Groningen Seaports is the economic operator, developer and port authority for the port of Delfzijl, Eemshaven and adjoining industrial sites. Groningen Seaports is at the forefront of the circular economy with an innovative circular cluster and ongoing sustainable investments. They facilitate mechanical and chemical recycling and specialise in recycling plastics.
Interseroh provides recycling solutions for plastic packaging. For instance, it has developed a pooling system of reusable plastic boxes for fruit and vegetables sold at Aldi Süd, a German supermarket network.
The Gr3n projects aims to contribute to the fight against plastic proliferation in the world by introducing an innovative process for profitable plastic recycling. This process uses microwave technology on a chemical reaction, and results in a ground-breaking, economically efficient chemical recycling process for PET.
Forall Phones is a chain of stores, launched in Portugal, which focuses on refurbishing and reselling technological items.
Knjižnica alata is an initiative in Beli Manastir, Croatia, which was started seven years ago by Duško Kostić. This project is the only one of its kind in the country, and consists of a tool library where people can borrow the tools they need.
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.
Circular Threads is a down-to-the-ground research aiming to offer a picture of the practices related to sustainability and circularity in the fashion and textile industry in Northern Italy.
This work represents a starting point to concretely foster the transition towards circular production models in the Italian textile industry. Researchers have developed a tripartite approach (desk research, questionnaire and circularity assessment) with different levels of granularity to measure the sustainability and circularity of the companies present in this area.
The report highlights how few companies in the fashion and textile industry are adopting CE practices and strategies, and a clear lack of knowledge-sharing about the opportunities the CE can bring them on a systemic level.
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.
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
The Remanufacturing platform is designed to help with the development of remanufacturing activities. It provides resources and reflection on remanufacturing and the circular economy.
Set up in 2014, Remanufacturing aims to promote remanufacturing and associated RE-activities for product life extension. Within circular economy value recovery cycles, products can be REused, REpaired, REnovated, REmanufactured or REcycled. The aim is to reuse end-of-life products and components in new or upgraded products.
Remanufacturing has created a website describing the advantages of and barriers to starting up and developing remanufacturing activities, with examples and methodologies.
Circular Economy Coalition (CERC) promotes the key objectives of the EC Circular Economy Action Plan in Romania, stimulating the development of new markets, business models, and contributing to economic growth and jobs creation. It facilitates activities for its members, becoming a key player for the domestic business community interested in transitioning towards a circular economic ecosystem.
CERC monitors national and EU policies, and is actively communicating with Romanian authorities to improve the legislative framework on circular economy. It is open to establishing strategic partnerships with similar local and international organisations and academia. The scope is to develop studies and reports on circularity and to support the implementation of circular economy programmes.
The One Planet Network is a platform that assembles information about the state of play in sectors that are particularly relevant to the circular economy and need assistance developing tools and policies to reduce waste and improve sustainability.
It aims to implement the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production, focusing on SDG12. The network consists of stakeholders generating collective impact in public procurement, building and construction, tourism, food systems, consumer information and lifestyles and education.
Countries, stakeholders and organisations are invited to join and participate. The One Planet Network's strategy runs from 2018 to 2022 and was initiated by the UN's Environment Programme.
ReSociety is a global collective initiative which aims to promote and accelerate the transformation to the circular economy. It is a gathering point for circular mindsets to align, share lessons, co-create solutions and spark new innovations. ReSociety is open to consumers, educators, NGOs, journalists, enterprises, policymakers and industries from all over the world. It is founded on the belief that by working together, it is possible to scale solutions for a more sustainable future.
ReSociety was initiated by TOMRA's Circular Economy Division in early 2020 to exchange research and knowledge, establish new partnerships and share ideas on holistic waste and resource systems, which are essential for developing circular value chains.
The Austrian network RepaNet represents social businesses working in the re-use sector. By preventing waste, it contributes to linking the circular use of goods/products with the creation of fair job opportunities. It promotes and anchors re-use and repair in Austrian and European policy, administration, economy and waste management and provides consulting to initiatives, enterprises, stakeholders and decision-makers.
With its almost 40 members, RepaNet connects initiatives in the DIY-repair sector, like BauKarussell for the building sector and Tchibo for social textile. It has also created RepaThek, the biggest online literature platform on re-use, repair and CE in German.
Concrete results can be found in the regular reports: 2020-2021.
CIRCULÉIRE is Ireland’s first cross-sectoral circular economy innovation network, first designated EU circular economy hotspot, and is supported by several government departments. Its goal is to accelerate the transition towards a net-zero carbon circular economy in Ireland.
CIRCULÉIRE is co-creating innovative solutions with Irish industry from the agri-food, pharmaceutical, recycling, medical devices, ICT and built environment sectors. It has a dedicated innovation fund to invest in innovation demonstration projects.
CIRCULÉIRE also engages with a wide range of stakeholders from the Irish innovation ecosystem through our open-access circular economy knowledge library and capacity building activities including annual thematic working groups and workshops.
Initiated under the patronage of the German Development Minister Gerd Müller, the PREVENT Waste Alliance was launched in May 2019. It serves as a platform for exchange and international cooperation. Organisations from the private sector, academia, civil society and public institutions jointly engage for a circular economy.
