sustainably, the company renovated the degenerated road surface using a thin layer of cement with polyseter fibers mixed in, thus reducing resource consumption and enabling full material recovery at end-of-life stage.
Mater-Biopolymer is a company based in Patrica (Central Italy), 100% owned by Novamont, dedicated to the production of Origo-Bi, biodegradable biopolyesters of renewable origin, and to the development of new biopolymers.
The industrial site is the result of the reconversion of existing infrastructures and skills of an abandoned production plant for PET. It is a highly efficient plant able to ensure the highest quality and safety requirements and is equipped with a complex system of utilities, which contribute to minimizing costs and waste through recovery and reuse.
SK-Tex takes old clothing and turns it into products that can be used in cars, furniture and buildings. The company has been in operation since 1998, beginning as a textile raw materials trading company before developing into a recycling company.
DyeCoo, based in Weesp, the Netherlands, has more than 15 years of experience in CO₂-based textile processing technology. By replacing water with CO₂ for the dyeing process, no wastewater is generated. Furthermore, DyCoo uses reclaimed CO₂ from existing idustrial processes, making it a closed loop operation.
C-SERVEES is a European project that aims to boost a resource-efficient circular economy in the electrical and electronic (E&E) sector through the development, testing, validation and transfer of new circular economic business models based on systemic eco-innovative services that include:
The LIFE EPS SURE project aims to offer a technically, environmentally and economically viable solution that allows EPS fish boxes to be collected, washed and converted into new PS food contact packaging, thus closing the loop.
AquaponieBxl is introducing aquaponics across Brussels by building urban farms where vegetables grow on water using fish waste as fertiliser.
Atelier Extramuros is a social enterprise specialised in upcycling in the furniture sector, using reclaimed material from discarded professional furniture.
'Chants Libres' is a new pilot project aiming at improving recycled material sourcing - with the support of Valdelia - and designing protoypes for the professional furnishing sector. Two prototypes have been selected so far to launch a wider scale production process and are to be integrated in the Kinnarps catalogue for commercialisation.
