Last Minute Market is a social enterprise, founded in 1998 as a research initiative and now a spin-off from the University of Bologna. Today, it is an entrepreneurial society working at the national level in Italy, developing local projects to recover unsold goods and benefit non-profit organisations. Its objective is zero waste.
In Slovakia and Czechia, an initiative set by three recent graduates has been positively impacting the sector of waste management in both countries. The Elwis Waste Registration System has the objective to increase efficiency in the cities’ waste management systems by helping reducing the amount of mixed waste.
LENZING™ ECOVERO™ produces a sustainable and fully biodegradable fibre brand for apparel. It is developed from renewable pulp and wood sources. Importantly, the wood which serves as raw material come from certified sustainable sources.
013Circles is an initiative by the Dutch municipality of Tilburg for the promotion of circular textiles.
Kitchen Dates is an environmentally friendly restaurant located in Lisbon. It has the particularity of operating without generating any waste - so no use for rubbish bins!
GoodAfter.com is an online supermarket focused on products near their recommended consumption date or, in certain cases, even after their "best-before" date.
Fil&Fab has developed a technique to transform disused end-of-life fishing nets into plastic sheets, which are then used to create a series of new plastic products.
Fairmittlerei works as a connection hub between NGOs and industries for the purchasing of excess non-food products in industries.
Fibracat has developed cellulose-based absorbents from paper for use in the cleaning and industrial hygiene sectors.
Espigoladors is a social enterprise focused on preventing food waste and empowering people prone to social exclusion.
The Polish Chamber of Digital Economy, an Ecommerce Europe member, has published a report on sustainability in e-commerce.
This report, titled Green Generation, shows that Polish consumers generally spot environmentally-unfriendly behaviours of retailers, but they do not quite want to take responsibility for making e-commerce less harmful to the environment; only one in five consumers is willing to wait longer for a shipment to be delivered through a grouped consignment.
As they already engage in some environmentally-friendly practices, such as collecting parcels from dedicated points, they do not seem willing to take up financial responsibility, such as paying extra charges for more ecological packaging or deliveries.
What does the circular economy (CE) mean from a territorial perspective?
This report by the ESPON CIRCTER project provides:
Construction and demolition waste (C&DW) makes up just over one third of total waste generation in the EU. Despite relatively high recovery rates of used materials, Europe’s construction sector will need to be even more ambitious in its waste management practices if it is to fully embrace Europe’s circular economy.
According to this European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, circular approaches are key to increasing the quality and quantity of recycling and reuse of construction and demolition materials. The document examines how circular economy-inspired actions can help achieve waste policy objectives, namely waste prevention and increase both the quantity and the quality of recycling for C&DW while reducing hazardous materials in the waste.
Europe relies heavily on material resources for almost all of society’s activities. Its extraction and production of material resources have significant impacts on the environment and human health, as well as the economy.
It is essential to reuse resources in European economies, keeping their value high, delivering value for longer periods and reducing the need to use virgin materials. While progress is being made in Europe, by implementing an ambitious waste policy and the Circular Economy Framework, significant amounts of valuable resources are still lost through inefficient waste management practices.
This briefing describes material losses in Europe for some key waste streams, namely waste electrical and electronic equipment, end-of-life batteries, plastic and textile waste.
Europe is at crossroads regarding its management of plastic, plastic waste and the plastic waste trade. Rapidly growing amounts of plastic have negative environmental and climate impacts.
Plastic and plastic waste are traded worldwide. Exporting plastic waste from the EU to Asia is a means of dealing with insufficient recycling capacities in the EU. Waste import restrictions in China have shifted exports to other countries. Because some types of plastic waste have been added to the United Nations Basel Convention, the option of exporting plastic waste is becoming increasingly difficult.
This briefing provides an overview of exports of plastic waste from the 28 EU Member States (EU-28) to other countries and discusses its possible consequences and opportunities.
A set of 32 country factsheets has been produced that summarise policies and initiatives on the area of resource efficiency and circular economy.
These country profiles are based on information reported by the Eionet network and, in particular, the National Reference Centres on Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy. The information is current as of March 2019, when members of Eionet verified the content of their respective profiles.
Each country profile was prepared as part of the 2019 European Environment Agency review of material resource efficiency, circular economy and raw material supply policies, which aimed to collect, analyse, and disseminate information about experience with the development and implementation of these policies in EEA member and cooperating countries.
This report from the European Environment Agency reviews waste prevention policies in Europe with a focus on how these policies approach the issue of plastics and plastic waste.
Waste prevention is at the centre of EU waste legislation as it delivers the most effective results in dealing with environmental issues around waste, placing it at the top of EU and national waste strategies and legislation.
Waste prevention can be implemented in any waste stream, but it needs to be customised to reflect each stream's particularities. This report focuses on plastic waste, as there is potential for substantial mitigation of the environmental issues raised by increased plastic consumption through the use of waste prevention instruments and mechanisms.
