The EcoSynergy System project tested a new economic framework of circular economy, food and nonfood producers, information and awareness of citizens, industry and education, ethical and environmental activities and new technologies.
The EU-funded OLEAF4VALUE project has set up a consortium of highly experienced partners to develop a valorisation system for the olive leaves biomass. The consortium will address all levels of the value chain: raw material, biorefining, post-extraction technologies, market validation and sustainability assessment.
The BioSupPack project aims to deliver novel, cost-competitive and versatile bio-based packaging solutions - based on PHA - that demonstrate high-performance for the packaging of food, cosmetics, homecare and beverage products as well as no environmental damage during & after their use.
The Bioschamp project, coordinated by Asochamp, will develop a peat-free casing soil to serve as a carrier for selected bacterial strains that will act as crop biostimulants.
This solution will also be an alternative to pesticides, thus contributing to improve the circularity, productivity, sustainability, and profitability of the European mushroom sector.
The slow flower movement is growing in Europe and aims to provide local, seasonal and organic flowers. Why? Because the international flower industry is very harmful to nature and has major negative impacts in developing countries.
Under the framework of the INSIGHT project, a Blueprint has been developed to provide specific recommendations on how to promote the application of Industrial Symbiosis and its facilitation to various stakeholders, as well as a roadmap of how the organisations are expected to apply the IS principles, by making use of educational specific inputs and resources.
The project, funded under Horizon 2020, aims to develop a systemic circular approach to floor coverings.
ReCreate pushes towards circular construction by investigating the system changes needed in the whole ecosystems of construction and demolition.
The Italian Cartiera is an ethical fashion workshop founded in Lama di Reno, Marzabotto in 2017 which makes leather and fabric items.
Believing strongly that work is an extraordinary tool for social inclusion, Cartiera offers paths for employment and integration of disadvantaged people, mainly refugees and asylum seekers.
AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre, has now completed the fourth and final year of the RepescaPlas project. The project has developed a complete management system for plastic waste recovered from the sea and subsequent recycling into products of commercial value.
Circular Gothenburg focuses on resource efficiency to reduce climate change and achieve circular material flows.
It has three target groups: citizens, city departments and businesses. For all three target groups, the goal is to make it simple, straightforward and attractive to participate in transformational circular work. This includes the municipality’s in-house processes and activities which help people to live in a more circular way. One of these activities is the Fixotek: staffed facilities, close to where people live and open to everyone, where people can meet, learn, repair and redesign products, borrow tools and swap toys, clothes and books.
Friesland, a province in the north of the Netherlands, has a strong cultural identity, its own language, an economy mostly devoted to agriculture and 20 000 companies - 99% of them SMEs. The province faces economic and demographic challenges but is becoming one of the best examples of a successful transition towards a circular economy. It aims to be the most circular EU region by 2025.
According to the public/private association Circulair Friesland, this province is thus:
In 2018, the Spanish region of Andalusia introduced a progressive strategy towards a circular economy.
With the support of EU funding, the Andalusian Circular Bioeconomy Strategy project promotes sustainable growth and regional development by fostering the production of renewable and biological products and processes.
The targeted sectors include agriculture, forestry, fishing, food and paper production, as well as part of the chemical, biotechnology and energy industries.
The strategy works with a timeframe for 2030 and has resources worth around 1 400 million EUR, aimed at specific actions that have been developed with the collaboration of more than 50 external experts from the sectors of interest.
To consult the strategy in full (in Spanish), please click here.
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.
The City of Amsterdam’s Sharing Economy Action Plan (2015) is a strategy by the city to provide solutions for a sharing and circular economy (CE) that works for all.
It provides five key points on which action should be taken:
The intention is to widen the available tools and materials to enable the spreading of a CE, thus encouraging collaborative initiatives taking place in the city. Therefore, the plan facilitates the creation and spreading of more circular projects, such as the "fashion libraries" or the promotion of various digital platforms like the ones existing in the transport and accommodation sectors.
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.
Circular economy interventions in four key sectors can halt global biodiversity loss and help the world's biodiversity recover, finds this study.
