In 2020, the Czech bank ČSOB, in cooperation with IDEMIA, launched an eco-friendly recycled card to reduce the amount of virgin plastic which ends up in rubbish bins. By opting for IDEMIA’s eco-friendly product, ČSOB is the first bank in the Czech Republic to take a significant step towards addressing this ecological burden.
CIRAA is a company active in promoting circular economy principles and helping businesses ensure that their plans and projects abide by those principles.
The Flemish municipality of Sint-Amands has transformed an old shoe factory into the unique and sustainable multifunctional de Nestel community centre where residents and local associations can feel at home.
RE-sign has marketed an app matching up supply and demand for reclaimed construction materials.
The NoVAqua project found that the countless thousands of litres of waste water thrown away by the fish processing industry was essentially nutritious stock which can be put to better use than just pouring it down the drain...
Finnish energy company Fortum had developed a circular renewable energy service, dubbed HorsePower, that used recycled materials to provide a bedding management service for stable-owners, as well as using manure for energy.
EcoBirdy has come up with a way to recycle mixed plastics, and then uses the resulting material to make recyclable children's furniture.
Confindustria has developed an initiative which targets opportunities provided by the circular economy model, encourages knowledge-sharing and raises awareness about good practices being implemented in Italy.
Coop Norway, Energizer and Swedish Refind Technologies have come up with a battery refund machine. People can drop off dead household batteries and walk away with coupons to put towards the price of new batteries.
The Italian project BIOCOSI (BIOdegradable and COmpostable packaging for sustainable, circular and smart industry) has come up with a revolutionary solution to the problem of wastewater in the dairy sector.
The Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg is a frontrunner in many economic sectors, including finance, construction, data-driven innovation and space resources.
In recent years, the country has sought to position itself as a hotspot for the circular economy (CE) and many ongoing public and private initiatives support this claim.
Based on these fruitful experiences and the recognition of the CE as a high priority by the Luxembourg government, which has made it a major feature of the 2018-2023 Government agreement, the current strategy aims to take the CE in Luxembourg to the next level. It identifies proven regulatory, financial and information management methods and tools for boosting circular initiatives, and proposes a methodology for using them in a number of key economic sectors.
The Finnish region of Päijät-Häme is a strong promoter of circular economy practices. In line with the national strategy, the region focuses on regional-level initiatives. It therefore seeks to engage various regional stakeholders and foster a common vision and strategy.
The formation of a stakeholder group through a series of networking events has led to a constantly evolving roadmap. Several projects are currently being implemented on the basis of this roadmap, and many good practices have been achieved which serve as an example of a circular economy in the region.
The strategy was originally published in 2017.
Castilla-La Mancha’s Circular Economy Strategy for 2030 is comprised of 21 main areas and 48 measures organised within six policy strands. There are four strategic sectors (industrial, agri-food, construction and tourism) and various objectives to be achieved by the region in order to implement circular models in the 17 focus areas.
This strategy is based on a circular economy analysis of the region, and relies on the collaboration and involvement of all stakeholders. It will be developed and implemented by means of two action plans, covering the 2021-2025 and 2026-2030 periods.
What steps has the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management Rijkswaterstaat taken in the field of circularity in 2019? You can read everything in this annual report, intended for colleagues, other government agencies, research centres or private parties.
New in this report is the focus on climate neutrality, i.e. the ambition to have zero impact on the climate in all Rijkswaterstaat's work – including that of its contractors. It wants to work in a circular and climate-neutral way by 2030. Both ambitions reinforce each other.
More high-quality recycling of materials, an important principle of the circular economy, means less CO2 emissions and therefore less impact on the climate. On the other hand, working on climate neutrality stimulates the circular transition.
In spring 2020, the spread of the COVID-19 and the resulting economic crisis had a severe impact on society. This situation does, however, enable a stronger contribution to a transition to a circular economy through a green recovery.
As one of the world’s most innovative countries, Sweden has a good chance of addressing this transition by taking important steps to strengthen its competitiveness through technological development and innovation for circular solutions.
Adopted in 2020 based on an agreement between the Government, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party, this strategy sets out the direction and ambition for a long-term and sustainable transition of Swedish society.
Read it now in English.
The European Circular Cities Declaration is designed to help accelerate the transition from a linear to a circular economy in Europe, and thereby create a resource-efficient, low-carbon and socially responsible society.
It aims to:
For more information on the declaration, please click here.
The Großes Walsertal region has developed a Circular Economy Strategy: it has set itself the objective of introducing circularity at every stage of the value chain, from production to consumption, repair and waste management. Smart product design and increased recycling and reuse activities will contribute to gradually close the loop of each product life-cycle in the region.
The Großes Walsertal communities act as role models by sharing tools, offering vouchers for local food stores (as part of the leisure activities funding) and implementing binding green criteria for events organised on their territory.
PlasticFreER is the Plan approved by the Emilia Romagna region (IT) Executive in 2019 for a shared strategy with public bodies, businesses, trade unions, associations and the scientific community to free offices, canteens, festivals and parties from disposable plastic and clean up public spaces, rivers, sea and beaches.