The PREVENT Waste Alliance wants to contribute to minimising waste, eliminating pollutants and maximising the reuse of resources in the economy worldwide. Members of the platform work together for waste prevention, collection, and recycling as well as the increased uptake of secondary resources in low- and middle-income countries.
The platform focuses on waste from plastic packaging and single use products as well as waste electrical and electronic equipment.
EFIC is organizing an hybrid event on 19 May, to create a cross value chain discussion about the furniture industry and its future competitiveness and positive societal impact. Policymakers, furniture industry and supply chain representatives will debate about the impact of the pandemic and the twin transition: sustainability and digitalisation.
A learning and exchange event on the amelioration of regional policy instruments targeting the circular economy is organised by REPLACE in Brussels on 11 March.
The EU’s second Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP 2.0) is now moving ahead, with further elements expected in March and July 2022. Will this package deliver what is required in terms of industrial decarbonisation? A renewed focus on carbon budgets, combined with climate neutrality by mid-century, means the EU’s green industrial transition must increasingly harness the enormous greenhouse gas abatement potential offered by enhanced circularity and materials efficiency for the most CO2-intensive materials and products.
Join the discussion at an Agora Online Event on 17 March at 9:00-11:00 CET!
The International MonGOS conference - Water and Sewage in the Circular Economy Model, which will be held from 30 June to 1 July 2022 in Cracow (Poland), will provide a summary of the MonGOS project "Monitoring of water and sewage management in the context of the implementation of the circular economy assumptions" financed by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) under the International Academic Partnerships Programme (2020-2022).
You are invited to participate in a webinar led by the European Commission, DG ENV, on 8 March 2022, to launch a "Support study for the development of the Roadmap for the reduction of whole life carbon of buildings", .
DiCE Lab is an initiative of two universities - TU Delft and ETH Zurich - aimed at connecting academia, policy and practice to discuss digital innovations for achieving a circular economy. This webinar is focused on blockchain technology.
SUM 2022 - 6th Symposium on Circular Economy and Urban Mining - will take place from 18 to 20 May 2022 in the fascinating venue of Capri, Italy. The Symposium, organised biennially since 2012 by the International Waste Working Group (IWWG), is the reference forum for resource recovery from waste, where scientists and stakeholders can debate cutting edge results and focus on future needs. The conference programme will include parallel tracks of oral sessions, workshops, poster presentations and much more.
Batteries are considered crucial for the transition to a circular and climate-neutral economy. On 10 February, the European Parliament's Environment Committee (ENVI) overwhelmingly (by 74 to 8!) adopted an ambitious report on the European Batteries Regulation covering proposed rules governing the entire battery product lifecycle, from design to end-of-life. This webinar, which will take place on 3 March at 15:00 CET and is organised by TÜV Rheinland, will address durability of consumer electronics with regard to needs/issues for removable and replaceable batteries.
Participate in this free webinar on 17 March, the second of a series of informational webinars for Interreg North-West Europe funded project TRANSFORM-CE. In this webinar the TRANSFORM-CE project partners will share the advances and outputs from the research and innovation carried out under this Interreg NW Europe funded initiative on plastics as a source for future use.
Just say no to textile waste! In order to identify the potential for circular business practices and fabric recycling, it is important to understand the availability and usage of post-industrial and post-consumer textile waste in production and consumption countries.
The Commission has opened a public consultation on the review of the Directive on the end-of-life vehicles (ELV). It is targeted especially at two stakeholder groups: 1) citizens with a general interest in the area of end-of-life vehicles; 2) stakeholders (economic operators, NGOs, public administrations…) who have specific knowledge and/or interest about end-of-life vehicles. Let's participate!
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.
Examining the role of selective waste collection in a CE by focusing on two different waste streams (plastics and bio-waste) while also granting consideration to the future of highly selective collection streams.
Panel discussions around tools and methodologies to assess the impact of marine litter and to address the issue of circular economy and sustainable tourism in islands.
The first Slovenian Circular Economy Roadmap paves the way towards a circular economy in Slovenia.
Study on Identifying the Impact of the Circular Economy on the FMCG industry: Opportunities and Challenges for Labour Market, Supply Chains and Consumer Behaviour
The stakeholder panel discussed the issue of integrating consumer insights in the circular economy: needs, benefits and best practices.
The second meeting of the ECESP Coordination Group was held on 18 and 19 October 2018 in Brussels to discuss the platform's activities, define objectives for the coming year and reflect on its overall implementation.
The first meeting of the ECESP Coordination Group provided a fertile ground for discussion on how the platform will reach its objectives.
In the framework of the Urban Agenda Partnership on Circular Economy, ACR+ co-organised a workshop with its member OVAM, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions and Eurocities.
The Austrian Circular Economy Platform Circular Futures was launched in March 2018 at the House of the European Union in Vienna.
The Coordination Group of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform plays a key role in guiding the Platform's activities: reinforcing interaction between stakeholders, facilitating the exchange of good practices and fostering a European debate on how to transition to a circular economy.
