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Plastics, Polymers and Rubber
TOMRA: leading the circular revolution in plastics
TOMRA's Circular Economy Division was established in January 2019 to speed up the transformation to a circular economy and shape future waste and resource systems.
Mithu
Creating value out of waste for a sustainable future
TOMRA’s cutting-edge sorting technologies retain valuable resources by extracting high-purity fractions from mixed waste and metal streams in the most remote parts of the world. Its technology and equipment has been used in the world’s most advanced recycling plants.
Biodegradable and compostable plastics - challenges anf opportunities
Biodegradable and compostable plastics: what are the challenges and opportunities?

More and more plastic products are being labelled as compostable, biodegradable, oxo-degradable or bio-based. However, plastics made from bio-based materials are not necessarily compostable or biodegradable. Moreover, plastics that do biodegrade can be made from fossil fuel-based materials.
What is the difference between compostable and biodegradable? What happens to biodegradable and compostable plastics when they are littered? Can citizens compost such products in their own gardens? Can such plastics be recycled?
This European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing aims to answer these questions.
Chemical Recycling Europe: Closing the loop for the plastics industry

Chemical Recycling Europe is a platform that encourages its members to unite for the common goal of closing the loop for the plastics industry through technological innovation and participation within chemical recycling. The platform encourages the goal of recycling all plastic waste into its original components or as value-added materials.
The association was established in 2019 for the European chemical recycling industry to make a difference towards the public and European institutions.
Its members offer technologies to transform unrecyclable plastic waste into new raw materials. In this way, the transformation to reuse ensures the reduction of CO2 emissions and combat global warming and increased CO2 footprint of plastic products.
Mohammad Hayatifar
A Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy
Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy in Ireland

The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy fulfils the commitment in the Programme for Irish Government to publish and start implementing a new National Waste Action Plan. This new national waste policy will inform and give direction to waste planning and management in Ireland over the coming years. It will be followed later this year by an All of Government Circular Economy Strategy. The need to embed climate action in all strands of public policy aligns with the goals of the European Green Deal.
The policy document contains over 200 measures across various waste areas including Circular Economy, Municipal Waste, Consumer Protection and Citizen Engagement, Plastics and Packaging, Construction and Demolition, Textiles, Green Public Procurement and Waste Enforcement.

Join the "Solution" session of the 9th European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns (30 September - 2 October 2020) to hear the experience of three cities that have got down to the job of reducing or reusing plastic, construction and bio-waste.
Versalis gives plastic a second life through recovery and recycling
Versalis produces plastics, rubbers and chemicals from renewable sources, maintaining plastic products and materials in a closed loop. It has developed the Versalis Revive® range of polymer based products containing recycled plastics, in collaboration with leading Italian companies in the recovery and recycling of post-consumer plastic at European level.
CEMEP paper on circular economy
The European Manufacturers of Electrical Machines and Power Electronics are committed to Circular Economy

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.
Circular Flooring – new products from waste PVC flooring
Circular Flooring focuses on the recovery of the PVC compound from post-consumer PVC floor coverings and the separation of legacy plasticisers in order to create a recycled material for the manufacturing of new PVC floor coverings.
Upcycling Scandinavia: circular products made out of 100% recycled plastic
Upcycling Scandinavia designs practical objects entirely made out of upcycled plastic. Its products are reusable and can be included into the remanufacturing of new products.
Improved recycling of packaging thanks to innovative solvent-free adhesives
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.
Recycling packaging laminates through a process that separates composite materials
Saperatec is able to reclaim all individual raw materials from composite materials, thus making them available for recycling.

Participate in a series of short online events aimed to inspire housing organisations, policy-makers and communities. They will focus on circular economy in housing and on how communities can develop new homes or retrofit existing homes with minimal impact on the planet.
Incremental Circular Economy as a Serious Sustainability Problem
Business model innovation and the circular economy: what relationship?

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 Roadmap for Circular and Sharing Economy
Circular and sharing economy to help tackle sustainability challenges in Helsinki

The City of Helsinki’s Roadmap for Circular and Sharing Economy is one of the 147 actions in the Carbon-neutral Helsinki 2035 Action Plan.
The roadmap includes the following four focuses:
- construction
- procurement
- green waste and
- sharing economy and new business opportunities in the circular economy.
The goals for each focus are set until 2035, with interim goals and supporting practical actions for each one.
Reducing plastic consumption and increasing the use of recycled plastic are among the main topics of the roadmap.
This roadmap is the result of debates in workshops with experts from both inside and outside the City. A team of representatives of the City’s Environmental Services coordinated the work.
European project BIOnTop: Promising results in development of new recyclable and compostable packaging
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.
La ambición empresarial para avanzar hacia la nueva economía de plásticos
The Business Ambition for Moving Towards a New Plastic Economy

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.
CirQuality OWL – a production site closes loops

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:
- Discover Circular Economy (CE)
- Regional capacity building
- Qualifying stakeholders
- Providing strategic support to stakeholders
- Developing regional identity
- Transfer results

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.
Best practices on industrial symbiosis in Italy and the contribution of regional policies
Best practices on industrial symbiosis in Italy and the contribution of regional policies as a strategic lever

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.
With b:bot, plastic bottle recycling counts twice
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.
The reality of plastics: myths and truths
The Circular Economy Action Group led by Forética and composed of 11 companies, among them the ECESP Coordination Group member Ecoembes, presents an analysis on 'The reality of plastics: myths and truths', focused on promoting the development of circular business models.
Los plasticos: mitos y verdades
The reality of plastics: myths and truths

The Circular Economy Action Group, the business initiative promoted by Forética in Spain to lead the transition of companies towards a circular economy model, has produced a report entitled "The reality of plastics: myths and truths" [La realidad de los plásticos: Mitos y verdades].
The aim of the report is to ensure a better understanding of plastic waste pollution, thus promoting the foundations of the new plastics economy. It also outlines the actions to be taken in order to improve plastic circularity.
Forética's mission is to promote the integration of social, environmental and good governance aspects in the strategy and management of companies and organisations with one objective: to achieve a sustainable future.
Resource Effectiveness and the Circular Economy
Resource Effectiveness and the Circular Economy: how to strengthen Sweden's competitiveness in a future with finite resources

The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) has always been a meeting place for Sweden’s future. It builds bridges between the business community, the public sector, academia and the political sphere.
Its two-year project "Resource Effectiveness and the Circular Economy" was aimed at making Sweden more competitive in a future with finite resources, in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, by economising on resources and developing new technologies, services and business models in five areas:
Read the synthesis report, marking the completion of the project, which presents the most important conclusions, recommendations and action plans from the five subprojects.
How circular economy practices help to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals
How circular economy practices help to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

Holland Circular Hotspot is a private-public platform in which companies, knowledge institutes and local authorities collaborate to promote and support international collaboration and knowledge exchange on Dutch circular economy, and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, a government agency for sustainable, agricultural, innovative and international business development and growth, have come together to share insights, networks and resources to help kickstart circular developments that will boost the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Circular examples from various market segments closely linked to SDGs such as agri-food, manufacturing and the built environment are included in the brochure next to cross-sectoral topics such as consumer goods or plastics.