Ecodair: refurbishing professional computer equipment for resale
For the past 16 years, Ecodair has been refurbishing professional computer equipment for resale (with warranty) at low cost.
For the past 16 years, Ecodair has been refurbishing professional computer equipment for resale (with warranty) at low cost.
Delt Papir is a Croatian manufacturer and supplier of paper products which produces items such as tissue and hygiene products for the consumer and professional care sectors. It contributes to the circular economy through its closed-loop recycling procedures, making toilet paper out of cellulose which would otherwise have cluttered up landfills.
As part of the EU's Bioregio project, the Slovakian city of Nitra has developed a project for community composting by 50 households. The system produces compost, which can be used as a fertiliser by the community. The project aims to lower technical barriers to the reduction of bio-waste.
EntoGreen aims to develop sustainable feed and organic fertilisers by using bio-based technologies to recycle nutrients from agricultural and food waste and reintroducing them into the food chain, thus closing the nutrient cycle.
Toast Ale was founded in 2015 to reduce demand for natural resources by replacing virgin barley with surplus fresh bread.
The cotton gauze grocery bag provides a unique design turning an environmentally-friendly cheesecloth gauze fabric into a sturdy mass produced grocery bag that later can easily be used at home as machine-washable cotton napkins, reusable cleaning cloth and much more.
Pluumo uses surplus feathers cleaned to hypo-allergenic standards to make compostable, biodegradable packaging.
BE O Lifestyle is a Dutch company which has developed a form of plant-based plastic that it uses to manufacture water bottles. The bottles are made from sugar cane residue and are reusable, completely environmentally-friendly - and nice to look at!
The E-waste Race is an educational competition between ten primary schools to collect old electronic devices. Project participants are given an introductory lecture about recycling and the valuable materials contained in electronic devices. They then start collecting e-waste and the school which collects the most wins an educational - and fun! - school trip.
Red Orka is a circular babywear brand that aims to do better for people and the planet. Red Orka's product is delivered to people's homes on the basis of a subscription for a fixed amount each month. The baby rompers are made from 100% organic cotton and produced in the most sustainable way possible.
The French National Institute for Circular Economy (INEC) has published its Programme Ecole circulaire (in FR), whose objective is to use schools - a place familiar to all - as showcases for the circular economy. It contains a series of good practices (for public and private actors, youth) - over 40 territorial initiatives and 50 operational solutions - on the following themes:
The circular economy is a key element of the European Green Deal as a concept that can support the transition towards a more sustainable growth model. In recent years there has been a growth of circular economy industrial applications, but evidence suggests that the uptake of circular approaches in many sectors is still limited.
The report titled Barriers and enablers for implementing circular economy business models - Evidence from the electrical and electronic equipment and agri-food value chains provides facts and data on barriers and enablers to the implementation of circular economy business models in two value chains that exhibit high levels of waste generation:
SMEs hold the key to the circular economy. Their innovation potential to introduce and mainstream sustainable business models is blocked by many obstacles such as lack of demand, additional costs, and the complexity of circular design.
To unleash their full potential and realise the European Green Deal’s objectives, Ecopreneur.eu recommends: launching regional circularity hubs, active engagement of ecopreneurs as front-runners, true pricing using economic incentives, 100% green implementation of the European Recovery Plan, introducing innovation funding and subsidies that are attractive to SMEs, and enacting progressive EU legislation such as a mandatory gate-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment for all companies.
Click here for the Executive Summary.
Bocconi University’s analysis of 200+ European, publicly listed companies across 14 industries shows that the higher the circularity of a company, the lower its risk of defaulting on debt, and the higher the risk-adjusted returns on its stock.
The paper reveals how circular economy strategies can reduce investment risk by decoupling economic growth from resource consumption, diversifying business models, and allowing businesses to better anticipate stricter regulation and changing customer preferences. Embedding circular economy principles also reduces exposure to supply chain disruptions and volatility of resource prices.
While the current food system has sustained a growing population and brought economic development, much of it is essentially ‘linear’ and extractive, particularly in more developed markets. It is wasteful, polluting, and depletive, and is the primary driver of biodiversity loss and accounts for a third of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The big food redesign study by Ellen MacArthur Foundation looks at the role fast-moving consumer goods companies (FMCGs) and food retailers can play to move us towards a food system with significant positive impacts for business, people, and the environment. It explores the ways in which food products can be designed in closer collaboration with farmers, for nature. It also investigates the crucial enabling role of policies and incentives.
