The World Circular Economy Forum is a ground-breaking event that presents the best innovations for circular economy and gathers the most recognised experts and decision-makers in the field. Be at the epicentre of the circular economy in Helsinki, Finland, on 3 - 5 June 2019.
It is by combining design with recycling that Alisea has found an original place on the corporate gifts market. Its range include beautiful, personalised items that thanks to innovative transformation process, include secondary raw materials such as paper, metal, textile or even graphite.
Rifò regenerates noble textile fibers, such as cashmere, using a proven technology developed in the textile district of Prato (Tuscany) over a hundred years ago.
By initiating collection and composting practices into a 1500 inhabitants city district, the El Ouidane project aims to combat the desertification and to protect a fragile environment such as oases.
Within the European project INCOVER, an experimental plant uses low-energy photobioreactors to cultivate micro-algae and transform wastewater into bioproducts.
This article describes this new experimental plant and the start-up stage, starting from the new design of three semi-closed horizontal photobioreactors with low energy requirements, for microalgae cultivation (30 m3 total), using agricultural runoff and urban wastewater as feedstock.
The inflow nutrients concentration is adjusted to select cyanobacteria, microalgae able to accumulate polyhydroxybutyrates, which can be used for bioplastics production. Part of the harvested biomass is used as substrate for anaerobic co-digestion (AcoD) with secondary sludge to obtain biogas. This biogas is then cleaned in an absorption column to reach methane concentration up to 99%. The digestate from the AcoD is further processed in sludge wetlands for stabilization and biofertilizer production.
On the other hand, treated water undergoes ultrafiltration and disinfection through a solar-driven process, then it is pumped through absorption materials to recover nutrients, and eventually applied in an agricultural field to grow energy crops by means of a smart irrigation system. This plant presents a sustainable approach for wastewater management, which can be seen as a resource recovery process, more than a waste treatment.
#gocircularnow (GCN) is a consumer-focused campaign to advance the transition to a circular economy. It encourages a more sustainable way of living and consuming that’s realistic, affordable and simple to incorporate.
As part of this movement, GCN provides consumers with the information and means needed to ask their favourite brands to #gocircularnow, while providing clarity on the many different ways in which circularity can be of benefit to their daily lives.
GCN also promotes makers currently operating within the structures of circular production, bringing them to the attention of consumers so they can be seen as viable alternatives to non-circular brands.
Its mix of engaging content and opinion communicates in ways that take the conversation around sustainability out of its current ‘eco-bubble’, connecting with everyday realities to make conscious consumption the new normal.
With an average of 79.5% recycled across Europe in 2016, steel for packaging is already the most recycled packaging material in Europe.
This report compiles examples of good practices from countries across the EU showcasing the varied projects, systems and processes by which steel for packaging is recycled, bringing significant reduction in emissions, resource and energy use.
Steel, a permanent material that can be infinitely recycled to make high quality products, can be easily sorted from the waste stream owing to its magnetic properties which make it the most economical packaging material to collect, sort and recycle over and over again.
Good practices in separate collection, sorting and recycling of steel for packaging contribute to improving its recycling rate, but can also serve as a guide for any stakeholder interested in improving these essential steps in a circular perspective.
Gumdrop Ltd is the first company in the world to recycle and process chewing gum into a range of products such as boots or phone covers that can be used in the rubber and plastics industry.
MaterialDistrict is a unique platform for innovative materials which empowers global innovation by match-making material needs with material solutions in the name of circularity. R&D and design professionals of all industrial sectors use this platform to discover new material solutions daily via MaterialDistrict's independent collection of materials, annually at MaterialDistrict Rotterdam and periodically throughout the year with travelling MaterialDistrict Expo, MaterialDistrict Talks and MaterialDistrict Pop-Up events.
C-SERVEES is a European project that aims to boost a resource-efficient circular economy in the electrical and electronic (E&E) sector through the development, testing, validation and transfer of new circular economic business models based on systemic eco-innovative services that include:
The Plastics Recyclers Europe Annual Meeting, a key yearly event for the plastics recycling industry will be taking place in Brussels on 21 and 22 November 2019 and focus on the issue of recyclability.
The ReWeee Project aims to prevent the creation of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and to demonstrate that WEEE can be efficiently sorted and re-used.
The report Retaining value in the Swedish materials system takes a value perspective on the use and recycling of materials in a circular perspective. It analyses the use of materials in the Swedish economy in monetary terms instead of tonnes and cubic metres.
The key questions it seeks to answer include the following:
This value perspective gives a much more realistic view of how circular the Swedish materials system really is, as it captures all the downgrading effects that occur through its use of materials, in addition to the volume effects that also traditional research approaches capture. The value perspective also turns materials recycling into an industrial innovation and an economic topic, in addition to an environmental topic. To our knowledge, this is the first time anyone has value-mapped a material system in this way.
Read more about the results and download the full report (in Swedish) here.
IdentiPlast 2019 is the leading European event for the recycling and recovery of plastic waste.
Green Group Holding: integrated waste management solutions for six main waste streams associated with households and SMEs (WEEE, plastics, PET, glass, lighting bulbs, cardboard) are now available in Romania as a pioneer development for South Eastern Europe via a private investment starting back in 2012.
Thanks to a public-private partnerhip, a nationwide network of over 200 mobile and fixed collection points in 36 Romanian counties has already been implemented.
Valdelia is a non-profit simplified joint stock company (SAS) founded in 2011 by 13 companies specializing in the manufacture of non-household furniture in order to set up a joint service for the management of non-household furniture waste.
Valdelia was approved by the French authorities in December 2012 for the management of non-household furniture waste. Valdelia supplies professional furniture marketers with a shared, turnkey solution enabling them to meet new regulatory obligations for furniture waste management. It favours upcycling whenever possible and in the process is actively contributing to social entrepreneurship in the sector.
Founded in 2011, Valdelia is an not-for-profit eco organization, whose mission is to collect and recycle waste from no household furnishing sector (in French, DEA non ménagers for Déchets d’Éléments d’Ameublement non ménagers).
Through its national sector, it offers proximity, made-to-measure and free services to the communities, businesses and associations of all sizes and from all sectors. Financed by an eco-contribution displayed on the sale price of all new professional furniture, Valdelia operates on behalf of 1,200 members including manufacturers, distributors, importers of new professional furniture. Its existence addresses both strategic and societal issues environmental, economic, social as well as a legal obligation.
