TERRA DI TUTTI (meaning "Everybody's earth") is a social enterprise in the Tuscan Region giving a second life to scraps and promoting handicrafts as an opportunity for different cultures to meet.
The Treottouno Social Cooperative of Forlì (Italy) is committed to the implementation of circular economy systems where everything can be recycled, both goods/waste and people.
Thanks to a No Waste Technology, flexible packaging becomes recyclable in the paper supply chain.
ISA - a sustainable enterprise of handicraftswomen - gives special attention to sustainability in its production chain, by employing production scraps and waste from diverse local companies, preferably choosing natural and ecofriendly products.
The EU-financed LEVEL-UP project offers circularity protocols and strategies for extending the remaining useful life of large industrial equipment and assets that can no longer remain competitive in the Industry 4.0 paradigm.
Oltrecafé is the first company to produce Italian pellets from coffee grounds. This kind of pellet generates more heat than wood and helps meet the strong demand in Italy for pellets meeting the criteria for sustainable heating. The company's method reduces waste production and increases recycling, while also producing clean and sustainable energy through a renewable resource.
Wallenius Water Innovation is a Swedish clean-tech company that works with UV light to prevent bacterial growth in metalworking fluids. The non-toxic solution secures long-lasting process fluids without using hazardous biocides. In this way, fluids can more easily be reused in the installation rather than be disposed.
Post consumer High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) products are bought back, disassembled after cleaning and sanitation process, and then shredded by Jcoplastic. The secondary raw material obtained is analysed and characterised, then extruded for reusing in a new production cycle.
The Life Is.ECO project was aimed to create and implement an integrated system for the treatment of production waste and obsolescences of bitumen-polymer membranes and insulating mineral based on glass fiber, for their recycling and reintroduction in their respective production processes.
Legno Urbano is an innovative project developed in Italy to promote wood recovery from trees which are felled in urban areas because of their age, their instability or spatial planning needs.
In many countries, governments are looking for ways to transform their economy into one that is circular, or to improve the level of resource efficiency (e.g. see the EU programme ‘Closing the loop’ or the World Circular Economy Forum).
To do so effectively, having an overview of the current state of circular activities in the economy is important. To date, such an overview has been lacking. This PBL report provides an outline of the current state of the circular economy in the Netherlands. It also provides information that may be of interest to other countries and presents opportunities and suggestions for subsequent steps towards achieving a circular economy.
This report examines the actual implementation of existing measures and potentially relevant new approaches for deepening the application of ecodesign principles for plastic materials and products containing plastic.
It looks at a number of sectors which rely heavily on plastic, including packaging, construction, electronics, automotive, furniture and textiles. The study assesses a wide range of criteria and tools available in horizontal and product regulations, as well as so-called soft tools such as standards, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes and the EU Ecolabel.
The report also looks at the potential of these tools for driving circularity and opportunities for extending promising solutions to other sectors.
On the occasion of the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF), held on 4-5 June 2019 in Helsinki, the Architects' Council of Europe (ACE) published a Statement highlighting the importance of design to achieve more circularity in the construction and building sector, as well the solutions that architecture can bring.
Like many other sectors, the construction and building sectors operate largely within a linear economy model of “take, make and waste”. Yet, there is growing awareness of the finite nature of natural resources and fragility of our environment, and thereby of the urgent need to develop more sustainable and regenerative economic models.
Architecture has a crucial role to play here as many decisions taken during the design phase have long-lasting consequences on the environmental performance of a building. Developing circular economy principles in the built environment is fundamentally about changing the way we design our buildings to ensure that they can be operated, maintained, repaired, re-used or adapted to new needs, while optimising resource value and generating as little waste as possible. If high-quality architecture can create significant value, conversely, ill-conceived buildings can cause considerable waste and costs, both in the short term as well as for future generations.
Designing and building in a circular manner requires acknowledging that a building is above all a support for life. Beyond optimising the use of resources for their own sake, it is essential to seek to preserve and enhance the economic, social, environmental and cultural value that a place embodies for end-users, so that it can be used for the longest possible time.