A broad selection of articles on Circular Economy and its practices in Poland collected by prof. Joanna Kulczycka. After definitions and interperatations, this work is about circular economy related issues
Since 2016, the Brussels-Capital Region has set the circular economy as one of its strategic priorities, and is implementing concrete actions to that effect.
Where are we today? Is this just the beginning of a major cultural shift? What are the main challenges ahead? To find out, the authors met numerous actors - public or private - on the ground to better understand the implications of 'circularising' the Brussels Region.
This brochure gives an overview of the promises and limitations for this new economic model with concrete examples, providing inspiration and grounds for further reflection on transitioning to the circular economy.
With textiles rightly rising as a key priority under the new European Commission, this document outlines RREUSE’s vision on how to achieve a more inclusive and circular textile sector that prioritises re-use and emphasises the role of social enterprises in the value chain as part of the solution.
This paper also provides a number of key recommendations as to what specific actions the Commission should address when developing policy initiatives for the sector.
The first European Circular Cities Declaration webinar will present examples of good practice from the group of over 30 signatories. It will also provide an introduction to the Declaration for cities and regions which may be interested in signing.
As part of its work on the Environmental Footprint, the European Commission is organising a webinar for SMEs on 10 December. This webinar will provide an introduction to the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method, answering questions such as: What is a PEF study? How can such a study be undertaken? What are the benefits for SMEs?
The 3rd ICESP annual conference on 11 December 2020, organised together with ENEA, presents the priorities for a post-COVID-19 recovery, based on the circular economy as a lever for effective actions in a resilient process and a recovery perspective.
The #EUCircularTalks are a new concept for exchange. They aim to encourage stakeholders to interact and discuss the circular economy topics on the Platform.
This workshop aims to discuss the opportunities of circular economy and its possible blindspots, and to explore how best to promote the proliferation of business models in the EU that are both circular and fair.
In this webinar on 4 December, Tondo and Circularise will discuss the potential of blockchain technology to support the transition to the circular economy.
How can digitalisation boost sustainability? How can we create opportunities for European SMEs and move towards more fairness and sustainability in the digital economy? How can digitalisation empower citizens and local communities, and assist consumers at making more sustainable choices?
The answer to these and many more questions raised at this conference on 25 November is: Go circular!
LAC Days - Webinar: Circular Economy in the Covid-19 era: Challenges and Opportunities will present expertise from Brazil, Chile and Slovenia on circular economy, as well as views and experience of regional and multilateral bodies (EC, UNEP, IRP).
These are unusual times for everyone but this is also a time when innovation is more important than ever! The ISPIM Connects Global Conference will be a celebration of innovation and feature success stories and insights from 21 global regions as we move around the world in 24 hours.
Smart Circular Economy is an international workshop focusing on the role of ICT as an enabler for the circular economy. Accepted and presented papers will appear in the IEEE Xplore library and all major publication indexes (DBLP, Scopus, etc.).
As you already know, because of uncertainties around travelling and attending public events over the following months due to COVID-19, Circular Economy Hotspot Catalonia has been postponed until 2021. However, in Catalonia they are fully committed to maintaining the hotspot momentum and keeping the circular economy community engaged with an online conference on 19 November 2020.
CityLoops is a new EU-funded project focusing on organic, and construction and demolition waste.
On 8 November, the Slovenian town of Bled will host a conference on Circular Economy in the Region: Connected for Sustainability and Growth. The aim of the conference is to discuss the possibilities and advantages of the transition to a circular economy in the region and the potential for cooperation.
The European Commission has launched a call for proposals under the Horizon 2020 programme, aimed at supporting a pilot group of European cities to produce bio-based products from urban biowaste and wastewater.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the UN Environment Programme have published the first annual New Plastics Economy Global Commitment progress report. Presented at the Our Ocean Conference in Oslo, the report provides an unprecedented level of transparency on how almost 200 businesses and governments are reshaping the plastics system.
The Coordination Group of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform met for the third time on 17 October 2019.
Recently adopted EU legislation helps tackle marine litter from plastics, improves chemicals management and increases the recycling of materials. In its conclusions of 4 October 2019, the Council of the EU stresses that further ambitious efforts are needed to stimulate a systemic transition to a sustainable society, inviting the European Commission to come up with an ambitious long-term strategic framework, including a common vision for a circular economy and to adopt a new circular economy action plan with targeted actions.
In a continued effort to reduce Europe's carbon footprint and to lower energy bills for European consumers, the European Commission has adopted new eco-design measures on 1 October for products such as refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers and televisions.
Public authorities will soon be encouraged to apply the Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) approach to their policies thanks to a new Interreg Europe project, LCA4Regions. The 9 project partners met for the first time in Brussels, on 30 September and 1 October 2019, the with support of ACR+.
About 50 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions are related to materials and the manufacturing of products. Strong Circular Economy policies are therefore needed to meet the climate goals. Ecopreneur.eu has worked out far-reaching proposals as input for the EU Green Deal.
Circle Economy launched a tool to close the knowledge gap between entrepreneurs and financiers: the Product-as-a-Service Question Kit helps overcome this barrier by leading both parties through a series of questions they need to ask themselves before starting their conversation.