Tackling root causes - Halting biodiversity loss through the circular economy, written by experts from Sitra and Vivid Economics, is the first to quantify the role a circular economy can play in tackling global biodiversity loss, targeting the four sectors with the largest impacts:
Circular interventions in these sectors can halt biodiversity loss even if no other action is taken. And more than that, the study finds that the world’s biodiversity can recover to 2000 levels by 2035, if the circular interventions are implemented.
Urgent global action is required to address unsustainable material resource use. This report explores the possibility of, and analyses the implications associated with, developing an international agreement on the management of natural resources.
Why an international agreement?
An international agreement could support
The report also looks at the extent to which Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), many of them including provisions relevant to developing circular solutions, cover natural resource management and could be leveraged to enhance resource efficiency.
Ireland is at a turning point for the transition to a circular economy (CE). The 2022 Whole of Government Circular Economy Strategy provides the policy framework for the CE in this country, and the forthcoming Circular Economy Bill is expected to strengthen waste and CE legislation.
Nevertheless, with a circularity material use rate of 2% in 2020, Ireland shows significant scope for progress. This report analyses the state of play and challenges of the circular transition in Ireland and provides policy recommendations for CE policy across levels of government. It is the result of a two-year policy dialogue between the OECD, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, as well as a broad range of public, private and civil society stakeholders.
The goal of this study was to investigate the feasibility for Smart Integrated Decentralised Energy (SIDE) systems to contribute to the resilience, flexibility and circularity of the Dutch national power system infrastructure. The energy sector plays a crucial role in tackling the challenge of transitioning into a circular, renewable energy-based economy. For this reason, the Dutch government has decided to quintuple renewable power generation by 2030.
Thanks to recent developments in renewable energy technologies such as batteries, heat pumps and solar panels, but also biodigesters in which organic waste and black water are collected providing an alternative heating source, it is now possible to produce, convert and store energy locally within so-called microgrids.
Russia is among the larger suppliers of raw materials to the EU. It is the biggest world supplier for palladium, platinum and nickel, and a prominent one for aluminium and copper. The country still holds large untapped reserves of rare-earth elements.
This paper provides an overview of EU import dependency on raw materials and Russia’s share among EU sources of key supplies for low-carbon technologies. It then looks at prospects for meeting future material demands through circularity for three technologies, namely lithium-ion batteries, wind turbines and fuel cell electric vehicles.
The analysis is based on two scenarios with different levels of ambition. They aim to give an indication of the scale of potential benefits that can be achieved through circular approaches.
This research project lists ecodesign criteria for circular fashion and textiles.
It focused on giving consumer textiles a longer lifespan with optimal reuse potential, making disassembly and recovery possible, and exploring upcycling and high-quality recycling. Extending the life of textile products turned out to have the greatest impact in the short term. Quality seems to be the most impactful ecodesign criterion when it comes to improving the sustainability and circularity of consumer textiles as quickly as possible.
The project defined seven product categories, identifying a set of minimum criteria for each. The report looks at existing labels, standards and regulations and the authors hope it will help expand the Ecodesign Directive by adding a textile category.
This report, prepared by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, provides an analysis of the Dutch procurement system.
The Dutch Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) approach embraces six themes, two of which are explored in this study: climate-neutral procurement and circular procurement. Included in these two themes are aspects such as CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the reuse of raw materials at the highest possible level of value. SPP is a highly topical issue for a steadily growing number of organisations in the Netherlands: action plans are being written, requirements and criteria are being formulated, and tools are being produced. Together, these activities are creating growing demand for instruments that evidence the impact of SPP.
Many actors see the EU’s circular economy (CE) as a promising narrative which steps outside dominant end-of-pipe solutions towards an encompassing vision for strategies across the supply chain. However, this study finds that the EU CE Action Plan maintains the status quo narrative instead of suggesting radical changes.
By focusing on stakeholder narratives, this analysis shows that the inertia is primarily due to CE proponents’ self-perception of being in a legitimacy crisis and their strategic arguments that have:
The paper discusses how to develop new environmental narratives outside the status quo.
Longstanding research on wood cascading has identified a variety of factors to enable more efficient, circular use of forest-based products in Europe.