The Statement presents different architectural solutions promoting circularity, focusing on preserving and enhancing the value of resources. It also puts forward some policy recommendations to support the architectural approach to circularity.
This publication, managed and delivered by C40 Cities, provides 40 thorough examples of practical circular economic initiatives from cities around the world, for inspiration and replications by other cities.
The Climate-KIC Circular Cities project is investigating how city governments can be transformational change agents and creators of smart and sustainable neighbourhoods.
The results are expected to improve how cities manage building, construction and utility waste and, through productively utilizing household and industrial waste streams, can increase the growing perception that what was once viewed as waste can now be viewed as resource streams.
The EU faces multiple challenges (climate crisis, environmental disasters, a lack of competitiveness, falling behind in the digital race, etc.) that it will need to address if it is to ensure long-term sustainable prosperity for European citizens. At the same time, there are two ongoing transitions – the creation of a circular economy and the digital transformation – that could provide the means to address these challenges, if they are managed well.
As the EU and national policymakers are making significant efforts to promote a circular economy on the one hand and a digital economy on the other, Annika Hedberg and Stefan Šipka, together with Johan Bjerkem, argue that it is time to align the agendas as a means to achieve greater sustainability and competitiveness.
This publication:
It suggests that the EU must:
This Discussion Paper builds on the findings of the EPC’s "Digital Roadmap for a Circular Economy" project of 2017-19 and paves the way for a more extensive final study, scheduled to be published in the late autumn of 2019.
The project has been supported by Aalto University and the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) (members of Helsinki EU Office), Central Denmark region, Climate-KIC, the Estonian Ministry of the Environment, Estonian Environment Investment Centre, HP, Orgalim, the province of Limburg, UL, Fondazione Cariplo and Cariplo Factory.
The report of the Institute of Innovation and Responsible Development, is the result of a collaboration between the representatives of the organizations participating in the "Circular construction in practice" debates under the Polish Circular Hotspot. It presents an analysis of the implementation of the circular model in the construction sector.
First, it identifies the causes of the current state of play, which have elevated the built environment to the top spot among the largest polluters of the natural environment.
Second, it analyses the basic barriers on the way to circular construction.
Third, it presents specific ways to reduce these barriers, with a view to making sustainable construction a reality.
Fourth, special attention is paid to specific, innovative technologies to improve resource efficiency and, as a result, improve the economic, environmental and social impact of the construction sector.
On 19 June 2019, Altstoff Recycling Austria (ARA) and Circle Economy released the Circularity Gap Report Austria, the first measure of circularity for a nation state.
Experts and peer reviewers included CEC4Europe, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism, the Federal Environment Agency, the Federation of Austrian Industries, the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, TU Vienna, the INZIN Institute and the City of Vienna. This landmark report paves the way for nations to lead the transition from a linear economy of Take-Make-Waste to a circular economy.
The analysis, commissioned by ARA, found a circularity rate for Austria of 9.7%, ahead of the figure of 9.1% in Circle Economy’s Global Circularity Gap report published in January 2019.
One of the Interreg DTP MOVECO (Mobilizing Institutional Learning for Better Exploitation of Research and Innovation for the Circular Economy) project results is the Transnational Strategy to accelerate transition towards a circular economy in the Danube region.
Be transnational – reducing disparities within the Danube Region can only happen through cooperation, capacity building and knowledge exchange across borders. This holds also true for the implementation of the circular economy to make the Danube Region, as a resource poor region, less dependent on imported primary resources.
MOVECO identified key challenges with regard to the transition towards a circular economy and offers recommendations for progress. The strategy further provides the reader with many good practice examples and possibilities to raise awareness for circular economy.
Regular updates on the MOVECO project can be found on this page.
The report was commissioned by the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) to inform a workshop on "the future of the waste sector in Europe: challenges and opportunities for workers" held on 7th December 2017 in Brussels.
The report deals with the following questions:
The report focuses on:
These factsheets outline circular economy opportunities to design out urban waste and pollution, ensure products and materials maintain their value, and regenerate the natural systems in our cities.
Easy-to-reference, the factsheets are a collation of research and case examples that answer some of the most prevalent questions around what circular economy can bring to cities:
The whole collection of factsheets, by system and phase, is available on the Ellen Mac Arthur Foundation website.