Regenerating nature requires an economic transformation. To halt and reverse biodiversity loss, we need to fundamentally transform the way we produce, use, and consume our products and food. Conservation and restoration efforts alone – crucial though they are – will not be enough. The circular economy offers a framework for such a transformation. Applied together, its three principles are able to help tackle the root causes of biodiversity loss and enable the regeneration of nature. These biodiversity benefits can be demonstrated across different industry sectors, as shown in this new study by Ellen MacArthur Foundation. This paper also highlights the key steps businesses and policymakers can take to scale the circular economy potential and help shape a nature-positive future.
The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE) and its members have set out the industry’s vision for the future: they intend to deliver renewable, climate positive and circular packaging for resilient food supply systems.
Through its robust and ambitious Roadmap, the industry commits to take action throughout the industry value chain, from sustainable sourcing to climate impact and recycling. Its ten commitments include increasing the collection and recycling of beverage cartons to reach a 90% collection rate and at least a 70% recycling rate by 2030, and decarbonising the industry’s value chain in line with the 1.5o C aligned science-based targets.
In December 2020, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Regulation on batteries and waste batteries (Battery Regulation). In this position paper, environmental civil society organisations (Environmental Coalition on Standards, Transport & Environment, Deutsche Umwelthilfe and the European Environmental Bureau) go through the measures proposed by the European Commission and point out aspects that are either overlooked or should be improved.
Given the need to take biodiversity more into account in circular economy projects, this study aims to stress the links between the two and to clarify the role played by the circular economy in preserving ecosystems.
Several guiding circular economy principles contribute to reducing the impacts of our activities on ecosystems, such as non-toxicity, optimisation of resource management, promotion of renewable resources and looping of flows. The study also highlights the fact that each lever for implementing the circular economy can and should factor in biodiversity: land-use planning, normative framework, innovation, awareness raising and training, and economic support.
This study aims to assist the European Commission to identify policy options that support the uptake of circular economy principles for buildings’ design in European, national and local policies.
The goal is:
The study also provides key insights and recommendations on actions for a roadmap supporting the uptake and implementation of circular economy principles for buildings’ design.
MaterialTrader.com is a one-stop-shop for trading materials and connecting with potential business partners in a way that grows your business sustainably and helps prevent unnecessary material waste.
Zero Waste Europe is the European network of communities, local leaders, experts, and change agents working towards the elimination of waste in our society.
Zero Waste Europe 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 planet.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is composed of both government and civil society organisations. With over 1400 member organisations, it is the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it. The European Regional Office in Brussels represents IUCN at EU level and works with Member States to help deliver EU goals.
IUCN has been focusing on the circular economy (CE) debate for some years now, including addressing marine pollution issues (e.g. plastics).
IUCN brings knowledge, expertise and convening power on biodiversity and nature-based solutions to the CE debate, aiming to establish the link between both environmental priorities: conservation of nature and transition from a linear to a circular model.
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network of over 1 750 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development. Active in 100+ countries, ICLEI influences sustainability policy and drives local action for low emission, nature-based, equitable, resilient and circular development.
To live in a truly sustainable society, we need an economic model that separates economic growth from resource depletion and environmental degradation, replacing the linear “produce, consume, discard” model. ICLEI focuses on how local governments can lead the transition to a circular economy.
The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) is Europe’s largest network of environmental NGOs working for a better future where people and nature thrive together.
Holland Circular Hotspot is a private-public platform comprising the HCH foundation, (local) government authorities, knowledge institutes and companies. They collaborate intensively and internationally and exchange knowledge with a view to stimulating entrepreneurship in the field of the circular economy.
The European Sustainable Business Federation Ecopreneur.eu features six national associations with 3000 sustainable companies - mostly SMEs.
A member of the ECESP Coordination Group, Ecopreneur.eu is the international business organisation in Brussels committed to ambitious measures, rules and regulations for a low-carbon circular economy. Ecopreneur.eu advocates a new economic framework by bringing concrete experience from pioneering companies into the political debate, showing best practice examples and advocating the needs of green SMEs in a credible way.
The Ecopreneur.eu Low-Carbon Circular Economy Advocacy Group is a sounding board of circular economy pioneers, including Tarkett, Werner & Mertz, Interface, REMONDIS and HUMANA Kleidersammlung.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation develops and promotes the idea of a circular economy. It works with, and inspires, business, academia, policymakers, and institutions to mobilise systems solutions at scale, globally.