Saccharides are a valuable and readily available source of renewable carbon. There are unique opportunities to produce renewable intermediate chemicals and polymers from regionally available agricultural products and imported feedstock in the period up to 2050.
Industry in the Chemport region (Northern Netherlands) has several options to further reduce CO2 emissions, including recycling or circular chemistry and shifting towards bio-based feedstock, acting as a catalyzer for other industries.
Important focus areas of the saccharide roadmap are:
The Ministry of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia has developed a Roadmap for the circular economy in Serbia, a document that aims to bring together, connect and promote all those actors whose knowledge, innovativeness and creativity can contribute to a faster transition to the circular economy.
The roadmap seeks to encourage the private sector to use circular business models and to motivate industry to create new jobs, as well as to inspire a shift in business operations through the introduction of innovative and sustainable solutions. The roadmap has been developed by the Circular Economy Platform for Sustainable Development in Serbia project, which was initiated and implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
This study explores developments in the field of the circular economy in the Arab States of the Gulf region to identify areas where the EU and the GCC countries can strengthen their collaboration. Focusing on two GCC countries with recent policy developments in this area: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the study first examines the current framework conditions that would shape prospects for a circular economy and then explores emerging business opportunities.
The research concludes that there are three main areas where the EU and GCC countries could further collaborate on the circular economy:
The report was first published on the European External Action Service’s website.
ACR+ has published a report to show the development and implementation of circular bioeconomy strategies in different contexts, focused on three detailed regional case studies in Navarre, Bavaria and Flanders. Under a cooperation agreement with the French Pays de la Loire region, ACR+ set up a working group on circular bioeconomy, with a particular focus on governance. The objective of the working group is to support the development of local or regional roadmaps on circular bioeconomy where public authorities have a strong role in terms of steering and supporting the development of circular bioeconomy in their territories. The publication on the governance of circular bioeconomy is the result of the ACR+ activities implemented via the working group.
More than ever during the COVID-19 crisis, the circular economy has asserted itself as the model that can accompany recovery and enable a higher and better growth, through a systemic vision that makes it possible to tackle the most relevant challenges nowadays: the climate crisis and the environmental impact.
Companies must heighten their ambitions over the next Decade of Action, to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), by adopting a production and consumption model by 2030 that allows societies to keep growing economically, but under planetary boundaries and in the light of societal challenges.
This, in brief, is the content of the report Máxima Ambición Circular para la Década de la Acción (in Spanish) published by Foretica.
ACR+ is launching a publication on the development and implementation of circular bioeconomy strategies in different contexts, focusing on three detailed regional case studies in Navarre, Bayern and Flanders.
Under a cooperation agreement with the French Pays de la Loire region, ACR+ has set up a working group on the circular bioeconomy, with a focus on governance. The working group aims to support the development of local and regional roadmaps for the circular bioeconomy, as public authorities steer and support the development of the circular bioeconomy on their patch.
The publication is the result of activities implemented by ACR+ through the working group.
Commissioned by the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP), which advises the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and co-authored by Circle Economy and Shifting Paradigms, this report uncovers the range of socio-economic and environmental co-benefits that circular mitigation interventions can bring to GEF countries of operation.
The report supports strategic advice by the STAP to the GEF and its implementing partners, and helps carve out a role for these bodies in accelerating the transition to a low-carbon circular economy. Its findings will be highly relevant to the development of future GEF projects and programmes across its different focal areas.
REVOLVE magazine has published several articles on waste management and smart cities:
Future is waste. When it comes to climate change and environmental degradation, waste is both the problem and the solution.
This article focuses on the Interreg MED Green Growth Community's work on developing green and smart public services in Euro-Mediterranean cities.
Here’s a look at Euro-Mediterranean projects that have been making progress on the ground.
The term "eco-innovation" basically boils down to innovation. What does eco-innovation really mean? And what is the link between eco-innovation and a more circular economy, particularly in the Mediterranean region?
A wide range of initiatives and programmes point towards innovation being key to enabling green growth. Eco-innovation and the circular economy: are they two sides of the same coin?
It is becoming clearer - and more urgent - every day that we need to abandon the linear economy. The climate emergency together with the economic crisis that the region is experiencing makes a transition based on eco-innovation a priority for a more sustainable future for the Mediterranean.
Read the full article here.
One of the ways we can accelerate the transition to a circular economy is to change our procurement practices. Programmes like ProCirc are running pilot projects to test the waters.
In an article titled Pathways to circular procurement, Joan Prummel and Cuno van Geet, two experts on the subject working at Rijkswaterstaat, part of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, explain the benefits of circular procurement and how to get started.
Textile products have a tremendous ecological footprint at all stages of their lives. This new report by the Environmental Coalition on Standards (ECOS), provides a comprehensive analysis of the current situation and goes on to explore the policies and standardisation actions needed to advance towards circular textiles, building on the lessons learnt from the implementation of the ecodesign approach in other sectors.
ECOS argues that textile products put on the EU market should comply with a minimum level of sustainability. Mandatory ecodesign requirements for textiles are needed to address minimum lifetime, as well as durability, reusability, repairability, recyclability, prevent the presence of hazardous chemicals, and limit microplastics release at all stages.
