How to reduce textile waste by repurposing unsold/gently-used t-shirts, dresses and skirts to make grocery bags
A simple design to turn an unsold/gently-used piece of clothing into a circular grocery bag.
A simple design to turn an unsold/gently-used piece of clothing into a circular grocery bag.
Through its eight modules, the CICLO platform aims to upgrade, free of cost, the opportunities for up-skilling and re-skilling of long-term unemployed and low-skilled workers, in the field of the evolving circular economy market:
The material could be included in educational services offered by Vocational Education and Training (VET) providers, Training Centres, Higher Education Institutions, NGOs, SMEs, public services relevant to EU labour force, etc.
Since 2019, the Foundation for Future Generations has been supporting student entrepreneurs with the prototyping phase of a product, service or technique with a positive impact on society. Discover the winners in the fields of the circular economy and zero waste during a webinar on 23 September 2021 from 3.30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The Maallemuuttajat 2030 project and Asikkala Municipal Library set up a tool-sharing library service.
Red Orka is a circular babywear brand that aims to do better for people and the planet. Red Orka's product is delivered to people's homes on the basis of a subscription for a fixed amount each month. The baby rompers are made from 100% organic cotton and produced in the most sustainable way possible.
LENA is the first online and offline fashion library in the Netherlands. It has a system for borrowing clothes and provides an extended wardrobe for every occasion. Their aim is to speed up the fashion industry's transition towards a circular system.
Tabor is a marketplace initiative introduced in the city of Maribor, Slovenia. Tabor was designed as a second-hand market, where people can participate by selling their goods to others.
Remix is a shop based in Bulgaria, which sells second-hand and outlet clothing online to nine countries.
MIWA designs and produces genuinely circular packaging for the whole supply chain. It supplies brand owners/producers with smart capsules and retailers with smart dispensers using the service as a product model.
Buurman is a hardware store and workshop that only uses secondary materials, such as wood from demolition sites and insulation materials, plywood and cables from construction sites in Rotterdam or from exhibitions and festivals.
In May 2019, the Belgium-based fruit and vegetable cutting business Allgro set up its own water plant. The facility turns wastewater into drinking water, thereby slashing the food company’s mains water consumption.
Charity shops are the most basic form of circular economy-driven supply chains: people donate unwanted items rather than throwing them away so that they can be put to use by someone else. La Poubelle is a variation on the theme of charity shops: it's a goods bank tailored specifically to the needs of people facing hard times.
Upcycling is a straightforward way to reuse items which would otherwise be considered waste. Lucirmás has found a way to upcycle bottles.
The Ressourcerie Namuroise in Belgium provides collection and processing services for bulky household waste, while also helping people with scant marketable skills to break into the labour market. In 2017, the cooperative established a partnership with Namur's waste management authority, which enabled municipalities to outsource the collection of bulky items with a view to their reuse.
Opravárna operates a web portal putting repair and service businesses in touch with people who need their services. It has also founded the Association Opravme Česko (Let's fix Czechia) in order to to bring together all relevant partners pursuing the same objectives - waste prevention and transition to a circular economy.
Oryzite is a method for incorporating rice husks as a filler in all types of thermoplastics. The company transforms the rice husks into resin, which can then be used to obtain the same volume of injection-moulded plastic using much fewer fossil-fuel-based polymers.
An increasing number of countries consider implementing a deposit return system for single-use beverage containers to address today’s challenges, i.e.:
TOMRA shares lessons learnt from its 45+ years’ experience of innovating and managing deposit return systems globally in a new white paper including:
The white paper seeks to contribute to an educated discussion on recycling best practice – including what can be learnt from the past and what the future may look like.
Circular Week, an international campaign consisting of a series of events and initiatives devoted to circular economy and sustainable development, will take place on 12-18 October 2021 throughout Europe. Its goal is to promote the idea of a circular economy, support sustainable business models and establish cooperation between interested stakeholders.
CONTINUED was launched in 2017 with the aim to create a generic software solution for circular consumption in the fashion industry. Recirculating clothes is up to 3000% more efficient than reusing material in reducing the fashion industry's environmental footprint.
With the CONTINUED platform, brands and consumers can be connected, while increasing the brands' environmental impact. The platform offers dashboard tools for Sales, Inventory, Finance and Impact, as well as a Webshop back-end supporting several rent/resale models, account management and payment.
CONTINUED is fashion as a service and sustainability as a product. It lets brands explore future business opportunities based on circular economy while carrying out existing business activities.
Recycling plastic is a good thing, but stopping the cycle and the plastic waste before it starts, is better. To cut down the use of single-use items, the current standards need to be disrupted when it comes to our throwaway culture. Join a Loop seminar on Reusable solutions to single-use culture on 25 May 2021, from 16:30 to 17:30 CEST.
By 2025, 100% recyclable beverage packaging & PET bottles of 50% recycled content.
By 2030, PET bottles of 100% recycled and/or renewable PET, 90% collected & more use of refillables.
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.