On 4 February, Holland Circular Hotspot organised a webinar on European opportunities for the circular economy during the Dutch Week of the Circular Economy.
The Circular Navarre Catalogue is a booklet showcasing 20 organisations - based on circular business models - in the Navarre region, who are looking for international cooperation.
The main objective of the INSIGHT project is to develop a new professional profile: the industrial symbiosis facilitator, who helps transition towards the design of a common curriculum and learning approach.
Ethikis has created LONGTIME®, the first European, independent label identifying and promoting products designed to last.
Holy-wood is an association of craftsmen who design designer furniture with locally recovered wood in an ethical and holistic approach.
The cleanSpot application provides users with an easy way to search for recycling centres and specialised recycling containers where they can drop off their non conventional urban waste for correct recycling.
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.
Excess Materials Exchange (EME) is a young and innovative technology company whose digital matching platform aims to find new high-value reuse options for materials or (waste) products for companies.
Eco-vouchers (Ecocheques) are an incentive for Belgian households to purchase eco-friendly goods and services, including second-hand and refurbished ones.
The ECESP Coordination Group met for the third time on 17 October 2019 in Brussels to review the Platform's 2019 activities and define its objectives for 2020.
Following a 19 February 2019 workshop on Circular Economy Competences - Making the Case for Lifelong Learning in the European Parliament, ACR+ and Zero Waste Scotland have produced a report detailing how to introduce circular thinking in education, create vocational training programmes in waste management, repair and reuse, and developing training programs for local authority staff.
ACR+ has consistently advocated to accelerate the circular economy, while also showcasing urban best practice in circular economy throughout 2019 at various events across the European continent.
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.
WREP (Waste REcycling Project) 2018 was a pilot project by the Italian PVC forum designed to improve the collection and recycling of polyvynil chloride in Venice. This pilot forms part of a wider, 3-year project to increase recycling of post-use PVC, and focused on the demolition and recycling sectors in particular.
Use of recycled plastic material (rPM) in North West Europe is homogeneously low. In packaging and building, the highest plastic-consuming sectors, only 8% of plastic employed is recyclate (Plastics Europe 2016). The Interreg NWE research project Di-Plast develops digital technology to enable complete documentation and quality assurance of recycled plastic material flows.
The Pura Production Group is clearly commited to sustainable production. Pura's flagship Blue Right line for hotels and offices is a circular economy front runner: the floor, interior, sanitary and kitchen cleaners are produced without hazardous chemicals, sold in portion-controlled compostable packaging and lead to zero waste after use.
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 Climate Pact, which was set up by Luxembourg's Ministry of Sustainable Development and Infrastructure in order to enable municipalities wishing to actively tackle climate change to request State support by signing an engagement charter, now includes measures on circular economy.
The Austrian Circular Economy Platform Circular Futures was launched in March 2018 at the House of the European Union in Vienna.
The municipality of Almere aspires to become a waste-free and energy-neutral city by 2022. The administration wants to bring the business community and knowledge institutes’ innovative power together to enable co-creation in the field of waste management and upcycling in the urban context.
With half a million inhabitants, the ‘Eurométropole’ of Strasbourg is a collection of 33 municipalities and represents a centre of activity in the east of France. Deeply committed to energy transition, the Eurométropole adopted a climate plan in 2009 aimed at energy savings, the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and the development of renewable energies.
Lyon Métropole, which includes 59 municipalities and 1 300 000 inhabitants, wants to build a sustainable future for its citizens. The Métropole relies on green investments to face environmental challenges. Lyon is also committed to building circular solutions for the region and has been recognised as a ‘zero waste territory’ (territoire zéro déchet, zéro gaspillage) since 2015.
Oslo has been developing a waste management system based on circular principles to ensure separate waste collection is maximised and transform waste into secondary raw materials. To do so it has actively engaged with citizens, farmers as well as with its city’s public transportation company.
Facing dramatic deindustrialisation and an uncertain future, the city of Turin implemented processes that paired physical redevelopment with strategic planning to promote citywide revitalisation and economic restructuring in the 1990s. While the transformation has been profound, current challenges call for more circular strategies and an inclusive approach.