The final study report on Circular construction and renovation - Actions and recommendations to the Federal government for accelerating the circular economy in construction proposes actions to be taken by Belgium's federal government (and thus the regional levels as well), with a view to accelerating renovation and circular construction with respect to building materials.
More specifically, the study aims to identify relevant instruments, obstacles and measures which are either needed or already underway, and to issue general recommendations for the federal authorities. The study does not address ways to put these measures into effect or possible changes in the instruments.
ReziProK is a funding programme focusing on a resource-efficient circular economy and innovative product cycles, and is run by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). It supports research and development projects which will help reach these goals. The projects seek to close product cycles by developing appropriate business models, design concepts and digital technologies and thus contribute to the implementation of a resource-efficient circular economy.
The projects focus on:
SUSTAINair is an H2020-funded platform developing circular economy principles for the aviation and aerospace design, manufacturing, operations and end-of-life phases. This EU-funded research project aims to make the entire supply chain ecosystem greener, in line with the Circular Economy Action Plan, and to set new standards for aerospace manufacturing, enabling an increase in cross-sector synergies.
The SUSTAINair project provides the aviation sector with a path to a more cost-effective, low-carbon economy, while tackling the increase in resource consumption, waste and emissions. Because of this, the SUSTAINair project has been endorsed by the Future Sky research initiative of the Association of European Research Establishments in Aeronautics (EREA).
VCØB aims to guide, support and involve actors from the construction value chain in Denmark. They help identify issues and barriers to the circular economy in construction, through increased knowledge sharing and dialogue.
Ultimately, VCØB wants Denmark to have a flexible market for the circular economy. It is working on:
The Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) is a private business and employers' organisation representing approximately 18 000 companies in Denmark. They aim to provide the best possible corporate conditions for their member companies.
The DI network for circular economy (text in Danish only) aims to create a platform for companies that are interested in, working with or want to be updated on the circular economy. It organises three meetings a year, and is open to members of the Confederation of Danish Industry. The network has around 150 members and growing.
Nachhaltig.digital is a platform for stepping up dialogue on the sustainability and digitalisation of SMEs in Germany.
It provides a space for the exchange of ideas, products, solutions, inspiration and discussion - both online and offline. The platform helps companies to use digitalisation to make their business sustainable.
The platform has also focused on the circular economy. As well as providing a forum where companies can interact, Nachhaltig.digital informs them about digitalisation and the circular economy, answering questions and telling them about current trends.
Repairmystuff is an online platform based in Ireland which supports, promotes and encourages the repair industry in Ireland.
It promotes a circular economy by providing a free online space for repair companies. It aims to give consumers more options for accessing repair services throughout the country. It also provides consumers with a search tool which suggests service providers according to what needs to be repaired and where in the country the person is located.
Product categories include:
FISSAC is a project seeking to stimulate the coordination and facilitation of work in the construction and demolition value chain. Accordingly, the initiative aims to gather various stakeholders and to encourage the development and adoption of a common methodology and software platform for the exchange of information and best practices.
The overall aim of the project is to help companies with sustainability practices, by creating models that can be used by anyone. The models can be:
Madaster is a platform to register and document a range of materials or products. It offers its services to individuals, companies or public sector institutions that wish to collect and store data about their materials. Madaster stores the data in a secure and efficient way.
Most importantly, the platform offers updated information about the circular values and potentials of the owned materials, thus expanding opportunities for more efficient green management of resources. With the data, Madaster provides the clients with a “material passport” that enables them to use it for moving towards a circular economy.
Madaster has a global focus and operates in several countries (e.g. The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Norway and China).
Circular Berlin is an NGO that focuses on making Berlin circular. Berlin is envisioned as a resilient, citizen-oriented region. Resources are sourced locally and their value is maintained as part of a continuous loop. Circular Berlin operates across areas such as community-building, education, as well as developing knowledge on industries with a high potential for circularity: the built environment, food and biomass, textile and fashion, and materials and products.
Circular Berlin hosts events in which the community meets, debates and exchanges. Topics range from sharing knowledge to collaborative planning sessions, and has built open-source digital tools allowing information to be exchanged more quickly.
For more information on specific projects, consult their website.
The Digital Platform for Circular Economy (CE HUB) recently created by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia showcases circular economy-related information for the business community on:
The interactive part of the platform aims to:
The aim is for CE businesses to join the Alliance for Green Transition of Serbia.
At Zero Waste Europe (ZWE), Larissa Copello is the Consumption and Production Campaigner working on upstream solutions for packaging and single-use plastic products, such as waste-free business models and reuse systems.
Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) is the European network of communities, local leaders, experts and change agents working towards the elimination of waste in our society. ZWE advocates for sustainable systems and the redesign of our relationship with resources to accelerate a just transition towards zero waste for the benefit of people and the planet.
ZWE is also part of Rethink Plastic, an alliance of +10 European NGOs working with European policy-makers to design and deliver policy solutions to tackle plastic pollution, in which Larissa Copello follows policy developments on single-use plastic and packaging.