This paper finds that two of the most critical barriers to wood cascading are:
It makes the following recommendations for policies and business:
France's Law Against Food Waste has become an international model for sustainable food policy. The law is often described as combining economic efficiency with environmental protection and social equity. However, stakeholder narratives cast doubt on whether this French CE law really contributes to social justice in the long run. This discourse analysis shows that:
The Incubation Forum for Circular Economy in European Defence (IF CEED) aims to apply the circularity approach of the EU Green Deal to European defence by engaging a cooperative community, including EU defence ministries, industry, institutes, research centres, financial institutions, academia and other bodies at national and international level.
Nine working groups called "Project Circles" cover the following themes:
Based on circular economy principles, the key goal of IF CEED is to incubate collaborative projects and their respective consortia.
Nir-vana is an open innovation platform where innovators can find the right opportunity and develop their innovation ecosystem. It offers everything one needs to grow one's innovation ecosystem.
Circular economy (CE) projects are obviously part of the content of the Nir-vana platform, since CE is a key to sustainability. Many of the projects are uploaded to the platform by users and others are embedded from other sources such as the Enterprise Europe Network. Nir-vana is also open to connect with other sources of CE proposals.
Participants to the platform can share their valuable ideas with agents outside their company and seek collaboration with others to carry out innovative projects - whether they are part of a company or a freelance professional, an entity or researcher.
SmartProSys is a research initiative for sustainable chemistry and circular economy at the Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany (contact).
It aims to transform the linear, fossil-based process chain of the chemical industry into a sustainable, fully closed and energy-efficient cycle.
The chemical recycling process is a complex, multi-layered process with numerous components. However, this cycle should result in a final product that is dynamic, flexible, and adaptable to the environment.
Madeira Circular Platform provides a forum bringing together key actors for the transition to the circular economy (CE), including the civil society, businesses, public administrations and the scientific and academic communities.
Its main objective is to create the communication channels necessary to carry out and promote collaborative action and to support the implementation of the guidelines of the Madeira Circular Agenda, which are much needed to encourage the circular movement.
The Platform is a community of stakeholders in the form of a portal to support the Autonomous Region of Madeira in the transition to the CE and featuring good practices leading to the efficient and sustainable use of resources all along the business value chain.
Circusol - Circular Business Models for the Solar Power Industry - is an Innovation Action project funded by the EU Horizon 2020 programme, bringing together 15 partners from 7 European countries to develop and demonstrate business solutions for the circular economy in the solar power sector.
Photovoltaics (PV) currently accounts for about 5 % of world’s electricity generation capacity. As the PV and EV (electric vehicle) markets grow, so will their demand for raw materials, as well as their "waste" output. How to make sure that the material aspect of the energy transition will also be sustainable? Product-Service Systems (PSS) could be the answer.
Interested in what Circusol is doing (newsletter, events, sharing knowledge, feedback, etc.)? Join its Network!
In Limbo is a platform (digital website and physical warehouse) facilitating the reuse of materials within the social and cultural sectors and schools in Brussels.
It encourages exchange and mutual aid within these sectors, as well as boosting recycling, reducing landfill costs and enabling organisations with limited resources to obtain reusable materials. Following the principles of circularity and sharing, all partners are invited to give and receive materials for free.
In Limbo is open only to registered partners which must be formal or informal non-profit associations or collectives, specifically social, cultural and artistic organisations, schools and temporary projects in Brussels. However, In Limbo accepts donations from all types of organisations.
Watch a video on In Limbo
The BDI Initiative Circular Economy (CE) was created in April 2021 by the Federation of German Industries.
It is a network of more than 50 members that defines the potential of CE and the necessary framework conditions through practical exchange. To this end, they are in close dialogue with policymakers in Berlin and Brussels and with the sciences community.
CER Sustainable Business Network Slovenia is the largest sustainable business network in Slovenia on a mission to strengthen ambitions and activities to achieve a climate-neutral economy faster.
They bring business leaders together to share learnings and best practices, advocacy necessary for the change, influence policy, and accelerate the green transition using collective action. They raise awareness, grow ambition, build capacities, promote green tech, and foster partnerships to boost the transition towards climate-neutral Slovenia.
Furthermore, they work towards better understanding the necessity to act now on climate change. They bridge the gap between different stakeholders, offering them a safe space for open discussion about systemic barriers to reach climate neutrality.
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.