The annual conference is the two-day main event of the Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform. Day 2 will focus on stakeholder views in a series of online workshops highlighting successes and identifying new challenges.
Click on the event and learn more about the workshop on consumer effective behaviour change in the context of the circular economy.
The annual conference is the two-day main event of the Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform. Day 2 will focus on stakeholder views in a series of online workshops highlighting successes and identifying new challenges.
Click on the event and learn more about the workshop on promoting circular approaches to reduce food waste.
The annual conference is the two-day main event of the Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform. Day 2 will focus on stakeholder views in a series of online workshops highlighting successes and identifying new challenges.
Click on the event and learn more about the workshop on promoting circularity in the construction value chain.
The annual conference is the two-day main event of the Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform. Day 2 will focus on stakeholder views in a series of online workshops highlighting successes and identifying new challenges.
Click on the event and learn more about the workshop on circular procurement.
The annual conference is the two-day main event of the Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform. Day 2 will focus on stakeholder views in a series of online workshops highlighting successes and identifying new challenges.
Click on the event and learn more about the workshop on making textiles and fashion last longer.
This free online event – organised by NoAW (No Agricultural Waste) H2020 project – will give participants the opportunity to discuss current and upcoming innovations in agro-waste management. Experts across continents, from Europe and China will share their knowledge and experiences on successful innovative solutions, emerging tools, methods and technologies, developed in NoAW project and beyond.
Part of the Circular Week 2020, the Mazovia Circular Congress on 16 October 2020 is aimed at representatives of public administration, local government, enterprises, managers dealing with sustainable development and CSR, start-ups, and media. It will include a panel discussion of various stakeholder groups on how to use circular economy solutions.
Part of Circular Week 2020, the event Circular Business Models 2020 is a conference about the transformation to circular economy in businesses. The event aims to familiarise companies with the idea of circularity and its opportunities for both new and established enterprises.
The 3rd event of the 5th Circular Change Conference, organised in partnership with the Managers’ Association of Slovenia, is taking place on 24-25 of September 2020.
A series of 4 lunchtime webinars organised by the Federation of Enterprises of Belgium. Speakers will highlight specific circular economy solutions that they are developing as companies or academics. The first one on 25 September is focused on How to maximise raw materials in the circular economy.
The EIB Copenhagen Conference on the Circular Economy took place on 25 October 2018 to discuss financing the circular economy in biotechnology, urban development and plastics.
World Food Day is a day of action dedicated to tackling global hunger.
The first seminar on 'the City as a Business Model' was held at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands on 4 October. It aimed to share knowledge and discuss about how cities can make the transition to sustainable, inclusive circular economies, based on various European best practices.
Official launch of the GrandParisCirculaire.org platform on 5 October 2018.
The European Commission and UN Environment are jointly convening an event with the objective of inspiring new commitments to reduce plastic waste.
Deadline extended for the WRI Ross prize for cities: applicaitons close 31 July 2018
Transformative projects igniting citywide change are invited to apply for a $250,000 cash prize and exposure to a world-class advisory council.
The WRI Ross Prize for Cities is a global, biennial competition supported by Stephen M. Ross to celebrate transformative projects that have ignited citywide change. Five finalists will be chosen in Fall 2018 and one winner of the $250,000 prize will be announced in April 2019.
Urban transformation is more important than ever, and often goes unnoticed beyond its immediate environs— help us spotlight the best cases from around the world to elevate these stories and inspire others.
Five European Circular Hotspots signed an agreement at the Holland Circular Economy Week to continue and intensify cooperation, joining forces in accelerating the transition to a Circular Economy in Europe.
Recycling Europe – The European Circular Economy Package
Tonight at 21:55 CET don't miss the latest SmartRegions episode on Euronews, dedicated to one of the most important recycling projects (biological waste treatment) in Europe. RCERO Ljubljana combines 37 municipalities and serves a third of the Slovenian population.
Businesses making a difference: call for pledges open and extended. The goal: 10 million tonnes in recycled plastic finding their way into new products by 2025.
