The Expert Forum on Materials for Battery Innovation will take place on 11 October in Darmstadt. It will spotlight the vital role that materials play in driving innovation in the field of batteries. Recognising the increasing importance of energy storage for various applications, stakeholders from the EIT RawMaterials network will gather to discuss cutting-edge materials research, manufacturing techniques and sourcing principles that can enhance battery performance, safety and sustainability.
The forum will provide a platform for collaboration and knowledge exchange to accelerate the development of advanced battery technologies and skill sets.
The Expert Forum on Photovoltaic and Hydrogen Materials Driving the Net-Zero Transition will take place on 21 September 2023. It is the first in the Expert Forum Series happening across Europe and will delve into the pivotal role played by materials in facilitating the transition to a future with zero carbon emissions.
This forum will focus on the significance of materials in hydrogen and solar energy. It will explore the latest developments in materials, science and engineering by bringing together stakeholders from academia, industry and research. These developments have the potential to enable the efficient and sustainable production and utilisation of hydrogen, and to enhance the performance and circularity of solar energy systems.
The European Commission is spearheading initiatives to reduce carbon emissions in European buildings, with particular emphasis on the embodied carbon in construction materials. The Whole Life Carbon Roadmap is set to be unveiled in autumn 2023, focusing on CO2 reduction throughout a building's lifespan.
Concurrently, the European cement industry aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and has already outlined its vision in the 2020 Carbon Neutrality Roadmap. The conference on 24 October will explore sustainable cement/concrete use in buildings, strategies to lower carbon footprints throughout building lifecycles, and the role of circularity in decarbonisation, while evaluating supportive policy frameworks.
This EC GPP Helpdesk webinar on 27 September will analyse how public procurement can be used as a strategic tool to support the upskilling and reskilling of the construction workforce and help futureproof the European construction sector.
The BRILIAN project is designed to support the adoption of sustainable and cooperative business models in rural areas, enabling a smoother transition to bio-based economies. It plays a fundamental role in revitalising these regions and promoting sustainable economic and social development by transforming primary producers into active players in the supply chain, aligned with the goals outlined in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Green Deal and the European Bioeconomy Strategy.
Plastic multi-layer composites are often used to package food in a functional and safe way. However, current recycling technologies are unable to reprocess these multi-layer composites into high-quality materials and so they are excluded from the circular economy.
For flexible food packaging, recyclability is even more complicated due to the high hygiene and safety standards that recyclates must meet when reused in contact with food. This is why CIRCULAR FoodPack is developing innovative solutions along the entire recycling value chain to make flexible food packaging circular.
At the Circularity FoodPack conference on 23 November, project partners and experts will present the latest findings and developments.
After Pazardzhik, Barcelona and Naples, the Biocircularcities partners are coming to Brussels on 28 September. Come and be inspired to bring the Biocircularcities approach to your garden by learning more about the project and its results. Discuss the future of a circular bioeconomy in Europe and exchange notes with your peers.
The Taskforce for climate neutral and circular materials and products was launched at COP26 in September 2021, convened by the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. The Taskforce to positively influence policy discussions by enabling progressive businesses across sectors and value chains to join forces. It seeks to bring together companies committed to using climate neutral and sustainable materials and which are raising awareness about the need for EU measures to help decarbonise materials.
The key objective is to drive the development and implementation of and support for more ambitious, future-proof policies, programmes and initiatives in Europe with a view to creating an ecosystem moving rapidly away from the energy- and resource-intensive production of materials.
The Transition Pathway for the Textiles Ecosystem was published on 6 June 2023. It is an EU initiative which seeks to build a greener, more circular and digital future for the textiles ecosystem and to make it more resilient and competitive. The pathway, the outcome of a co-creation process with stakeholders, is a comprehensive framework that identifies specific actions. 50 actions have been outlined within eight building blocks, with a timeframe for implementation and a clear picture of the key actors involved. This is a call for commitments.
Denmark is already excelling in many areas of sustainability, positioning itself as an ambitious frontrunner in the race to net-zero. It already boasts mostly renewable electricity generation, with targets to achieve 100% green electricity by 2027 and entirely renewable energy by 2050.
The Circularity Gap Report on Denmark reveals that the country’s economy is 4% circular. This figure is defined by very high material consumption - 24.5 tonnes of virgin materials per person per year. This puts the country above both the European average of 17.8 tonnes per capita and the global average of 11.9 tonnes per capita.
The report also lays out five circular pathways for Denmark that have the potential to cut its material and carbon footprints by roughly 40% each.