The 2020 edition of the Baltic Circular Procurement Congress will take place next 2-3 September 2020. During the event, representatives of government institutions and state-owned enterprises will discover the advantages of introducing closed-loop economy criteria for public procurement. They will also learn about tools that can facilitate and optimize the implementation of these criteria.
The coronavirus crisis has disastrous human and economic consequences, revealing our system's exposure to a variety of risks. As the pandemic forces us to adapt our daily lives in ways we would not have imagined, it is also challenging us to rethink the systems that underpin the economy.
While addressing public health consequences is clearly the priority, before the crisis, momentum had already been increasing around the need for a system reset, and the potential of a circular model.
Far from the pandemic pushing the circular economy agenda to the bottom of the list, this article by Jocelyn Blériot at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation highlights and reiterates that it is now more relevant than ever, and sets out to explore the wider possibilities for recovery.
ACI’s European E-Fuels Conference will be taking place in Hamburg, Germany on 4-5 November 2020. The event will bring together key industry stakeholders from the renewables, fuels, energy and oil & gas industry, and speakers will present on technical aspects of the e-fuel market, and highlight the latest challenges and opportunities in the industry.
LIFE - the European Programme for the Environment and Climate Action - has been financing Eco-Innovation and Circular Economy related projects since its start in 1992. The call for LIFE 2020 proposals is now open, with more than €450 million earmarked for nature conservation, environmental protection and climate action projects.
GRAMOFON, a European project coordinated by the Spanish Plastics Technology Centre AIMPLAS, has ended after 42 months, with very promising results on CO2 capture. New materials for capturing CO2 could be used to reduce industrial emissions and as catalysts.
SCALER provides mechanisms to accelerate the journey towards efficient and quick implementation of industrial symbiosis in the European process industry. They do this by developing action plans and adapted solutions to industrial stakeholders and communities.
SCALER works closely with a wide range of stakeholders including industrial networks, consultancies, researchers and policy makers at various geographic and political levels, to deliver practical tools and guidelines for industry actors engaging in resource efficiency, reuse and sharing.
To achieve this goal, SCALER is developing a set of reports and guides. They offer insights into how businesses can start industrial resource synergies with other companies to minimise their waste and create more value from their production.
The Oleofuels conference in Marseille, France, on 6-7 October, will bring together senior representatives from the biodiesel, renewable diesel and HVO industries to discuss the latest market advancements, developments and business opportunities.
L'édition 2020 de Produrable - le grand rendez-vous européen des Acteurs et des Solutions de l'Economie Durable - sera à l'enseigne de 'Sobriété, Solidarité, Prospérité... pour un New Deal Européen'.
The GLOPACK (Granting society with LOw environmental impact innovative PACKaging) project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research programme, investigates food packaging with no environmental footprint and the ability to extend the shelf-life of food products.
The GLOPACK position paper aims at clarifying many debatable points related to bioplastics and biodegradability, especially terminology, and focuses on the benefits of biodegradable (in natural conditions) packaging material that can help the food sector enter the virtuous loop of the circular economy.
The paper also proposes some recommendations (basic, strategic and tactical interventions) to help all stakeholders in the food packaging sector to align with the common goal of ending plastic pollution.
Business4Change is a 2-day Hackathon and initiative of the European Commission to be held on 16-17 November 2020 in Brussels, Belgium. The focus of the Hackathon is to support businesses with their transition to the circular economy. They are currently looking for "challenge owners" to pitch the circular challenges they are facing.
The Rediscovery Centre and the Environmental Protection Agency hosted a webinar on the European Commission’s recently released Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) on 7 May 2020.
Frank Wrap® is a natural and reusable alternative for food storage. This natural food wrap replaces the single use of plastic cling film.
The Coordination Group of the ECESP notes with interest the Call for mobilisation for a Green Recovery to reboot and reboost our economies for a sustainable future. With most of us already having signed on, there is no question that the recovery needs to be combined with the European Green Deal. The question is how to do so.
Launched in memory of social innovation pioneer Diogo Vasconcelos, the European Social Innovation Competition is run by the European Commission across all EU Member States and Horizon 2020 Associated Countries. The theme this year is Reimagine Fashion.