Why do we need a Circular Valley? Emissions resulting from “linear economy” pose a major threat to the environment and to us. We need a place to cooperate on solutions to reduce emissions and “closed cycles”.
Why is the Rhine-Ruhr region ideal? The Rhine-Ruhr region in Germany combines industries in need of solutions with already existing solution providers and a broad scientific landscape. It is also a cosmopolitan region with a rich industrial tradition.
How to start? The development of the region towards a “Circular Valley” has started with an Accelerator for Circular Economy topics to attract talent to work with companies from the region and beyond.
Application phase for Batch #2 starts in September 2021. It is for start-ups supporting the EU Green Deal and CEAP.
Emmanuel Katrakis has served as Secretary General of the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation (EuRIC) since September 2014. He is responsible for the continuous development of the Confederation which currently represents, through its Member Federations, more than 5 500 companies across Europe recycling various resource streams (household, commercial & industrial waste, WEEE, ELVs, tyres, textiles).
His policies include raising awareness about the instrumental role played by recycling in sustainable development and fostering recycling-friendly policy measures. Mr Katrakis is a regular speaker at international conferences dealing with recycling and a member of various expert groups set up by the European institutions to support the transition to a more circular economy.
Mr Katrakis graduated in European law from the College of Europe and the University of Paris II Pantheon-Assas. EuRIC is the Confederation representing the interests of European recycling industries at EU level.
Through its various branches covering the vast majority of waste streams, EuRIC brings together national recycling/resource management federations and companies from more than 23 European countries which are active locally and globally.
EuRIC represents over:
By turning waste into resources, recycling is the link which reintroduces recycled materials into value chains again and again. Recyclers play a key role in bridging resource efficiency, climate change policy and industrial transition.
Ignacio Calleja has a Bachelor's degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Zaragoza, an M. Sc. in Technology and Environmental Management from the University of the Basque Country, an M.Sc. in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh, and is a postgraduate in Technology Management at the University of Sevilla.
He joined EIT Rawmaterials in September 2016 as Thematic Officer for Circular Economy and Recycling, leading the Circular Economy strategy and representing EIT RM at different European entities. He is currently involved in coordinating the Cross KIC Circular Economy Action.
The EIT Circular Economy Community consists of five Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) – namely EIT RawMaterials, EIT Climate-KIC, EIT Food, EIT Manufacturing and EIT Urban Mobility.
The KICs carry out activities that cover the entire innovation chain: training and education programmes, reinforcing the journey from research to market, innovation projects, business incubators and accelerators. Through the KICs, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) strengthens cooperation among businesses (including SMEs), higher education institutions and research organisations, forms dynamic pan-European partnerships, and creates favourable environments in which creative thought processes and innovations can flourish.
The Conseil Européen de Remanufacture (European Remanufacturing Council) is based in Brussels and represents multiple business sectors and trade associations that extend the life of products through remanufacture and refurbishment. A steering group made up of five member organisations advises on the annual work programme as we aim to increase sales of remanufactured products in Europe from €30 billion to €100 billion by 2030.
David Fitzsimons became Director of the European Remanufacturing Council in January 2017. He represents the Council at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, with whom he led the “BetterThanNew” project. He is currently a member of the UN working group on product life extension; a member of TC 323 for the forthcoming ISO standard (59000 series) for the circular economy; a member of the advising committee for the PLATE conference, and a member of the World Economic Forum Council for advanced manufacturing and production.
He founded the circular economy consulting firm Oakdene Hollins in 1994 and is now director of the management board.
Arthur ten Wolde is the Executive Director of Ecopreneur.eu, the European Sustainable Business Federation. Ecopreneur represents about 3000 businesses in five Member States, mostly SMEs, which strive to deliver sustainable products and services. Arthur is internationally recognised as a circular economy expert, motivational speaker and (co-)author of several reports and many articles in magazines.
In addition, he is the EU policy expert for MVO Nederland, Trainer Circular Design for CIRCO and Head and Owner of Circular Future. Arthur worked earlier for De Groene Zaak, IMSA and the Dutch Industry Confederation VNO-NCW.
