Upcycling Scandinavia designs practical objects entirely made out of upcycled plastic. Its products are reusable and can be included into the remanufacturing of new products.
Het Hof van Cartesius is a non-governmental, bottom-up cooperative that provides circular and green workspaces for sustainable and creative entrepreneurs. The buildings are constructed completely with respect for circular design, using only secondary or biobased materials.
RecyCâbles is a joint venture between Suez and Nexans started in 2008 that collects, recovers and processes used cables. The recycling and re-use of cable materials keeps them in the economic loop.
A solvent-free adhesive that is suitable for recycling and also for bonding of recycled plastic films has been developed by Henkel to be used for multilayer packaging.
Lowlander is a beer brewery from the Netherlands that is passionate about brewing botanical beer. For the Tree to Table initiative, Lowlander has created a tasty, white IPA beer out of hand-picked needles from Christmas trees.
PC4Change is a project of the Reware Cooperative - Social Enterprise, specialized since 2013 in the refurbishing of computers dismissed by large companies.
The WaysTUP! project wishes to demonstrate the establishment of new value chains for urban bio-waste used in the production of high value purpose products, through a multi-stakeholder approach according to circular economy principles.
The Donar company was established in 1989 in Slovenia, as demand for office interior development was growing. Starting as a small business, Donar has developed into one of the key players in design furniture with the highest environmental standards.
ReTuna Återbruksgalleria revolutionises shopping by being the world's first recycling mall in Eskilstuna, Sweden. ReTuna takes old items and gives them new life through repair and upcycling. The public can leave items in the recycling containers provided by the mall, and they are then redistributed to the shops.
Today, most electrical/electronic equipment (EEE) is not designed for recycling, let alone for circulation. Plastics in these products account for 20% of material use, and through better design, significant environmental and financial savings could be made. Technological solutions and circular design opportunities already exist, but they have not yet been implemented. Some challenges, such as ease of disassembly, could be resolved through better communication and by sharing learnings across the value chain. Instead of WEEE, we should focus on developing CEEE: Circular Electrical and Electronic Equipment. The case examples of this report show how different stages of the lifecycle can be designed so that circular plastic becomes possible and makes business sense.
To increase clarity in circular projects, France's standardisation body AFNOR developed a voluntary standard, XP X30-901, that proposes a common understanding, laying out the terms, principles, and practices for all actors to agree to work with on the subject.
XP X30-901 proposes a 3 x 7 matrix covering the three dimensions of sustainable development - environment, economy, society - and the seven areas of action of the circular economy: sustainable procurement, ecodesign, industrial symbiosis, functional economy, responsible consumption, extension of service life, and the effective management of materials and products at the end of their life cycle.
In this report, six members of the standardisation commission share their experiences on this voluntary standard.
Local government programmes that encourage and support circular economy practices, such as repair, recycling and circular design activities help attract new investment, create jobs and result in tangible socio-economic benefits for the city and its people, reveals the report: The Role of Municipal Policy in the Circular Economy: Investment, Jobs and Social Capital in Circular Cities.
The report explores the connection between municipalities pursuing circular economy policy and investments in circular business that create jobs. In order to maximise circularity's benefits for society, municipalities can employ a series of regulatory, economic and soft instruments that include strategies, targets, loans and subsidies, which are all also conducive to generating employment.
Circular Baltic 2030 - Circular economy in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) is a report produced by the Swedish independent think-tank Global Utmaning.
It is a collection of circular economy best practices supporting the implementation of the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and covering the EU Member States of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden as well as the partner countries Norway and Russia. The report also showcases a number of circular economy best practices from around the world.
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 environment.
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.
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.
The Directorate-General ENV of the European Commission is inviting you to participate in a webinar on Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) for newbies - a basic training on the PEF method - on 8 October 2021. No previous experience in the field is needed.
EU Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius will join RREUSE to explore the meaning of social value in the circular economyand whether social dynamics have been inherent factors in developing EU policies related to the green transition.
The webinar on 17 December 2021 will also focus on the way forward in ensuring that tools such as the Social Economy Action Plan and the Circular Economy Action Plan work together to create a more favourable policy and funding environment for social enterprises, safeguarding a socially fair and inclusive circular transition.
On 27 September, take part in Going Global with a Data-Driven Nordic Circular Model - a webinar organised by Circular Regions during Oslo Innovation Week 2021.
TOMRA, a global leader in collecting beverage containers for recycling, invites you to attend its second webinar on lessons learned from the world's highest-performing deposit return systems. This webinar will take a deep dive into how high-performing systems make retrieving containers convenient, and why convenience is key to an effective deposit recycling programme.
Urban Agenda Partnership for Innovative and Responsible Public Procurement
The workshop on Delivering the EU Green Deal through Circular Procurement will take place on 14 October during the European Week of Regions and Cities. This event will help procurement specialists, policy makers and other stakeholders understand how public procurement can accelerate local and regional transitions towards a circular economy.
Join the EU Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) programme's online webinar on 29 September 2021 to learn how ETV can help innovators, investors, and buyers improve their confidence in new environmental technologies through verification. ETV works to boost innovative environmental technologies adoption and contribute to the circular economy.
High-level foresight conference on positioning sustainable and circular bioeconomies in Central and Eastern Europe to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
The Making It Circular Challenge is a two-day event on circular economy for plastics in Europe. This free-of-charge event will take place online on 29-30 September 2021.
The European Union, the Canada Plastic Pact, the Circular Economy Coalition and the project Reducing Plastic Waste in Canada are hosting a WCEF21 two-hour Accelerator Session on circular economy for plastics with a focus on global supply chains on 15 September 2021.
The XI International Environmental Congress took place in Bogotà, Colombia on 23 and 24 October 2018, with participation from Cillian Lohan, ECESP coordination group member for the EESC.
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.
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.
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.