Its vision is a new economic system that delivers better outcomes for people and the environment. Business models, products, and materials are designed to increase use and reuse, replicating the balance of the natural world, where nothing becomes waste and everything has value.
A circular economy, increasingly built on renewable energy and materials, is distributed, diverse, and inclusive. The Foundation’s work focuses on six interlinking areas:
ACR+ is an international network of cities and regions sharing the aim of promoting a sustainable resource management and accelerating the transition towards a circular economy on their territories and beyond. The network currently counts around 100 members, mainly local and regional authorities as well as national networks of local authorities.
As circular economy calls for cooperation between all actors, ACR+ is open to other players in the field of material resource management (NGOs, academic institutions, consultancy or private organisations). For 25 years now, ACR+ has been facilitating the exchange of experiences between members, while also sharing technical and policy information and participating in EU-funded and international projects.
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.
The circular economy is an opportunity for retail and wholesale as it allows the sector to rethink business models, offer alternative products and support a more sustainable lifestyle. It is a two-way approach both responding and leading to societal change. Indeed, beyond the increasing demand by consumers and regulators to offer more sustainable alternatives, the circular economy is an opportunity to rethink the way we produce, manufacture, sell, use and discard our products
Welcome to Circular City Week, an open, collaborative and free festival for circular economy-related events hosted by local and global stakeholders in New York City in May 2022!
As the Horizon 2020 research programme becomes Horizon Europe, now is the time to see how great ideas have turned into real projects.
LOOPS is an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the cutting-edge research carried out and how it can change our communities. For those who are not familiar with it, LOOPS is a live webinar series committed to exploring innovation in the circular economy.
Join MEPs Pietikäinen and Kuhnke, the European Environment Agency and the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra on 12 January to discuss how to scale up and mainstream circular business models, in line with a sustainable product policy.
On 17 and 18 January 2022, the ECESP Coordination Group will present Europe's pioneering work done by its Leadership groups in the field of the circular economy before a global audience at the Circular Europe Days in Dubai.
As the Horizon 2020 research programme becomes Horizon Europe, now is the time to see how great ideas have turned into real projects.
LOOPS is an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the cutting-edge research carried out and how it can change our communities. For those who are not familiar with it, LOOPS is a live webinar series committed to exploring innovation in the circular economy.
Re-think Circular Economy Forum Milan 2022 on 10 and 11 February 2022 is designed to present a vision on macro-trends, possible evolutionary paths, and main projects concerning the Circular Economy both at a national and international level.
Its main purpose is to stimulate the birth and development of innovative and entrepreneurial activities that could have a positive impact on local and national economic systems. Over the two-day forum, corporates, startups, research bodies, and institutional actors will present the projects they are carrying out and supporting at different levels.
The transition to a circular economy entails the systemic transformation of entire value chains, covering design, production and consumption. Cities and regions are hubs of innovation and socio-economic transformation, with great potential to lead the transition to a circular economy. However, such a deep transformation often requires supporting mechanisms to make it happen.
ACR+, EIB Advisory Hub, the European Commission, the Government of Navarra, the Interreg MED Green Growth community, EIT Raw Materials, Dublin city, EUCF and the ECESP invite you to attend this #EUCircularTalks to discuss how different supporting initiatives are being used by cities and regions in their transition towards a circular economy. The talk will take place on 13 December at 10:00-11:30 CET.
As the Horizon 2020 research programme becomes Horizon Europe, now is the time to see how great ideas have turned into real projects.
LOOPS is an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the cutting-edge research carried out and how it can change our communities. For those who are not familiar with it, LOOPS is a live webinar series committed to exploring innovation in the circular economy.
Within its main topic “Economic resetting in the post-Covid period”, the Economic conference of Montenegro 2021, which will take place in Budva on 2-3 December, will try to provide answers relevant to the economic future of the Western Balkans region.
The conference will be organized at the same time as the Central European Initiative CEI Summit of the Heads of Governments as the concluding event of the Montenegrin CEI Presidency. Circular economy framework will be discussed during the panel on “Green Circular Economy – economic recovery and a different culture of living and doing business.”
Since 2020 the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Circular Economy Community has been engaging with civil society, EU and international stakeholders as well as the EIT network by supporting actions to strengthen and optimise the transition towards a more circular and innovative future.
Join this webinar on 17 December to find out more about EIT's work on the ground and hear the stories of involved actors working with EIT to increase the uptake of circular innovative solutions. Participants will get the opportunity to interact with the panel of experts and find out more about opportunities coming from the EIT Circular Economy Community programme.
