The Sustainable products initiative, which will revise the Ecodesign Directive and propose additional legislative measures as appropriate, aims to make products placed on the EU market more sustainable. You are welcome to give your feedback on it until 2 November 2020.
The European Committee of Manufacturers of Electrical Machines and Power Electronics (CEMEP) supports the development towards a circular economy (CE), thus actively contributing to more sustainable manufacturing and responsible consumption. This industrial sector follows a business-to-business market model, delivering products for a wide number of economic sectors and applications.
Its three main product groups – electric motors, variable speed drives and uninterruptable power systems – show differences and similarities when it comes to material efficiency, hence the need for sector- or product-specific approaches when pursuing CE.
This position paper describes the CE status of the CEMEP industries and the way forward towards more circularity.
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.
PC4Change is a project of the Reware Cooperative - Social Enterprise, specialized since 2013 in the refurbishing of computers dismissed by large companies.
The CirQuality OWL project is funded by the EU (ERDF) and the Federal State North-Rhine Westfalia (NRW) with the aim of fostering the circular economy in the area.
Seven regional partners from the different fields (from energy to technologies to food to universities and associations) teamed up to use the circular economy to get the region off the ground in an innovative, crisis-proof, resilient and sustainable way. Together they are jointly striving for the following goals:
AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre, is coordinating a project called C-SERVEES to develop more circular products like washing machines, laser printers and toner cartridges, TV sets and telecom equipment.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) endorses the Circular Computing and proposes remanufactured models as alternatives for new models. This action underlines a highly significant endorsement of Circular Computing’s approach to sustainability at the high end of the IT market.
In 2016, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) set up a Symbiosis Users Network (SUN) to boost industrial symbiosis in Italy. The network promotes circular economy models through industrial symbiosis by focusing on operational issues.
SUN's 2019 conference was devoted to Good practices of industrial symbiosis in Italy and the contribution of regional policies as a strategic lever. The event, co-organised by SUN, Ecomondo and ENEA was held in Rimini (IT) on 7 November 2019 at Ecomondo - a leading event in Europe for new circular economy models.
Click on 2017 and 2019 to see the reports on SUN's two conferences.
Reports on ENEA-promoted conferences on industrial symbiosis are available here.
The European Policy Centre’s (EPC) Task Force called Digital Roadmap to Circular Economy has explored the linkages between digitalisation and circular economy, the opportunities created by data and digitally-enabled solutions, and the challenges associated with harnessing their full potential for the transition to a circular economy.
The project represents a pioneering endeavour in exploring the interconnections between the digital and green transformations and considers the implications for EU policymaking.
The final publication The circular economy: Going digital and its executive summary show that digitalisation can offer enormous possibilities for the transition to a more sustainable, circular economy but it is essential to steer it in the right direction.
Do you want to take the next step towards the circular and sustainable management of the IT products you purchase and use? Join this webinar on 9 June and find out some inspiring and practical tips to help get you started.
The Circular Economy for the Data Centre Industry (CEDaCI) aims to enable trans-sectoral and transnational learning and develop circular economy solutions for the Data Centre Industry in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK by:
By joining this network you will receive innovative insights into circularity solutions and share ideas within a multi-professional network.
To become a member, you may apply by 30 September 2020.
The Circular Economy for the Data Centre Industry (CEDaCI) is a European project focusing on circular data centres. The project is of increasing collaboration and communication to drive sustainability in the data industry.
The Data Centre Industry (DCI) is one of the most important pillars of current technological and economic developments.
In DCIs, more than fifty different materials can be found per product, including ferrous, non-ferrous metals, precious metals (PM), platinum group metals (PGM), rare earth elements (REE), plastics and/or ceramics, some being considered as Critical Raw Materials (CRMs).
This assessment aims to study DCI design and material composition (specifically servers and switches), as well as to analyse their performance in a circular economy and provide recommendations for ecodesign guidelines.
Refurbed is an online marketplace for refurbished electronics. Its products look like new, are 40% cheaper and use 70% less CO2 than the equivalent new product.
At times of Covid-19 quarantine, Belgian startup ASmartWorld who reconditions second-hand smartphones, took the initiative to distribute them free of charge in old people's homes to help guests reconnect with their families.
Drawing on the results of CIRC4Life, the event aims to present examples of circular business models, discuss barriers and enablers, as well as how to incentivise consumers to engage with circular practices. It will also discuss the new Circular Economy Action Plan by the European Commission.
ENEA, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, is carrying out research into lithium-sulphur batteries to make them more competitive.
Join this two-day international conference and exhibition from 18 to 19 November 2020 to discuss the latest recycling technology, materials recovery solutions, green electronics, sustainable materials, non-toxic substitutes, and end-of-life strategies, as well as regulatory and business models to help reduce the environmental impact of all forms of consumer and industrial E-Waste.
Join the 19th International Electronics Recycling Congress IERC2020 in Salzburg from 21 to 24 January 2020 for the electronics recycling industry's leading annual event.
The r2pi project will hold its final conference in Brussels on 24 October 2019 to present its findings on drivers and barriers to circular business models.
Join the R2pi consortium for a workshop in Circular Economy in Plastics/Packaging, Electronics and Textiles Workshop on 1 Oct 2019 in Cologne
Join ACR+, Twente (NL) and Cleantech Region for a workshop dedicated to textiles, electronics and organic waste during the European Week of Regions and Cities in Brussels on 9 October 2019.
Despite 66% of the world’s population being covered by e-waste legislation, only 20% of global e-waste is recycled each year. This means 40 million tonnes of e-waste end up outside of the waste infrastructure, and to help address this huge issue, the WEEE Forum launched the first International E-Waste Day in 2018. Organisations from across the world can get involved by organising activities on 14 October 2019 to unite in tackling the e-waste challenge.
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!
Votechnik has created a unique state-of-the-art recycling technology, the ALR 4000 machine, which safely removes hazardous waste materials from LCD flatscreen panels and monitors through a fully automated process.
The conference Sustainable Consumption for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Worldwide will take place on 30 September in Berlin.
The Challenges, Opportunities and Pathways for European Business in Circular Economy report is a EUROCHAMBRES initiative launched in order to better understand if and how the circular economy will benefit European businesses, and to delineate a successful transition. This will be the basis for a policy strategy to contribute to an enriching debate on future legislative proposals at European level.
This report is a comprehensive meta-analysis of the most up-to-date quantitative studies on the circular economy, and elaborates on nine industrial sectors (agriculture, construction, mobility, hospitality and food services, metal manufacturing, electronics, textile, food & drink manufacturing, and plastics) including case studies. Bearing in mind the future of European manufacturing industries and businesses, the paper focuses on European trends derived from available data regarding investment costs, cost savings, and investment opportunities.
Today, most electrical/electronic equipment (EEE) is not designed for recycling, let alone for circulation. Plastics in these products account for 20% of material use, and through better design, significant environmental and financial savings could be made. Technological solutions and circular design opportunities already exist, but they have not yet been implemented. Some challenges, such as ease of disassembly, could be resolved through better communication and by sharing learnings across the value chain. Instead of WEEE, we should focus on developing CEEE: Circular Electrical and Electronic Equipment. The case examples of this report show how different stages of the lifecycle can be designed so that circular plastic becomes possible and makes business sense. It is time to take a leap in material flow management and scale up these circular solutions across the industry.
