Municipalities
The Danish State procurement authority has signed an exclusive procurement contract with the furniture brand Duba-B8, whereby all office furniture must be able to be disassembled into parts and reused several times.
On 15-16 April, the Netherlands and Sitra will be organising a high-level digital conference, the World Circular Economy Forum + Climate, to meet up and discuss the crucial role of a circular economy in achieving climate neutrality.
RREUSE is organising its second online study tour designed to help public authorities implement re-use activities. The tour is tailored for representatives of local, regional and national authorities, municipalities and public waste companies wishing to develop re-use activities in their area using a social enterprise model.
013Circles is an initiative by the Dutch municipality of Tilburg for the promotion of circular textiles.
On 26 March, the Dutch provinces of Overijssel, Drenthe and Northern Netherlands organise a webinar on the greening of Europe’s transport system and the contribution of inland ports to the transition to a sustainable and circular mobility sector.
Circular economy marketplaces for reuse and recycling of products exist. The USOdy platform claims outstanding results with respect to its primary objective, the reuse and recycling of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), by contributing to the increase of the reuse of administration’s EEE from 5 % up to potentially 50 %.
Going beyond, the practice also enables vulnerable users and groups to get access to refurbished equipment at an affordable price, which contributes to reducing the overall digital divide in the society and creates jobs at refurbishing organisations for vulnerable persons. The practice is transferable to any region: all necessary resources (code, methodologies…) are available as free software.
Click here for more info.
On 23 March an online event is organised to launch Circular Regions - a data-driven platform bridging bottom-up and top-down circular initiatives for mission-oriented eco-system transformation in a network of regions.
The Policy Lab for stakeholders will feature a discussion about the tools that are better able to speed up the transition towards a circular economy and ensure that it is delivered equitably. The findings of the Policy Lab for Regions will be used to kick off the discussion on 26 March 2021.
In 2018, Hjørring Municipality decided to embark on a pilot project to increase the recovery and recycling of bricks when procuring demolition services for two buildings at the end of their functional life. Once cleared, the sites were destinated to be a part of a new climate adaptation project including a new rainwater collection basin and a recreational area.
See how circular procurement can help reduce waste in the Catalan La Mercè Race.
The city of Ludwigsburg in Germany has a sustainable development strategy that includes the use of procurement to achieve its sustainability goals, instructing all public procurement departments to follow “Cradle to Cradle” principles in their procurement and awarding criteria.
In 2018, the Croatian city of Koprivnica needed to replace a prefabricated kindergarten. Instead of demolishing the building entirely, Koprivnica opted for Green Public Procurement (GPP) and aimed to maintain as much of the physical structure as possible, while refurbishing and improving it.
The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra is a future fund collaborating with partners to research, trial and implement bold ideas that shape the future. It aims to make Finland a pioneer in sustainable well-being.
Since 2015, Sitra has been working to lead the way to a circular economy – a new kind of society in which everyday lives and well-being are no longer based on excessive consumption and fossil fuel use.
Currently, Sitra’s work focuses on supporting a fair transition to a circular economy and investigating how business can be based on sharing instead of ownership. Sitra is also working to advance circular trade policies, to increase the understanding of environmental effects of digitisation and to explore the potential of the circular economy to safeguard biodiversity.
Over the last 2 and a half years, CICERONE has worked closely with over 100 stakeholders, primarily programme owners, to build more alignment for circular economy programming and funding in Europe. The event on 30 March is an excellent opportunity to hear the partners present some of the project's results and experience first-hand the launch of the new EU Circular Cooperation Hub.
The call for tender ‘Operation of the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative’s Coordination & Support Office (CCRI-CSO)’ is now open for submission with deadline 1 March 2021.
Data palms are becoming ever more important globally and in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa). The Khalifa Award Report, inspired by 46 contributors in 21 countries, focuses on the 5 Ps - People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnerships - which shape the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The bio-circular economic potential of the date palm industry has yet to be explored. In some cases, it is a necessity that can save lives in oases prone to fire hazards caused by climate change; it can also provide new green jobs in the sustainable economy transition. The European circular economy transition can serve as a model for adaptation in the MENA region.
More info on date palm recycling on pages 162-3 of the report.
Specialized in establishing and nourishing dialogue between different stakeholders particularly in the process of creation of circular economy (CE) roadmaps, it is promoting new narratives, orchestrating interests, exchanging knowledge and enabling innovation.
CIRCULAR STRATEGIES
ROADMAPPING PROCESS
EXPERT CONTRIBUTION
The Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) is an international, non-profit think-and-do tank. Together with companies, political organisations and civil society actors, the CSCP pursues its mission to mainstream sustainability towards the good life for all.
From H2020 projects (R2Pi, Scalibur, Refresh and Spread), to CE Missions to Japan and Mexico, to launching the Consumer Insight Action Panel with the European Economic and Social Committee, co-developing the European Circular Cities Declaration or designing and running the Academy of Change – a unique capacity building programme that can be replicated across various topics - the CSCP integrates multiple stakeholders and various perspectives to help implement a systemic transition towards circularity.
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.
The intention of EIT Climate-KIC's City Loops Programme is to build circular capacity by addressing cross-sectoral collaboration on a system-level, and within an urban context. To achieve this, each of the five project partners - Circular Berlin, Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation (ECCI), Provadis Hochschule (Frankfurt), Cleantech Bulgaria (Sophia) and Wuppertal Institute - held various workshops in 2020 implementing a 'Circularity Thinking Innovation Process'.
The following case studies give an overview of the different situations circular economy innovation tools can be applied to and the value it creates.
Zero Waste Europe is the European network of communities, local leaders, experts, and change agents working towards the elimination of waste in our society.
Zero Waste Europe advocates for sustainable systems and the redesign of our relationship with resources to accelerate a just transition towards zero waste for the benefit of people and planet.
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network of over 1 750 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development. Active in 100+ countries, ICLEI influences sustainability policy and drives local action for low emission, nature-based, equitable, resilient and circular development.
To live in a truly sustainable society, we need an economic model that separates economic growth from resource depletion and environmental degradation, replacing the linear “produce, consume, discard” model. ICLEI focuses on how local governments can lead the transition to a circular economy.
In this new episode of Re-think Webinars we will look into another circular city: Lisbon.
