On 17–26 November 2023, the #FoodWasteWarriors campaign under the FOODRUS project hosts multiple events in various European countries. The diverse activities include stands at canteens in Brussels, a food upcycling meeting at the University of Copenhagen, a replication workshop in Hungary, and awareness campaigns in Spain, Denmark and Bulgaria.
The FOODRUS Day and all its events are part of the European Week of Waste Reduction 2023 (EWWR).
ECO-FUTURE is a 24-month school education cooperation partnership aiming to create an effective programme for teachers to educate children on the circular economy. The project was inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlighted the need to re-evaluate and redesign current methods and systems.
The project seeks to get students, schools and communities interested in sustainability, encouraging them to act responsibly at individual, community and global level, now and in the future.
A training course is being organised in Vantaa, Finland from 30 October to 3 November. It's designed for over 15 teachers from Finland, Italy and The Republic of North Macedonia.
Eco Repair Score NV and VITO have developed the Eco Repair Score® to assess the environmental impact of a specific car repair job. It does this using a single score, with categories from A to E and associated colour coding.
The European Commission has worked on a web-based calculator to increase the awareness of EU citizens on their environmental impact as consumers. The Consumer Footprint Calculator allows EU citizens to calculate the environmental impacts of their consumption pattern, as well as to evaluate how changes in their lifestyle may affect their personal footprint. This tool is available in English, Spanish and Italian.
On 12 October, World Ecolabel Day, the European Commission released statistics showing that the EU Ecolabel – the official voluntary ecolabel of the European Union – is flourishing, with almost 90 000 certified goods and services in 25 different product groups available on the EU market.
Europe and the world face unprecedented sustainability challenges, largely as a result of unsustainable consumption. Since similar consumption patterns are expected to continue, technological and efficiency gains are likely to be insufficient to keep environmental and climate pressures within sustainable limits.
A more circular economy in Europe has the potential to reduce environmental and climate pressures and impacts from our consumption, but will require reshaping our consumption and production systems. This report presents trends in European household consumption and its environmental and climate pressures, and explores conditions for and pathways to a transition towards more sustainable and circular consumption patterns in Europe.
Consumers play a key role in unlocking the potential of the circular economy. This interactive webinar on 18 September 2023 at 10:30-12:00 CEST will address pathways to more sustainable and circular consumption in Europe. A panel of experts from the European Commission, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the Hot or Cool Institute and the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) will share insights into and perspectives on the current debate on policy options for the shift towards sustainable consumption in Europe.
Ambition4Circularity is a platform supported by the French Association of Large Companies (AFEP) that reflects their growing commitment to move towards a more sustainable production model.
Companies have been mobilising since 2017, with a wide range of commitments to activate the seven pillars of circular economy as defined by the French Environment Agency (ADEME) and based on their specific activities.
The commitments listed on the platform primarily involve the company’s internal stakeholders, along with suppliers, partners and customers. All aspects of the circular economy are leveraged in these commitments, from the supply of sustainable resources to the repair and recycling of the end product.
This Sitra memorandum focuses on providing building blocks to help the next European Commission address the ecological crisis while maintaining Europe's competitiveness and resilience.
The renewed European Commission will take office in 2024 and must keep up the European Green Deal, ensuring that it centres on nature and mainstreams the circular economy across the EU single market.
The key recommendations include:
ecosystem accounting
biodiversity offsets
circular single market
leveraging nature as a business opportunity
using data for the green transition
addressing Europe's global biodiversity footprint, and
reforming the common agricultural policy.
Stakeholders are encouraged to contribute to the ongoing debate, ensuring the strategy's success.
Do you know any outstanding organisations dedicated to awareness raising and citizen engagement on the circular economy? As CE experts and members of the circular community, you are invited to share links and insights into these Centres of Excellence via a survey which is being carried out by the Citizens Engagement and Behaviour Change Leadership Group.
