A solvent-free adhesive that is suitable for recycling and also for bonding of recycled plastic films has been developed by Henkel to be used for multilayer packaging.
The relationship between innovating business model and the circular economy is complex and rapidly evolving. So, how can we turn the focus on the circular economy into a driver for global sustainability?
The report titled "Incremental Circular Economy as a Serious Sustainability Problem" aims to understand the relationship between business model innovation and the circular economy.
It also seeks to guide companies, intrapreneurs in companies, and organisations working towards a circular economy. And, finally, it aims to provide a structure to understand very different approaches and their outcomes.
The City of Helsinki’s Action Plan for the Circular and Sharing Economy is the updated version of the original roadmap of May 2020.
The Action Plan now extends to 2035. The focus areas are:
construction
procurement
environmental awareness and sustainable consumption.
Circular economy goals and measures are assembled under each focus area. The intention is to achieve the goals gradually.
Progress will be monitored using the Kiertotalousvahti service (Circular Economy Watch), and reported annually in the city’s environmental report and in the annual report of the European Circular Cities Declaration.
European project BIOnTop obtains promising results in development of new recyclable and compostable packaging. In its first year, BIOnTop has achieved good results in its experimental work on copolymers and compounds with customized biodegradability and multifunctional coating solutions with customized properties.
This report analyses the scope of the plastic industry for the economy, the planet and society, as well as the policies at European and Spanish context to move towards a new plastic economy. Besides, the trade offs for companies are identified as key challenges.
Finally, the report shows the best practices of eleven companies from different sectors.
The CirQuality OWL plus project is funded by the EU (ERDF) and the Federal State North-Rhine Westfalia with the aim of fostering the circular economy in the area of Eastern Westfalen-Lippe (OWL).
Several regional partners from different fields (from energy to technologies to food to universities and associations) have 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 organise events and strive to meet the following goals:
Qualification of future specialists and managers for the circular economy
Circular Supply Chain Management Solutions (SSCM)
Turnaround to circular thinking and economics in the building sector
Waste and circular economy of the future in the OWL region.
The Environmental Protection Agency has launched a challenge called 'Innovating a Circular Economy for soft plastic in Ireland' under Enterprise Ireland’s Small Business Innovation Research programme. The challenge focuses on reducing/eliminating soft plastic waste generated through the provision of school meals in Ireland.
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.
Reports on ENEA-promoted conferences on industrial symbiosis are available here.
Based on a circular economic model that combines ecology and economy, b:bot is a machine and digital ecosystem for the collection of PET plastic bottles - with a real social and environmental impact.