The major circular economy event, the World Circular Economy Forum, will be postponed until 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. A virtual WCEFonline event in September 2020 will address how the circular economy can help reboot the economy. (Image: Topias Dean, Sitra)
Re-think Circular Economy is a series of webinar organised by Tondo. It focuses on circular cities around the world, comparing their different scenarios and evolutionary paths and how the different frameworks of circularity and sustainability are implemented.
Over 100 participants joined the Circular Economy on the City Level webinar of the Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) which sparked interesting discussions about smart and efficient ways of leveraging the potential of cities and municipal utilities in the transition towards more circularity.
The Circular Aluminium Action Plan is the aluminium sector’s strategy for achieving aluminium’s full potential for a circular economy by 2030. The action plan aims to ensure that all end-of-life aluminium products are collected and recycled efficiently in Europe to maximise the aluminium recycling rates and to keep the material in active use. It builds on the aluminium industry’s Vision 2050 and provides policy recommendations for the sector.
The aluminium industry has the potential to be a key driver in achieving Europe’s ambitions for a climate-neutral and circular economy. Aluminium is by nature circular and fit for multiple recycling: it can be recycled over and over again without losing its original properties (lightness, conductivity, formability, durability, impermeability).
The Rediscovery Centre and the Environmental Protection Agency are hosting a webinar on the European Commission’s recently released Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) on Thursday 7 May 2020 at 12:00 – 13:30 CET.
The Circular Economy for the Data Centre Industry (CEDaCI) aims to enable trans-sectoral and transnational learning and develop circular economy solutions for the Data Centre Industry in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK by:
By joining this network you will receive innovative insights into circularity solutions and share ideas within a multi-professional network.
To become a member, you may apply by 30 September 2020.
In 2018, the Danish Ministry of Environment and Food and the Danish Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs launched a Strategy for Circular Economy, based on recommendations by an Advisory Board for Circular Economy. The strategy will be implemented in the period 2018-2022. The government launched initiatives within six thematic areas:
C123 is an EU-funded project aiming at transforming the largely available and unexploited methane resources into C3 hydrocarbons, particularly propylene.
Circular economy (CE) appears everywhere in Europe to be an adequate response to the challenges of resource scarcity. Driven by the development of the European CE Package, many initiatives to accelerate the transition are emerging, both on governmental and private levels, but they lack coordination.
In the wake of the new Circular Economy Action Plan published by the European Commission in March, the "Institut National de l'Economie Circulaire" (INEC) - member of the ECESP Coordination Group - and Orée have co-authored a study identifying the major CE networks in Europe in order to strengthen the cooperation needed to achieve CE ambitions. By so doing they have pursued their common aim to develop and disseminate a vision of an inclusive and unifying CE.
Read the full study.
The city of Leuven, in Flanders, aims to play a leading role in initiating systemic change in cities and society at large.
The Roadmap 2025 · 2035 · 2050, drawn up by Leuven 2030 and numerous experts, serves as a guide to achieving the goal of a climate-neutral city by 2050. In September 2019 a professional team of programme managers started on no less than 13 specific programmes, which will transform this unique plan into concrete actions and impact on the field.
Leuven Circulair finds its place in specific programme #09, outlining key actions for circularity in the city with a strong focus on social, repair, refurbishment, knowledge and expertise from the University of Leuven and local fablabs.
ACI’s Future of Polyolefins Summit, on 20 and 21 January 2021 in Antwerp, will provide the perfect opportunity to meet with leading executives and experts from across the entire value chain.
Initially designed as The Circulars Award program - which received 1,500+ applications from 70+ countries over 5 years - the initiative has evolved to a six-month program connecting innovators and entrepreneurs with industry leaders and circular experts for tailored mentorship.
The program aims to catalyze circular innovation and unlocks opportunities for accelerator participants to work directly with cross-industry leaders to scale their circular solutions.
Application categories include:
The Circulars Accelerator is led by Accenture in partnership with Anglo American, Ecolab and Schneider Electric, and run in collaboration with UpLink and the World Economic Forum.
Le Fonds ING pour une Economie plus Circulaire apporte son soutien à celles et ceux qui exercent leurs compétences et leur métier en vue d’une utilisation optimale des ressources naturelles.