Welcome to the circular economy event of the year, World Circular Economy Forum 2021, on 13-15 September 2021!
Hosted for the first time in North America, WCEF 2021 will focus on the system level changes, or “game changers,” needed to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.
On 12 July 2021, EFSA launched a call for expression of interest in the context of a two-year project aimed at identifying potential emerging risks to food and feed safety in the transition to a circular economy. The project’s objective is to help ensure that food and feed safety and environmental health considerations are taken into account at an early stage of research or policy initiatives.
The World Bank has designed a survey to identify key challenges facing the public sector in the EU Member States when transitioning to a circular economy. The "Survey for the Capacity of the Public Sector in Mainstreaming Circular Economy" aims to understand these challenges and discover what capacities are required to address them.
Join this online workshop, organised by the European Commission, focusing on the current and possible upcoming initiatives for research and development in the EU textile industry, as part of the consultative process for the development of the Strategy for Sustainable Textiles.
The European Investment Bank has signed a loan agreement of up to €30.75 million with Renewcell. The Sweden-based fashion innovator has devised a way to turn discarded clothing into Circulose®, a pulp from which new fabric can be made. After proving their concept, Renewcell will use the loan to build their first full commercial-scale recycling plant, able to produce 60 000 tonnes per year.
Join the online workshop on Traceability, the accuracy of information and market surveillance in the Textile Industry which will be held on 12 July 2021, from 10:00 to 13:00 CEST, as part of the consultative process for the development of the Strategy for Sustainable Textiles.
New European Bauhaus (NEB) and Level(s)
Thank you to everyone who joined the session on the ‘search for sustainable buildings’ at EU Green Week on 3 June, which showed how the New European Bauhaus (NEB) and Level(s) can drive a circular and inclusive built-environment transformation.
Circular Insider - A speed date with circular economy frontrunners
Circular Change invites you to discover the circular lifestyle with its brand new publication. Circular Insider aims to be a source of inspiration for decision makers and to bring the concept of the circular economy closer to the general public.
Aimplas coordinated the European Life Ecomethylal Project, which has ended with the construction of a plant capable of extracting up to half a kilo of methylal from each kilo of non-recyclable waste.
The Circular Consumption Charter is the result of a partnership between Eni and 18 Italian consumer associations. It was launched on 17 June at a conference involving consumer associations, representatives of public institutions, the scientific world and the certification sector. EESC Vice-President Cillian Lohan participated in the event.
For four days in 2019, more than 750 company leaders, scientists and policy makers from all over the world came to Antwerp for the World Resources Forum organised by OVAM - the Public Waste Agency of Flanders featuring sessions on the power of the circular economy and the link with climate change, and an introduction to numerous pioneering projects and initiatives that are driving the transition.
To help inspire conversation and policy action concerning inclusive circular business models during the next EU Commission mandate, RREUSE invited EU decision makers to a closed site visit to Les Petits Riens, a Brussels-based social enterprise with activities dating back to 1937.
During Romania's Presidency of the Council of the EU in Spring 2019, IRCEM began a project to support the development of a circular economy strategy for Romania. With support from the Ministry of Environment, Department for Sustainable Development and other public authorities, civil society organisations and private businesses, 9 conferences and workshops were organised from April to June 2019.
On 31 May 2018 ENEA (the Italian national agency for new technologies, energy and sustainable economic development) presented the Italian Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ICESP). This platform, since launched formally on 3 December 2018 in the Italian Senate, is the mirror platform of ECESP at the national level and promotes the Circular Economy by sharing good practices from Italy.
This year took place the third The World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF), beginning Monday 3rd June in Helsinki, Finland. The Forum is organised by SITRA, the Finnish Innovation Fund.
The fourth edition of the international Circular Change Conference was a meeting of the global circular community, and a platform that sent a strong message to change-makers across Europe that more needs to be done to accelerate the change from linear to circular.
The Consumer Insight Action Panel is a two-year initiative jointly set up by the CSCP and Sitra as part of their contribution to the ECESP.
Its objective is to translate consumer needs and behavioural knowledge into impact-oriented activities, initiatives and recommendations to support policy makers, business and civil society in enabling consumer-relevant circular economy strategies.
On 10 October 2018, ECOSOC and the Second Committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations held a joint meeting on Circular economy for the SDGs: From concept to practice, to discuss how the transition towards a circular economy can be leveraged to accelerate implementation of the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals.
Seminar discussing the different aspects of urban waste prevention, with a particular focus on exchanging best practices coming from European heritage cities.