Sofie works as a policy advisor for the international policy unit at OVAM, the Public Waste Agency of Flanders, which ensures that Flanders deals with waste, materials and soil in a well thought out and environmentally sound manner. Since 1981, OVAM has been developing a balanced mix of economic and regulatory instruments on waste, materials and soil that has made the Region of Flanders one of the frontrunners in Europe in this field.
We are joining forces with our partners in business, civil society, research and government to develop a circular economy, taking a multi-stakeholder participatory approach. Circular Flanders, which was initiated by OVAM, serves as hub, inspiration and matchmaker for the transition to a circular economy in Flanders. We implement measures that go beyond sorting and recycling waste to make a systemic shift from take-make-waste to a new economic model that factors in the scarcity of raw materials and the ecological limits of our planet.
Oana Neagu is Director of the General Affairs team at Copa Cogeca. The team covers topics related to the circular and bio-economy, the environment and climate change, research and innovation, food waste, etc. Oana is an agricultural engineer and has a Master’s degree in business administration. She previously worked at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture as a policy officer, in charge of managing market measures. Prior to joining the Commission in 2006, she was the adviser on European integration at the Ministry of Agriculture in Romania, and was involved in preparing Romania’s accession to the European Union.
She is a member of the management committee of the multi-stakeholder platform on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in the EU and actively involved in various expert groups on the bioeconomy, forestry and rural development.
Copa and Cogeca are the united voice of farmers and agri-cooperatives in the EU. Together, they ensure that EU agriculture is sustainable, innovative and competitive, guaranteeing food security for half a billion people throughout Europe. Copa represents over 23 million farmers and their families whilst Cogeca represents the interests of 22 000 agricultural cooperatives. They have 66 member organisations from the EU Member States https://copa-cogeca.eu/Menu.aspx Copa and Cogeca is one of the founding members of the European Bioeconomy Alliance - http://www.bioeconomyalliance.eu/
Jana Žůrková is the Network Development & Innovation Manager at RREUSE. She joined the organisation in 2016. In her role, Jana coordinates key support services to RREUSE members - social enterprise active in a circular economy, notably in the field of re-use and repair. She leads capacity building of the network by facilitating exchange of good practices, business models and innovation and coordinates data collection, research and partnerships among RREUSE members and external partners.
REUSE is an international network representing social enterprises active in the field of re-use, repair and recycling. Drawing on the first-hand experience of its members, RREUSE's mission is to ensure that policies, innovative partnerships and the sharing of best practices promote and develop the role of social enterprises in the circular economy. At the heart of RREUSE's vision for Europe are circular activities that foster social value and create locally inclusive jobs whilst supporting vulnerable individuals. RREUSE federates 31 members across 29 European countries and the USA.
François-Michel Lambert is a Member of Parliament, having been elected in the 10th constituency of the Bouches-du-Rhône (Southern France).
He is a member of the Sustainable Development and Country Planning Commission at the National Assembly, and also holds the position of president of the France-Cuba Friendship group at the National Assembly.
He is founding president of the Institute for Circular Economy, a multi-stakeholder association composed of 200 members, companies, communities, NGOs and schools that defines and implements a transformation of our economic model to emerge from a society of waste and move towards the development of an economy focused on the preservation and efficient use of resources. The Institute has become the French reference and the main partner of the public authorities.
Mr Lambert received the Marianne d'Or award for sustainable development for his proactive action to bring about a shift towards a circular economy.
Simina Lakatos has been founding president of the Ernest Lupan Institute for Circular Economy and Environment (IRCEM) since 2012. She has economic and technical knowledge, abilities and experience: she holds a B.A. in Economics and a B.A. Honours in Materials and Environment Engineering. She obtained a Doctorate in Engineering and Management in 2011 after defending her thesis on Corporate Social Responsibility.
Simina has been part of the Department of Management and Engineering Economics of UTC since 2011, where she teaches and researches the following areas: sustainable development with a focus on the circular economy, strategic management with a focus on the social economy, enterprise assessment and marketing and international management, all of which helps her to develop IRCEM. Her focus is on accelerating the transition towards circularity from the bottom up with concerted actions, developing practical and scalable solutions, organising local/regional/EU campaigns, and communicating and involving others in the dissemination of information on the circular economy and messages on sustainable development. Simina is Romanian and speaks fluent English and Italian.