Guido Lena (Italian – 1965) was Director for Environmental Affairs in UEAPME from 1999 to 2008, when he was appointed Director for Sustainable Development, extending his competences to EU energy and climate change policies. His experience covers the challenges and opportunities of sustainability applied to SMEs. In this role, he has represented his organisation in several consultative committees set up by the EU Commission and worked as both sherpa in high-level groups set up by the EU Commission and as expert for the EESC. Due to the recent name change of his organisation, he has been Sustainable Development Director in SMEunited since November 2018.
SMEunited, formerly known as UEAPME, is the association of crafts and SMEs in Europe with around 70 member organisations from over 30 European countries. SMEunited is a recognised employers’ organisation and European social partner and acts on behalf of crafts and SMEs in European social dialogue and in discussions with the EU institutions. SMEunited represents national cross-sectoral craft and SME federations, European SME branch organisations and associate members. It speaks on behalf of the 24 million SMEs in Europe which employ almost 95 million people. It is a non-profit seeking and non-partisan organisation.
Dr Sarah Miller is Chief Executive of the Rediscovery Centre, Ireland's National Centre for the Circular Economy. Since 2005, Sarah has overseen the development of the centre as an ecological centre of excellence and an innovation hub for the circular economy in Ireland. Sarah has a keen interest in research and holds a PhD in Environmental Science, a Master’s in Business Administration and an Honours Degree in Biotechnology.
Based in Dublin, but operating on a national basis, the Rediscovery Centre is a creative movement connecting people, ideas and resources to support the circular economy and sustainable, low-carbon living. The centre’s work is built around the three key themes of education, demonstration and advocacy. To support the transition to a circular economy in Ireland, the centre provides training, education and events that inspire active participation and citizen engagement.
The visitor centre demonstrates good practice through social enterprise excellence, a reuse retail collective and onsite circular economy programmes and showcases. Working in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency, the centre also runs the national Circular Economy Academy, a free mentoring and support programme to assist social enterprises and community organisations embrace circularity. In collaboration with the Irish government, regional and city authorities, NGOs, academic institutions and corporate partners, the Rediscovery Centre’s education, research and policy team coordinate action-based programmes which drive change and support the circular economy in Ireland.
Alberto Arroyo Schnell is responsible for policy and programmes at the European Regional Office of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). He has held leading positions on EU environmental policy for the past 15 years. His current focus is working together with the key sectors related to / impacted by / benefiting from biodiversity and nature, aiming to find ways to achieve the environmental targets jointly and to ensure ownership of these targets by all stakeholders. He is Spanish, with a background in Forestry Engineering.
Agnieszka Sznyk is chair of the Board at INNOWO, the Institute of Innovation and Responsible Development in Warsaw, Poland. She holds a PhD in Life Sciences and is an expert in the fields of sustainable production and consumption, circular economy and healthcare economics. Agnieszka has been connected with nongovernmental organisations for many years, notably as founder and manager of the Polish Circular Hotspot and the international educational campaign Circular Week.
Agnieszka serves as an economy expert at the CE Working Group under the National Smart Specializations (NSS) appointed by the Steering Committee, which consists of representatives of the Ministry of Investment and Economic Development, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy in Poland.
She is author of numerous reports including:
INNOWO (the Institute of Innovation and Responsible Development) is a foundation, non-governmental organisation and a THINK-to-DO TANK established to support the development of innovation and implementation of systemic changes for the purpose of sustainable socio-economic progress. The circular economy is the main field of interest and expertise of INNOWO. The organisation supports decision-makers and different stakeholder groups in identifying effective solutions and policy instruments to engage businesses and consumers in achieving a significant and lasting change towards sustainable production and consumption.
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network of more than 1 750 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development. Active in over 100 countries, ICLEI influences sustainability policy and drives local action for low emission, nature-based, equitable, resilient and circular development.
Mark Hidson joined ICLEI in 2003. He is a member of ICLEI Europe’s Board of Directors and responsible for ICLEI’s sustainable economy and procurement work. For 25 years he has worked for, and on behalf of, local, regional and national governments in project, policy and strategy development on sustainability issues such as smart cities, circular economy, business and city interaction, procurement, climate change and transport.
Freek van Eijk is CEO of Holland Circular Hotspot (HCH), a private-public platform that facilitates the transition to a circular economy at international level by bringing together government authorities, knowledge institutes and especially businesses. HCH supports knowledge exchange with the aim of stimulating entrepreneurship in the field of the circular economy.
Freek van Eijk is also vice-chair of Circular Biobased Delta, an alliance of Dutch provinces, businesses and knowledge centres pioneering a sustainable circular and biobased economy. He is one of the more senior Dutch experts in the field of waste management and the circular economy. He also serves as Managing Director of Acceleratio.
Previously, Freek van Eijk worked for over a decade as Director of strategy and PA at the multinational SUEZ and as a board member of the Dutch Waste Management Association and the Society and Enterprise Foundation and acted as a Sherpa for the EU Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials.
He has a MSc. Eng. (Delft University of Technology).
