Beewraps by Malu is a food packaging material designed and produced by a Polish family company to replace food foil, aluminum foil or disposable plastic containers with a biodegradable and reusable alternative.
reWINE LIFE is a Catalonian project, running from 2016 to 2020 and co-financed by the EU's LIFE Programme. It sought to demonstrate the viability of reusing glass bottles in the local wine industry.
Orybany is an ethical concept store located in the heart of Brussels working with a community of artisans and designers connected by the same values: "Human, Ethical and Diversity".
Veolia has been extending the useful life of plastic bottles using a PET (Poly Ethylene Terephthalate) plastic recycling process. A mechanical and chemical recovery process transforms the PET flakes into a product suitable for use with food.
Vanheede Biomass Solutions processes packaged or unpackaged food items that, for various reasons, are no longer fit for human or animal consumption. Fermentable residue is gathered and processed at a bio-methanisation plant in order to generate green energy.
Veolia has developed expertise and built specific facilities to tackle the complex process of treating, depolluting and dismantling Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). This is a valuable source of recyclable raw materials: ferrous metals, plastics and precious metals can all be recovered and reused.
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 is the most advanced household waste collection service currently operating in Romania. It is a broad initiative, implemented following an official agreement between private companies and public authorities.
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.
Berlin has the potential to become the first Circular City in Germany, due to its growing variety of initiatives, grass-roots and research work in the area of circular economy (CE).
This report provides information on the development of the project Circular Berlin, which started in 2018 and is financed by the EIT, under Horizon 2020.
The project consists of 4 phases:
The CL-HUB project organises a series of training webinars (in Italian) on the circular economy for Italian businesses. In these five seminars, participants will learn how to use worthwhile circular economy approaches for the success of business activities.
An online study tour on re-use & repair for municipalities and public waste companies which aims to create an inclusive circular economy at local level.
Pantheon Performance Foundation is organising a series of webinars to take place on 15, 16 and 17 December 2020 from 3 to 4.30 p.m. (CET), focusing on policy, technology and practice in the field of reducing CO2 emissions from concrete manufacturing and use. It aims to draw up a manual of sustainable materials for CO2 neutral constructions.
Always wondered how the circular economy could help your city/region in its energy transition? This FEDARENE webinar on The energy dimension of the circular economy is for you!
The 2021 ACI European Food & Beverage Plastic Packaging Summit will focus on reusing and recycling plastic packaging and future directions and scientific development in this field. It will also review relevant European legislation.
On 4 November 2020 (3:30 p.m.), as a side event to the Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference, the OECD will prepsent its synthesis report onThe Circular Economy in Cities and Regions.
Circular Innovation Fair 2020 is an early stage circular innovations pitching event taking place on 26 November. This pitching and networking event for co-developed innovative circular design concepts and ideas is organised by Aalto University, GTK, Luke, SYKE and VTT.
The EU Circular Talks is a new exchange concept of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform. It aims to encourage stakeholders to interact and discuss the circular economy topics on the Platform. The workshop aims to debate the role of the circular economy for the retail and wholesale sectors, particularly in the context of their recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
"Research & Innovation in circular economy and bio-based systems: opportunities for circular economy stakeholders" is a side event organised by the European Commission's DG Research and Innovation. It will provide circular economy stakeholders with practical insight into current and future funding opportunities.
On 20 October 2020 at 13:15 – 17:30 (CET), the Competence Centre for Sustainable Procurement and the European Commission are organising the first online networking seminar for European Governmental Competence Centres for Sustainable Public Procurement and other governmental actors active in this field.
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