Prof. Joanna Kulczycka is president of the Waste Management and Recycling Cluster, a key national cluster in Poland formed of 99 entities: SMEs, research units, NGOs and consulting companies promoting cooperation between business and research in the field of recovery and recycling various industrial and municipal waste, mainly WEEE.
Joanna Kulczycka has a Ph.D. in management from AGH UTS (Cracow) and a D. Sc. degree (habilitation) in economics (commodity science) from Poznań University of Economics. She was the founder of and now heads the Department of Strategic Research at MEERI Polish Academy of Sciences. She is Professor in the Faculty of Management AGH University of Science and Technology, where she lectures on eco-innovation in industry and circular economy.
Joanna Kulczycka is also author of over 100 publications. These include the first book on LCA in Polish, the first Polish Minerals Yearbook, and the first book about critical raw materials in Poland, and she is also editor of several books concerning the circular economy in Poland. Her research experience stretches from the economics and management of industrial processes, mainly in the raw materials and recycling sectors, to CSR, to eco-innovation and to the circular economy.
In the frame of the Leiden European City of Science Festival, the H2020 project SUSMAGPRO will be showcased in an interactive exhibition on campus at the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) on 7 June 2022. Interested visitors can learn all about rare earth magnets, why they are essential to our modern lives, the challenges connected to them and which solutions SUSMAGPRO provides.
In addition to an interactive exhibition and hands-on activities, the team of project partner Leiden University have prepared exciting lectures on the topic and visitors will have the opportunity to see one of the SUSMAGPRO pilots in action: the automated, mobile sensing line to separate Rare Earth magnets from WEEE.
The EIT Doctoral School on Entrepreneurship in the Circular Economy brings together highly motivated PhD candidates from a variety of disciplines (science, design, economics, law, etc.) to foster entrepreneurial thinking, increase their awareness regarding circular economy opportunities and provide them with skills and tools to translate technological ideas into relevant and viable business initiatives, towards a more sustainable future. Apply now! Application deadline 6 June!
ECOFUNCO is a European research project developing new bio-based coatings for plastic and cellulose substrates. For the project's closing event, the ECOFUNCO consortium is organising the 1st Conference on Green Chemistry and Sustainable Coatings. The conference will take place on 17 and 18 June 2022 in Pisa, Italy, and will be streamed online.
The Re-think Circular Economy Forum in Naples is designed to present macro-trends, possible evolutionary paths and the main projects of the circular economy in Naples and the rest of the Campania region, as well as across Italy and at international level. The Forum was set up to promote the development of the circular economy.
The European Commission's Directorate-General for Environment is organising an information session on Circular Economy - Designed to last: sustainable and connected products in connection with Green Week.
The Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI) will be holding an EU Green Week 2022 partner event on Wednesday 1 June at 15:00 - 16:00 CEST.
During the session, the CCRI-CSO will present the initiative to local authorities, decision makers, civil society and industry representatives. In addition, there will be contributions from the CCRI Associated Partners who are crucial in supporting cities in this transition. These organisations have and generate relevant knowledge regarding the application of Circular Systemic Solutions, making them vital when it comes to reaching out and bringing together cities and regions.
This webinar on 31 May will discuss how Europe can meet the Industrial Sustainable Carbon Challenge and defossilise its economy to reach the targets set out in the EU’s Sustainable Carbon Cycles Communication. It will also highlight how innovative technologies and circularity can contribute to reaching these EU goals.
As part of the One Planet Network Forum at Stockholm+50, this 1 June session will present the roadmap idea and a panel discussion will discuss how a process could take shape. It will build on views from One Planet Network Forum participants to expand on the diverse stakeholder views included in Chatham House’s Stockholm+50 preparatory process to determine the next steps.
On 15 June, Small Business Standards (SBS) will hold its annual conference on the opportunities and challenges arising for SMEs from the EU Sustainable Product Initiative and the role that standards play in the implementation of this initiative.
Join this EU Green Week partner event on 31 May at 9:00 - 10:00 CEST and learn more about Novelis’ collaboration with Lithuania’s Reposit return system and discuss how we can make this frontrunner example common practice across Europe.
Give your feedback on the draft methodology for life cycle sustainability assessment proposed by ORIENTING. The deadline for contributions is 27 May.