Agata Meysner is a youth activist and the director of Generation Climate Europe (GCE). She holds an LLB in European Law from Maastricht University and is currently pursuing an MSc in Public Policy from University College London specialising in the circular economy and resource efficiency. Ms Meysner previously worked at the European Environmental Bureau, where she focused on the implementation of the SDGs by and in the EU.
Generation Climate Europe is the largest coalition of youth-led networks at the European level, pushing for stronger action from the EU on climate and environmental issues. GCE brings together 460 national organisations across 47 countries in Europe. It is guided by the voices of 20 million young Europeans. GCE's mission is to create a platform for the youth to advocate for a just and green transition in Europe.
The circular economy is one of the key thematic areas for GCE, encompassing various issues such as textiles, digitalisation, energy and food systems.
EuroCommerce is the principal European organisation representing the retail and wholesale sector. It embraces national associations in 31 countries and 5.4 million companies, both leading global players such as Carrefour, Ikea, Metro and Tesco, and many small businesses. Retail and wholesale provide a link between producers and 500 million European consumers over a billion times a day. It generates 1 in 7 jobs, providing a varied career for 29 million Europeans, many of them young people. It also supports millions of further jobs throughout the supply chain, from small local suppliers to international businesses. EuroCommerce is the recognised European social partner for the retail and wholesale sector.
Isabelle Maurizi is head of Sustainability and Environment at EuroCommerce. She focuses on promoting retailers' and wholesalers' circular economy initiatives such as deploying more sustainable products, ensuring the right waste management infrastructure and empowering consumers.
Mercè Boy Roura is coordinator of the Interreg MED Green Growth community and EU project manager at the BETA Technological Center at the University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia (Spain). She is an environmental scientist with a PhD in Experimental Sciences and Sustainability. She has 10 years' international experience in research and knowledge transfer projects in the field of natural resources and sustainability.
The Interreg MED Green Growth community is a multi-stakeholder network of projects which promotes the green and circular economy in the Mediterranean by enhancing cross-sectoral innovation practices through a regional cooperation approach. Since 2016, the network has consisted of 14 projects connecting 165 partners from 13 countries in the Mediterranean. It structures its work around four focus areas: food systems, eco-innovation, smart cities and waste management. The community supports projects with their communication and capitalisation efforts, thus increasing their impact at policy level and fostering potential transfer and replication of their results in other regions. The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) labelled the Green Growth Community in October 2019, acknowledging its potential to advance cooperation in the transition to a green and circular economy in the Mediterranean region.
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.
By 2025, all new PET bottling lines will be suitable for processing up to 100% high-quality rPET without compromising output quality, efficiency or effectiveness.
By 2022, alternative secondary packaging solutions free of disposable plastics will be available for every established SKU format multipack.
Krones will leverage its technological expertise to help customers design packaging that specifically facilitates post-consumer recycling.
Krones will assist its customers to adapt existing lines in order to achieve the best possible outcomes when using recycled or renewable input materials.
With immediate effect, Krones will make available capping equipment for tethered caps.
Krones makes it possible to use detachable labels to enhance recyclability. It aims to make labels jointly recyclable with containers or to eliminate separate labelling.
Krones will continue to allocate substantial R&D resources to its recycling technology division in order to facilitate physical recycling of post-consumer plastics.
Krones will actively explore disruptive new technologies delivering beverages to consumers without conventional PET packaging (e.g. pulp bottles, no-packaging solutions).
LIPOR's Environmental Education and Intervention Program aims to create an educational offer that encourages citizens to implement good environmental practices and facilitates the acquisition of skills that support civic intervention and a sustainable development.
LIPOR intends to reach 90 000 people with its awareness campaign within its catchment area. This involves delivering about 10 direct environmental awareness actions to the community its environmental education technicians daily.
LIPOR’s annual prevention programme includes several projects and initiatives implemented across all eight municipalities aiming to prevent and reduce food waste.
With the “Embrulha" (Pack It) project LIPOR wants to engage 50 restaurants in Porto Municipality and 10 restaurants in other LIPOR municipalities to recover 6 tonnes of food waste.
The "Dose Certa" (Right Portion) project aims to certify 46 food establishments in total.
The Strategic Plan for Urban Waste 2020 (PERSU 2020) is the reference instrument of the urban waste policy in Portugal.
LIPOR has defined a target of 50 kg per inhabitant a year in 2020 for selective collection as a goal. Several projects that aim to increase multi-material and organic recovery figures are defined in LIPOR's strategic plan.
For landfills, the target is a maximum value of landfill of biodegradable waste deposition of 10%.
One public tender for catering services with fully sustainable and circular criteria.
Starbucks target is to phase out plastic straws from its more than 28,000 stores worldwide by 2020, a decision that will eliminate more than 1 billion straws a year.
100% recycled and other sustainable sourced materials by 2030.
100% recycled, certified organic or sustainable sourced cotton by 2020.
To increase the collected volume of garments to reach 25,000 tonnes annually; achieved in 2019 with 29,005 tonnes of garments collected for recycling and reuse.
