The SAWYER project aims to facilitate the transition of European furniture companies to a more circular economy. The project ran from February 2020 to March 2021, studying the main legislative and voluntary instruments that can facilitate this transition.
I:CO is an international circular solutions provider for the collection, certified sorting, reuse and recycling of clothing and shoes. They aim to support innovative new recycling technologies which help close the loop of production cycles.
SOUJI is a liquid based on minerals and vegetables that, when mixed in the correct proportions with used cooking oil, and after shaking the mixture for 1 minute, becomes a cleaning agent/detergent which is 96% less polluting than a common detergent.
SIGUREC was the most advanced household waste collection service operating in Romania until March 2020. It was a broad initiative, implemented following an official agreement between private companies and public authorities.
ResQ Club is a Finnish company and mobile application, which also covers parts of Sweden, Poland and Germany. Its goal is to combat food waste by connecting sustainable restaurants, cafés and food shops with consumers who appreciate affordable quality food.
The “Millor que nou” (Better than new) campaign is an initiative from the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) that started in 2009. It provides people with free support services and access to repair shops, so that they can learn how to repair appliances and objects.
Remondis Acqua Group is a company specialising in systems for the production of high-quality water. They have developed new methods to protect raw materials and treat wastewater, with a new model of municipal sewerage treatment plant.
Po-Dzielnia is a freeshop and sharing economy centre in Poland. It is run by a team of nearly two dozen volunteers and five activists.
Neocomp has developed a method for recycling glass fibre polymers used in the rotor blades of wind turbines. The polymers are shredded, then used as an additive in cement.
L&T organises the collection of waste oils, oil-contaminated water and a range of emulsions from industry. The collected materials are analysed and processed at L&T’s recycling plant.
Up to 90 million tonnes of food are wasted every year in the EU, half of which is generated at production and/or processing stage.
Being highly versatile and efficient, insects can bio-transform many of these materials (before they become "waste") into a wide range of higher-value products and ingredients that can further be included into the food and feed chains. Their added value goes beyond that of an alternative feed ingredient.
The lower Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) of insects confirms their efficacy, but also their ability to concentrate lower value materials into ingredients of superior quality, such as proteins and lipids, in line with the natural nutritional needs of aquaculture, poultry or swine.
For our future electricity system, a significant amount of wind and solar energy is required. In turn, these energy technologies require some specific critical metals. The current global supply of several critical metals is insufficient to guarantee a transition to a renewable energy system.
Calculations for The Netherlands show that additional wind turbines and photovoltaic panels already require a significant share of the annual global production of some critical metals.
This report outlines the magnitude of the issue and the complexity of the supply chain. It also identifies various paths towards solutions.
In the development of the circular economy, discussion around circular business models and circular revenue models is booming.
But what is a true circular business or circular revenue model? When can these models be applied, and what are the barriers that still exist?
For the past decade the authors of this paper have gathered practical experience with the implementation of circular revenue models such as lease, pay-per-use and take-back schemes. It is from this experience that they noticed that the current institutional economic framework hinders the transition to the circular economy.
The paper provides insight in four key barriers, providing a real-life business case as an example for each. It also includes a guideline for policy makers on how to address these barriers.
This report assesses the Aviation sector value chain in the context of Circular Economy principles.
It offers an overview of the aircraft lifecycle, new supplier-consumer programmes already initiated by the industry and a proposal for the reconversion towards a more circular business model.
The assessment of the value chain was carried out according to the Circular Economy perspective (Redesign, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle).
This report advises the companies involvled in the EACP-EUROSME project, as an instrument to start the implementation process towards a Circular Economy business and as research for further financial support for project funding.
This factsheet on Metal Recycling developed by EuRIC highlights the importance of both ferrous and non-ferrous metal recycling and their substantial benefits for the environment and the economy in Europe. The Brochure outlines the environmental benefits, the economic and international trade aspects of steel, aluminium and copper recycling.
Samen werken aan circulaire fietsinfrastructuur. Een integrale en systematische aanpak by Stichting Circulair Bouwen is a report on a 2-year programme carried out with EU funds on building a circular bicycle road infrastructure. Over this period of time, valuable information has been gathered on how to promote and organize circular building efficiently.
To follow up on the programme, a multi-year project will be carried out in cooperation with governments, companies, educational institutions and NGOs, under the lead of the Radboud University Nijmegen, which will include two important policy fields:
Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) is offering a 100 % online course on Sustainable Packaging in a Circular Economy. Students and professionals with basic knowledge of the circular economy and an interest in or experience of packaging can start studying anytime, at the time and place of their choosing. The course material is accessible 24/7. This is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) that runs on edX.
You can enrol here.
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.
24 January is #CircularElectronicsDay! This webinar is part of the official activities and takes place on 21 January, with presentations and live discussions on 5 unique and impactful approaches to circular electronics.
The Interreg MED Green Growth Community would like to invite you to participate in an online communication training session to discover storytelling techniques that inspire journalists to get unique and impactful stories out into the media, to take place on Tuesday 19 January 2021 at 10.30 a.m. CET.
In this new episode of Re-think Webinars we will look into another circular city: Lisbon.
Ever wondered how circular economy could help your city/region in its energy transition? This FEDARENE webinar is for you!
The Circular Learning Hub's public workshop on project outcomes and knowledge sharing will take place on 18 December 2020.
The EU SME Centre, the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Beijing and the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China are pleased to invite you to an online workshop on green and circular economy in China. The online workshop will take place on 15 December 2020 on Zoom from 15:30 – 18:30 (Beijing time). (Europe time is -7 hours).
EuroCommerce invites you to a webinar with Virginijus Sinkevičius on 22 January 2021 from 14.00 to 15.00 (CET).
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.
Are you active in the collaborative (sharing) and circular economy? Fill in the Collaborative X Circular survey to share your knowledge and support an EU-wide mapping exercise.
A coalition of 30+ business, environmental and social associations calls for an ambitious and comprehensive Circular Economy Bill in Scotland.
Writing for The Banker, European Investment Bank President Werner Hoyer says that "By moving to a circular economy, the world can create less waste, design better products and adopt healthier habits" -> more here.
Ecopreneur.eu has created an overview of circular economy policy for all EU Member States, which reveals 28 different paths with inspiring best practices. Countries that lead the way typically have the highest waste production as well.
ACR+, the Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management, celebrated its 25th anniversary in June 2019. At this event, member organisations presented their respective work on the circular economy and committed to continue furthering the circular transition.
At the 14thBled Strategic Forum, Ladeja Godina Kosir, Chair of the ECESP Coordination Group, will be moderating panels on sustainability policy and circular economy.
The CSCP, Sitra and DBU have set up the Consumer Insight Action Panel, a new European multi-stakeholder initiative designed to support the transition to the circular economy by generating, applying and testing consumer behavioural insights in circular strategies for textiles, plastics and electronics. How might we innovate to enable people to reuse, repair, share or recycle? Find out with us!
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s DIF welcomes contributors from across the globe for its November 2019 sessions to share their ideas, stories and innovations to spark conversations with a worldwide audience.
During its Presidency of the Council of the European Union in late 2019, Finland will highlight the EU’s role in leading the transition to a climate neutral Europe with a versatile selection of Finnish artists’ work and a number of exhibitions that will give the public a new view on sustainable development and the circular economy.
The EU’s largest National Promotional Banks and Institutions and the European Investment Bank launch a EUR 10 billion initiative to accelerate the transition to a sustainable and circular economy