The European Commission is currently working on a proposal to revise the GPP criteria for buildings. To participate in the consultation process, you can register as a stakeholder on the website. The deadline for comments is on 10 May 2022.
One major issue at the moment is making the EU less reliant on Russia.
This paper from the CEPS Think thank provides insights on Russia’s share among EU sources of key supplies for low-carbon technologies. It looks at prospects for meeting future material demands through circularity for three technologies: lithium-ion batteries, wind turbines and fuel cell electric vehicles.
What are your plans for May? ACR+ will kick off an entire month dedicated to innovation and circular economy in waste management. Through several events, ACR+ will showcase some of its activities and projects fostering innovative approaches and practices to reach a circular economy.
Almost all countries in the UNECE region, covering the US, Canada, Eastern and Western Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus and Central Asia, have adopted national policies which are directly or indirectly related to the sustainable management of natural resources and the circular economy. On 6 April 2022, UNECE launched a new CIRCULAR STEP platform for policy dialogue on the circular economy.
In the context of a three-year project on “Innovative Business Practices and Economic Models in the Textile Value Chain” (InTEX), UNEP is seeking an Implementing Partner to support its impact assessment work on sustainable economic pathways for sustainable and circular textiles. The deadline for submitting proposals is 16 May 2022.
The Circulab Academy is an independent design studio and strategy consulting agency that helps organizations worldwide imagine and design regenerative solutions. It provides online courses based on powerful and open source circular design tools, created and enhanced by Circulab since 2014.
Now the Circulab Academy has a new free online course "Activate the Circular Economy".
Circular Cities offers grants for start-ups combined with a tailor-made accelerator programme with circular focus and climate impact. They connect start-ups with the largest climate-focused community in the world powered by EIT Climate-KIC ClimAccelerator as well as investors, partner cities, corporates and ecosystem partners. The programme will be run virtually, free of charge and in English.
The Czech Circular Hotspot will be launched on 12 April with an opening ceremony in the Kampus Hybernská in Prague. The event is organized by the Czech Institute of Circular Economy.
Today the Commission presented a package of European Green Deal proposals to make sustainable products the norm in the EU, boost circular business models and empower consumers for the green transition. The proposed rules are to make almost all physical goods on the EU market more friendly to the environment, circular, and energy efficient throughout their lifecycle.
On 21 January 2022 the ECESP Coordination Group 2020-2023 attended its third meeting which focussed on summarising the numerous achievements from the past year, including the recent Dubai Expo and what the ECESP had achieved there, its future plans and the 2022 programme.
The idea for a new Leadership Group specifically on Circular Procurement started during the ECESP Annual Event in 2020. Twenty-two organisations decided to harness the enormous potential of procurement to accelerate the circular economy in Europe. This outcome document focuses on the Sustainable Products Initiative and mandatory requirements as a driver of the CEAP.
The Leadership Group on Food waste, food systems and the bioeconomy has been working since November 2020 to highlight and raise awareness of the importance and complexity of food systems and the bioeconomy as a driver of the transition towards a circular economy in Europe.
Cities and local areas play a major role regionally in promoting the launch and implementation of systemic changes needed for the transition towards a circular economy. The ECESP Leadership Group on Cities and Regions focuses on this approach. In 2021, three meetings and two EU Circular Talks (EUCT) were organised.
The circular transition must be accompanied by a systemic change in the architecture of the tax system to head towards circular taxation, as the inherited tax system of today reinforces the linear economic model. A thorough examination of all aspects of tax design and its effects is needed during the process of switching to circular taxation.
In 2021, the Leadership Group on Retailers, Consumers and Skills considered issues such as how to made the electronics sector more circular, how to boost public awareness of the need to become more circular and how to step up training with a view to reskilling and upskilling.
In 2021, the ECESP Textiles Leadership Group identified three key topics: the EU Policy Framework, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Circular Design for textiles. This document summarises the main takeaways from the three #EUCircularTalks online events and a year of work.
Discover the ECESP Coordination Group's work plan 2021 which aims to advance the circular economy and bring the community together. The Group members will use their expertise and tackle issues in eight areas identified as being key for the transition to a more circular economy.
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.