100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable plastic packaging
Reduce plastic packaging by 25%
25% post recycled plastic across all packaging used
100% recycled or other sustainably sourced material
100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable plastic packaging
Reduce plastic packaging by 25%
25% post recycled plastic across all packaging used
Buyers have committed themselves to successfully completing two circular purchasing projects between June 2017 and June 2019. In practice they will choose 1 or more goals that will guide them towards circular products & services.
These goals are:
- Reduce total amount of materials
- Reduce non-renewable virgin input
- Extend the use/lifetime of products
-Optimize the potential Reuse of products&components
-Optimize the potential Recycling of products& materials
If you want to learn more about Green Economy investment in the Mediterranean, join this experience-sharing webinar organised as part of the Interreg MED Green Growth Community project. The session will take place online on 20 May 2021. Don't miss it!
The Interreg MED Green Growth Community (GGC) will take part in EU Green Week, organising a partner event to present best practices on moving towards zero pollution in the agri-food sector, with a focus on the Mediterranean region. Join the webinar on 1 June! It aims to showcase how to make the agri-food value chain more sustainable by applying circular economy approaches.
The new Circular Economy Action Plan identifies textiles as a key product value chain with potential to boost the EU market for sustainable and circular textiles. The European Commission is organising a series of targeted stakeholder workshops to gather input on challenges and gaps as well as opportunities for the sector towards sustainability. Join the second workshop on 2 June 2021!
Join this event to explore how the circular economy will change our consumption patterns. This change has already started but is expected to drastically increase. This webinar on 2 June will look into how this transformation will affect both businesses and purchasers.
As the Horizon 2020 research programme becomes Horizon Europe, what better time to witness how great ideas turned into real projects? LOOPS is the opportunity to show what cutting-edge research has been produced, and which changes it can bring to our communities. The topic of this episode on 13 May will orbit around the concepts of circularity and digital technologies in the agriculture sector.
Lack of visibility regarding flows of materials and their sustainability impact can limit opportunities for a circular economy. The objective of this event on 10 June 2021 is to discuss available traceability solutions that can be used by companies and customers to have a better picture of products and materials.
This webinar series will explore the current state of the art in Europe along the value chain and discuss business and policy issues relevant for the development of urban bioeconomies across Europe.
EU Green Week 2021 has chosen to focus on Zero Pollution for healthier people and planet. You are welcome to joint the virtual High Level Conference taking place on 1-4 June.
Reducing pollution goes hand in hand with achieving our climate neutrality and biodiversity objectives and will help to transform the EU into a clean and circular economy.
Frontrunners of the BioCircular Economy 2.0: Nordic-Netherlands Roundtable is an official WCEF (World Circular Economy Forum) Side Event held on 27 May 2021 under the auspices of the ECESP. This timely Nordic-Netherlands Roundtable will focus on creating a shared need between Nordic-Dutch frontrunners with the aim to lead and accelerate the transition to a Circular Bioeconomy 2.0. It will gather a select group of Nordic-based and Dutch corporate leaders and frontrunners who are leading by example as well as key EU decision-makers. This is the very first time that such a virtual roundtable is being organised.
Join the TCO Certified webinar Sustainable IT purchasing trends and the road forward on 19 May 2021 from 3 to 4 p.m. CEST to get some inspiration on how you can take action for more sustainable IT in your organisation.
The Asia-Europe Environment Forum (ENVForum) Workshop Series on Circular Plastic Use: Innovate & Change to Close the Loop offers participants the opportunity to design and implement innovative solutions in the field of circular plastic use and waste management. This project planned for June 2021 is organized in association with INNOWO.
"Innovative Business Practices and Economic Models in the Textile Value Chain" (InTex) is a three-year UNEP project funded by the European Union. The InTex project has five components, two with global reach and three focusing on national implementation in three African countries: Kenya, South Africa and Tunisia.
The 2021-2027 programme for Environment and Climate Action (LIFE) will become the EU’s most ambitious climate and environmental programme. It will enter into force retroactively from 1 January 2021.
A new partnership led by the UNIDO is looking for interested organisations to express their interest in joining ‘SWITCH to Circular Economy Value Chains’ - a five-year European Union-funded project that aims to accelerate the transition to more circular value chains (namely textiles and garments, and plastic packaging) in developing countries.
Five consortium partners, including Ecopreneur.eu, have kicked off an EU-COSME funded project “Fashion For Change”. Over the next 3 years, they will help SMEs, designers and start-ups from the European fashion sector scale-up and accelerate their sustainable businesses while increasing awareness about circular fashion among stakeholders, including consumers. Share your views in the quick poll.
The European Commission is organising a series of targeted stakeholder workshops to gather input on challenges and gaps as well as opportunities for the textile sector towards sustainability.
The first workshop on 26 May 2021, at 13.30-17.30 CEST, focuses on “management of used textiles”.
The European Commission is working to ensure that the EU is the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Here's a video setting out their vision.
Every day, it is clearer that we cannot lose any more time in switching away from a linear economy. The climate emergency together with the economic crisis bringing the region to its knees are basically a perfect storm: to avoid being hit by it, we need to make an eco-innovative transition a priority if we want a more sustainable future for the Mediterranean.
