One major issue at the moment is making the EU less reliant on Russia.
This paper from the CEPS Think thank provides insights on Russia’s share among EU sources of key supplies for low-carbon technologies. It looks at prospects for meeting future material demands through circularity for three technologies: lithium-ion batteries, wind turbines and fuel cell electric vehicles.
Russia is among the larger suppliers of raw materials to the EU. It is the biggest world supplier for palladium, platinum and nickel, and a prominent one for aluminium and copper. The country still holds large untapped reserves of rare-earth elements.
This paper provides an overview of EU import dependency on raw materials and Russia’s share among EU sources of key supplies for low-carbon technologies. It then looks at prospects for meeting future material demands through circularity for three technologies, namely lithium-ion batteries, wind turbines and fuel cell electric vehicles.
The analysis is based on two scenarios with different levels of ambition. They aim to give an indication of the scale of potential benefits that can be achieved through circular approaches.
SUM 2022 - 6th Symposium on Circular Economy and Urban Mining - will take place from 18 to 20 May 2022 in the fascinating venue of Capri, Italy. The Symposium, organised biennially since 2012 by the International Waste Working Group (IWWG), is the reference forum for resource recovery from waste, where scientists and stakeholders can debate cutting edge results and focus on future needs. The conference programme will include parallel tracks of oral sessions, workshops, poster presentations and much more.
Concern continues to grow regarding the availability of critical metals. Such rare or scarce metals, like lithium or cobalt, are not only vital to the world’s major economies. They are also crucial for a transition to a renewable energy system in the Netherlands. At current levels, the global supply of these metals is insufficient, and the Dutch demand for them is no exception.
This study Towards A Circular Energy Transition serves to provide insight into the demand for critical metals domestically over the next few decades, to offer perspectives on how to reduce this demand, and to demonstrate the opportunities these new measures present to industry in the Netherlands.
As the Horizon 2020 research programme becomes Horizon Europe, now is the time to see how great ideas have turned into real projects.
LOOPS is an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the cutting-edge research carried out and how it can change our communities. For those who are not familiar with it, LOOPS is a live webinar series committed to exploring innovation in the circular economy.
LOOPS is a live webinar series committed to spotlighting innovation in the field of the circular economy. The event on 5 November 2021 at 11:00 CET will focus on the mining industry.
According to the UN, in 2021 each person on the planet will produce on average 7.6 kg of e-waste, meaning that a massive 57.4 million tonnes will be generated worldwide. Only 17.4% of this electronic waste, containing a mixture of harmful substances and precious materials, will be recorded as being properly collected, processed and recycled.
Many initiatives are underway to tackle this growing concern, but none of them can be fully effective unless consumers are properly informed and really play their part. This year’s International E-Waste Day will focus on the crucial part each of us has to play in making circularity a reality for e-products.
This model reinforces Wallonia's objective of renewing its industry and will ensure that the region is better able to cope with future crises.
The strategy will achieve this by fully integrating the alterations and adaptations required by climate change, and by making Wallonia more independent in terms of resources and global supply chains.
Wallonia’s vision is based on the following guidelines:
Particular attention is paid to the six value chains: Construction, Plastics, Food, Water, Textiles and Metallurgy
Coolrec, an electronics goods recycling company, extracts cast iron counterweights from old Miele washing machines to be returned to the factory for recycling.
Metal recycling plays a key role in Europe’s circular and climate neutral objectives. Thanks to their intrinsic properties, metals can be indefinitely recycled without losing their properties. Yet, more can be done to better reward metal recycling and circular metal value chains, while preserving the competitiveness of Europe’s recycling industry. Join EuRIC Recyclers’ Talks#3 on Circular Metals on 7 June 2021 to learn more!
This roundtable discussion on 10 June 2021 will bring together experts from Europe and beyond to share knowledge and best practices in life-cycle assessment approaches, particularly in the rare earth sector.
The Market-driven Circular & Bioeconomy EU Green Week Partner Event on 8 June 2021 brings together representatives of European projects based on industry-academic partnerships in the fields of biodiversity, forestry, engineering, chemistry, agriculture, and transport.
Welcome to Green Tech Valley, focussing on Climate and Circular Solutions. The Green Tech Valley is located in the south of Austria and is internationally regarded as the hotspot for innovative energy and environmental technology.
The Green Tech Cluster initiates growth through innovation. It brings together around 220 companies and research institutions shaping green solutions of the future. With 20 global technology leaders within an hour’s drive, the location forms one of the highest concentrations of companies in this industry.
Have a look at their Don't waste / Invest campaign: One-stop-shop recycling solutions for a wide range of waste fractions derived from Austrian excellence in achieving one of Europe's highest recycling rates.
The secretariat of the Sustainable, Long-term Investments & Competitive European Industry Intergroup has the pleasure to invite you to its first event of the year, Protecting the competitiveness of low carbon and circular industries in Europe: the case of Aluminium, a webinar on 26 January 2021.
The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) is Europe’s largest network of environmental NGOs working for a better future where people and nature thrive together.
Ragn-Sells collects, treats and recycles waste and residual products from businesses, organisations and households.
LIFEPOSITIVEMgOFDG - a project co-financed under the EU's LIFE programme - is about designing and implementing a novel technique for air pollution abatement which respects circular economy principles.
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.
In April 2020, European Aluminium launched its Circular Aluminium Action Plan, a strategy for achieving aluminium’s full potential for a circular economy by 2030.
The Circular Aluminium Action Plan is the aluminium sector’s strategy for achieving aluminium’s full potential for a circular economy by 2030. The action plan aims to ensure that all end-of-life aluminium products are collected and recycled efficiently in Europe to maximise the aluminium recycling rates and to keep the material in active use. It builds on the aluminium industry’s Vision 2050 and provides policy recommendations for the sector.
The aluminium industry has the potential to be a key driver in achieving Europe’s ambitions for a climate-neutral and circular economy. Aluminium is by nature circular and fit for multiple recycling: it can be recycled over and over again without losing its original properties (lightness, conductivity, formability, durability, impermeability).
