The PLATIRUS project seeks to address the European shortage of Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) by recovering PGMs from alternative secondary resources. It has the potential to offer a substitute for a large proportion of these critical raw materials which are becoming ever more scarce.
For our future electricity system, a significant amount of wind and solar energy is required. In turn, these energy technologies require some specific critical metals. The current global supply of several critical metals is insufficient to guarantee a transition to a renewable energy system.
Calculations for The Netherlands show that additional wind turbines and photovoltaic panels already require a significant share of the annual global production of some critical metals.
This report outlines the magnitude of the issue and the complexity of the supply chain. It also identifies various paths towards solutions.
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.
The International Cradle to Cradle Congress - the world's largest platform for C2C - will take place in Berlin from 31 January to 1 February 2020.
The World Resources Forum (WRF) 2019 will be held from 23 to 24 October 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland. WRF 2019 will be centered on ‘Anchoring Natural Resources and Raw Materials Management for Achieving Sustainable Consumption and Production’.
ZERO BRINE is running a pilot project to recover valuable resources from wastewater in the Polish mining industry so that they can be reused in other sectors.
Interested in saving energy and recovering resources from wastewater in the mining industry? Join the ZERO BRINE stakeholders on a site visit on 8 October 2019 in Katowice, Poland.
MRE 2020 is taking place on 18–20 February 2020 at the Business Design Centre in London to develop the commercial success of UK-generated materials innovation.
Sika has developed a high-performance elastomer for the clean repair of the rubber substrate of conveyor belts and industrial rubber elements. This "liquid rubber" enables on-site repair and lengthens the product life of used belts.
For four days in 2019, Antwerp was the epicentre of the circular economy. More than 750 company leaders, scientists and policy makers from all over the world came to the city from February 24 to 27 for the World Resources Forum (WRF), organised by OVAM - the Public Waste Agency of Flanders. On the menu? Sessions on the power of the circular economy and the link with climate change, and an introduction to numerous pioneering projects and initiatives that are driving the transition.
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.
The EU faces multiple challenges (climate crisis, environmental disasters, a lack of competitiveness, falling behind in the digital race, etc.) that it will need to address if it is to ensure long-term sustainable prosperity for European citizens. At the same time, there are two ongoing transitions – the creation of a circular economy and the digital transformation – that could provide the means to address these challenges, if they are managed well.
As the EU and national policymakers are making significant efforts to promote a circular economy on the one hand and a digital economy on the other, Annika Hedberg and Stefan Šipka, together with Johan Bjerkem, argue that it is time to align the agendas as a means to achieve greater sustainability and competitiveness.
This publication:
It suggests that the EU must:
This Discussion Paper builds on the findings of the EPC’s "Digital Roadmap for a Circular Economy" project of 2017-19 and paves the way for a more extensive final study, scheduled to be published in the late autumn of 2019.
The project has been supported by Aalto University and the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) (members of Helsinki EU Office), Central Denmark region, Climate-KIC, the Estonian Ministry of the Environment, Estonian Environment Investment Centre, HP, Orgalim, the province of Limburg, UL, Fondazione Cariplo and Cariplo Factory.
Enea has designed the first Italian industrial symbiosis platform, as a tool to facilitate the process.
The ENEA methodology is based on a "horizontal" network approach, with the aim of creating synergies and closing the loop between supply and demand for various resources.
The Platform is based on:
Among other activities and services, Symbiosis is able to send to to each company individual reports containing information on potential matches of interest. It is also developing operating manuals for industrial symbiosis.
The Circular and Bioeconomy Centre is based on a cross-sectoral industry co-operation involving mining, metal, and forest industries and service companies in the Kemi-Tornio economic region, and accounts for about 80 % of Lapland's industrial production.
Following the success of the Raw Materials Week 2017, the 3rd edition of the EU 'Raw Materials Week' will take place from Monday 12 to Friday 16 November 2018 in Brussels. This year's main topic of the conference is “Raw materials for low carbon and circular economy”, covering relevant issues including battery value chain, cascading of woody biomass, secondary raw materials for energy-intensive industries.
The Umweltbundesamt will host the 4th European Resources Forum in Berlin from 27 to 28 November 2018. The ERF is a platform for discussion on the issue of sustainable resource use by focusing on the political and scientific debate on this subject and seeks to contribute to the development and implementation of common positions for policy-making in Europe and internationally.
The Upper Autrian Cleantech-Cluster networks all actors from the resource supplier, to the manufacturer, industrial researcher, to mechanical engineers, recyclers, and disposers in order to find joint solutions and develop new technologies. We cooperate with our 10 cluster initiatives in the Upper Austrian business support agency and 2000 partner companies, whose activities range from plastics, to automotive, furniture and wood construction, food, medical technology, mechatronics, IT, logistics, and HR, In order to support projects for SMEs in particular, the cluster also supports EU funding applications, thus offering its partners an internationally mature circular economy toolbox.
THEMES and EXPERTISE in the network:
SERVICES:
The International CARE Electronics Office is pleased to announce the Going Green – CARE INNOVATION 2018 conference and exhibition on Electronics and the Environment. It will take place in Vienna's Schoenbrunn Palace Conference Centre, which is situated in the Apothecaries’ Wing of the famous building. This 7th International Symposium and Environmental Exhibition, titled 'Towards a Resource Efficient Economy', is the platform to present the state of play of sustainable development and the development of eco-efficient electr(on)ic & automotive products.
Terra Humana's 3R zero emission pyrolysis and nutrient recovery technology transform animal by-products into safe and high value Bio-Phosphate fertiliser.
Metals are permanent materials that can be recycled over and over again without loss of their properties.
This report investigates how a more circular economy can contribute to cutting CO2 emissions. It explores a broad range of opportunities for the four largest materials in terms of emissions (steel, plastics, aluminium, and cement) and two large use segments for these materials (passenger cars and buildings). The key conclusion is that a more circular economy can make deep cuts to emissions from heavy industry: in an ambitious scenario, as much as 296 million tons CO2 per year in the EU by 2050, out of 530 Mt in total – and some 3.6 billion tonnes per year globally. Making better use of the materials that already exist in the economy thus can take EU industry halfway towards net-zero emissions. Moreover, doing so often is economically attractive. Initiatives for a more circular economy therefore deserve a central place in EU climate and industrial policy.
WASCON is the reference international conference on the use of alternative materials in construction.