Brupartners invites you to La Semaine de l’Économie Circulaire de Brupartners, from 26 to 30 April 2021 to highlight the progress made by the Brussels Region in the field of circular economy.
Spain manufactures 14% of all agricultural plastics in Europe. To optimize recovery of mulch films in the form of quality compost, AIMPLAS is developing the AGRO+ Project with funding from the Valencian Innovation Agency (AVI)
The ECESP Coordination Group held its second meeting on 16 March 2021 to discuss how to take the ECESP to the next level.
On 4 February, Holland Circular Hotspot organised a webinar on European opportunities for the circular economy during the Dutch Week of the Circular Economy.
Members of the Coordination group are selected through an open call for expression of interest for a 2.5-year mandate. The second call took place over summer 2020 and the renewed Coordination group was selected in early November 2020. The first meeting of the newly-selected ECESP Coordination Group took place on 18 November in an online format.
Circular Change joined other Coordination Group members in several activities to encourage the participation of other relevant circular economy stakeholders in Central and Eastern Europe.
On 11 December 2019, stakeholders of the Retail Forum were introduced to the ECESP. Several discussions took place about the interest and role of retailers in advancing the circular economy in Europe.
The topic of ‘Retailers and Consumers’ was seen as an opportunity to start a leadership group to discuss and advance circular economy action between those two key stakeholder groups.
The ECESP leadership group on economic incentives is focusing on incentives with a specific potential for increasing the demand for a circular economy, and on policies and challenges such as circular public procurement, Extended Producer Responsibility, tax shift, CO2 pricing, etc.
The Coordination Group decided, in Autumn 2019, to create Leadership Groups to hold in-depth discuss and deliver orientations on priority topics.
The Coordination Group decided, in Autumn 2019, to create leadeship groups to hold in-depth discuss and deliver orientations on priority topics.
The leadership group on cities and regions focused specifically on the territorial approach to the transition to circular economy at local and regional level.
The Coordination Group decided, in autumn 2019, to create focus groups to hold in-depth discuss and deliver orientations on priority topics.
Textiles are a vast category. The ECESP leadership group on textile focused on the TGLF value chain. Their discussion focused on ways to address essential challenges from a social, environmental and economic perspective.
The Coordination Group decided, in autumn 2019, to create leadeship groups to hold in-depth discuss and deliver orientations on priority topics.
Food waste generates around 8% of the global greenhouse emissions. In their reflection document, the ECESP leadership group led by Copa-Cogeca discussed ways to reduce food waste and to maximise the circularity of food production.
In September 2018, Intesa Sanpaolo launched a Circular Economy Plafond to finance innovative and transformative projects and companies that adopt Circular Economy principles.
The 2021 edition of BeCircular offers up to EUR 200 000 financial support for circular economy projects in the Brussels-Capital Region. Its launch event will take place online on 15 March.
This new UNEP report highlights the critical role of financial institutions in advancing the growth of circularity by investing in businesses that take a more sustainable approach to production and consumption.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation's new report highlights rapid growth in circular economy financing and investment, and describes how investors and the banking and insurance industry are capitalising on the resulting opportunities.
Eco-vouchers (Ecocheques) are an incentive for Belgian households to purchase eco-friendly goods and services, including second-hand and refurbished ones.
JLG, a company that takes machines back to a dedicated reconditioning facility after their first use cycle and repairs and restores them to original specification, builded a business model that integrates the recovery of assets.
This allowed their financial partner to develop a complete finance offering for JLG’s new and reconditioned assets, including rental solutions.
Dive into the online business game The Blue Connection together with your students for a case study on introducing circularity into supply chains. The learning outcome is to have an understanding of the principles of circular supply chain management. Experience the circular way of doing business for a sustainable future!
The first edition of "MOOC in Circular Economy" in Portuguese and Spanish is now available. The course is completely free and developed under the CIRCULAR LABS Project which is co-financed by the Interreg programme.
The BetterGeoEdu project supplies primary teachers with educational material about raw materials, the circular economy and sustainability. BetterGeoEdu uses Minecraft to develop the material.
The master's degree programme in Sustainable Chemistry and Technologies for Circular Economy offered by the University of Padova will be available as of the 2021-22 academic year. It is one of the first of its kind in Europe and aims to explore the key issues of the circular economy transition and sustainability. It will be taught entirely in English and is a two-year course.
Circular Economy Institute (CEI) certificates are professional credentials for those aiming to excel in the circular economy. The certificates available are "Circular Economy Trained", "Circular Economy Specialist" and "Circular Economy Instructor".
Risk&RACE is a board game designed to encourage an entrepreneurial mindset and introduce players to the benefits and challenges of a circular economy.
Tiganokinisi focuses on collecting used cooking oil (UCO) from schools and converting it to biodiesel. Its end-goal is to provide resources for environmental education activities and environmental infrastructure in schools. Tiganokinisi tackles the issues linked to UCO, while applying the values of the circular economy.
The LGH Company – Linea Gestioni – manages the Integrated Waste Service and Energy Service in Northern Italy, aiming to provide efficient services for the community and to promote the principles of sustainability. It has also launched an educational programme for 10 000 students, which seeks to raise awareness about sustainable development, energy and recycling.