Among many other circular economy and sustainable development activities, the association LlobreGats from Barcelona creates animated mini-series that help young and old to reuse, reduce, separate and properly deposit their waste both in correct trash bins and in collection points.
With Biomimicry, embrace sustainable innovation and solve your business problems by finding inspiration from nature. Learn and apply this philosophy, its methods and tools for your company, your products, services, value chains...
In this 16-hour cohort-based course, participants will learn life's principles and apply them in their business or with their customers.
This course is suitable for all professionals and individuals, from entrepreneurs to business owners and project managers, wanting to learn how to design resilient and profitable business models built on circular economy principles. In this 15-hour, self-paced course, participants will learn the basics of business ecosystem design and how to put the circular design approach into practice.
Enhancing your Detox profile does more than reduce and mitigate risks. It can also improve brand reputation, increase stakeholders' trust and make entering even the most tightly-controlled markets faster and more profitable.
The Ask a DetoXpert Webinar Series is designed to help enterprises deep-dive into the details of chemical management and drive the development of Detox-compliant processes.
More than 20 organisations have come together in a global initiative to tackle the social and environmental problems of electronics. The Circular Electronics Initiative aims to encourage organisations and consumers to take a more responsible approach to the electronic goods they use. One core activity of the initiative is the annual event #CircularElectronicsDay.
Shift from linear to circular, learn to rethink and redesign: acquire the mindset, tools and skills needed to solve modern problems and transition to the circular economy through circular design. Circulab's Master Circular Design course has been designed to give you the keys to start your circular journey, adapt your organisation and create future-proof products and services.
FURN360 training course is a free-of-charge set of online modules offering 80 hours of training to understand the shift needed in the furniture industry to engage in a circular economy.
Circular Economy Asia, an Asian-based NGO, has just launched the Global Circular Economy Foundation Course project. This project aims to create an introductory foundation course for the circular economy, which is freely available and guarantees we are all aligned as to the skills required to establish a circular world.
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.
Available in seven languages, the Circulab toolbox has been tested and improved by hundreds of customers in many industrial sectors around the world since 2014.
These powerful tools make it possible to explore a context, map a business model with all its impacts, identify key stakeholders, and start generating circular and regenerative ideas under a systemic approach.
This open access book by Jan Jonker and Niels Faber aims to educate students and professionals on how to develop business models that have a positive impact on people, society and the ecological environment. It explores a different view of how to organise value creation, from a focus on almost exclusively monetary value creation to one that creates positive impact through multiple values.
The Expert Group on Circular Economy Financing has developed this guide to support public authorities in identifying the most suited incentives to speed up the transition towards a circular economy at national, regional or local level. Incentives aim at addressing market failures that prevent or delay the transition towards circular products, services and solutions.
The Cross-KIC circular economy system maps developed by the EIT Circular Economy Community consolidate two databases:
TOTEM is a Tool developed by the three Belgian regions to Optimise the Total Environmental impact of Materials.
The report focuses on combining life cycle assessment and circularity assessment to analyse environmental impacts of the medical remanufacturing of electrophysiology catheters.
Health Care Without Harm has recently developed a set of global principles for sustainable healthcare waste management. This position paper builds on those principles and focuses on the situation in Europe – particularly with reference to the EU Circular Economy framework.
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.
This research paper on Modelling job creation in the circular economy in Flanders is the second output of the research line that studies employment and actor analysis for the circular economy.
The goal of this research paper is to investigate the impact of the transition to a more circular economy on employment in Flanders.
The Flemish Government wants to reduce the material footprint of consumption in Flanders by 30% by 2030. In order to know whether Flanders is on the right track and makes well-considered policy choices, data are needed. That is why Circular Flanders and the Circular Economy Research Centre launched the Circular Economy Monitor on 17 November.
Circle Economy regularly reviews circular frameworks to help businesses identify the metrics that work best for them. The CIRCelligence indicators framework, designed by BCG and introduced in the paper Circular Metrics for Business - Introduction to the CIRCelligence indicators framework, helps businesses assess the circularity of their entire value chain, from input to end of life.
Complex product categories such as IT involve a considerable degree of social and environmental risks. TCO Development, the organisation behind the sustainability certification for IT products TCO Certified, has launched the new report Navigating the Sustainable IT Revolution – The critical role of independent verification.
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.