Sign up for the Design4Circle course, with a total of 70 hours of training, to understand the necessary shift in the textile industry towards a more sustainable circular economy.
The project :metabolon has created an innovation site with a focus on research, education and circular economy on the Leppe landfill in Lindlar, Germany, where a competence centre for circular economy, resource management as well as environmental and landfill technologies has been set up.
This Circular Procurement toolkit outlines how businesses can redesign their procurement processes for greater ‘circularity’. This means maximising the value of products and materials while in use and recovering and repurposing them at the end of their lives, eliminating waste. This toolkit contains six simple steps for any business beginning their circular procurement journey.
Guidance for evaluating waste prevention programmes provides guidelines and practical advice and highlights case studies to help all EEA member countries evaluate their waste prevention programmes.
This E-Learning module on Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement guides learners, for instance, through the process of building a procurement strategy and procuring in a circular way.
Circle Economy's Circular Toolbox is a free online, step-by-step guide for apparel brands to launch rental and resale business models in 10 months. The toolbox guides users through a tried and tested circular innovation process and provides them with all the resources they will need along the way.
The Product Circularity Data Sheet (PCDS) is the result of the European Circularity Dataset Initiative launched by the Ministry of the Economy of Luxembourg in 2018. More than 50 companies from 12 different countries have put together the proof of concept of the PCDS data template, including the related standard and its audit system. More information can be found on www.pcds.lu.
The travel & tourism industry has touchpoints with most, if not all, key value chains and material flows in society and is therefore very relevant to consider for the circular economy transition.
To guide a sustainable recovery and development of the industry post COVID-19, this publication introduces key circular economy principles and concepts in the context of travel & tourism.
Circular Public Procurement (CircularPP) is a 3-year project (2017–2020) supported by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme. CircularPP has published Recommendations to national policy-makers on circular public procurement.
The European Investment Bank's Circular Economy Guide aims to promote a common understanding of circular economy, and raise awareness about and promote circular solutions.
The Guide provides information about EIB’s lending and advisory activities in this field, and communicates the vision of how the EIB can further support the transition to a circular economy.
Professor Rebecca Earley introduces a series of short films about the design tools produced at the Chelsea College of Arts research centre, and how to use them to become a more sustainable and circular designer. The series aims to help designers access and use the research resources to stay inspired and motivated to design better futures.
Sustainable construction guidelines for public authorities – A circular economy perspective aims to help public authorities navigate through the topic of sustainable construction, understand what it means and determine how to encourage it.
These guidelines are especially targeted at local and regional authorities.
The Bellagio Declaration is a set of principles for how to ensure that any system for monitoring the transition to a circular economy captures all relevant aspects and involves all relevant parties.
LIPOR, the Intermunicipal Waste Management Service of Greater Porto, specializes in the treatment and recovery of municipal waste. Their digital platform, the Waste management Datacenter, optimizes the monitoring waste flows and the recovery of materials, which contributes to the reduction of biodegradable urban waste landfill disposal and the preparation of materials for reuse and recycling.
Circulytics is a comprehensive circularity measurement tool which enables companies to measure circularity across their entire operation and identify opportunities to adopt or further embed circular practices.
The Expert Group of Support to Circular Economy Financing proposes a sector-agnostic circular economy categorisation system that defines categories of activities substantially contributing to a circular economy. This categorisation system is intended as a contribution to the work of the Sustainable Finance Platform on the EU taxonomy of activities contributing to the circular economy.
Since June 2018, the Factor10 Working Group of more than two dozen companies has drafted, commented, pilot tested, reviewed, redrafted and refined the enclosed methodology - Circular Transition Indicators: proposed metrics for buisiness, by business - which combines a methodological framework and user manual for circular action plans in business.
Forética and the Task Force on Circular Economy*, which coordinates with 11 large Spanish companies, presented on 11 July 2019 the report Measuring the circular economy - Frameworks, Indicators and Impact Management.
The document analyses the business opportunities in measuring circular economy in business management and contains a roadmap to support companies in this measurement.
Les entreprises sont de plus en plus nombreuses à explorer de nouveaux modèles d’affaires intégrant les principes de l’économie circulaire. Elles ont un besoin croissant d’indicateurs pour mesurer leur degré de circularité et ses effets sur l’environnement. A cet effet, les membres d’Entreprises pour l’Environnement et de l’Institut National de l’Economie Circulaire ont réalisé cette publication.
This short term assignment for Circular Flanders aims to provide an inventory of indicators that are relevant to monitor the transition to a circular economy and to measure the effects of new policy and trends. The inventory of indicators is based on scoreboards and monitoring frameworks developed by the EU and reports by JRC and EEA.
The Dutch Government has outlined its plans for the transition to a circular economy in the government-wide circular economy policy programme, entitled ‘A circular economy in the Netherlands by 2050’. A monitoring system is required to determine whether this transition is progressing as planned, a proposal for which is made in this report.
By providing life cycle assessment data and information on the End of Life scenarios, the DGNB Navigator facilitates the application of the life cycle assessment method and fosters the use of circular economy suitable construction products.
