The project LOOP-Ports – Circular Economy Network of Ports will hold its final conference on 16 December 2020 to disseminate its results, with a special emphasis on the analysis of the barriers faced by the actors of the maritime-port sector when implementing circular economy.
This European Environmental Agency event on 11 November from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. (CET) is aimed at identifying opportunities for harnessing the circularity potential of buildings and synergies with other policy areas such as climate change. It is addressed to policy-makers, NGOs, academia and also the wider public.
Bio-waste – mainly food and garden waste – is a key waste stream with a high potential for contributing to a more circular economy.
This European Environmental Agency Report provides an overview of bio-waste generation, prevention, collection, and treatment in Europe.
Bio-waste accounts for more than 34 % of the municipal solid waste. Many countries in Europe are far from capturing bio-waste's full potential. Food waste accounts for nearly 60 % of all bio-waste from households and similar sources. Preventing it is felt as an ethical responsibility for society.
Composting (with oxygen) and anaerobic digestion (without) are currently the two most widely applied treatment techniques. The latter generates biogas - renewable energy - and tends to deliver higher environmental benefits.
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 European Commission has decided to launch a €1 billion call for research and innovation projects that respond to the climate crisis and help protect Europe’s unique ecosystems and biodiversity. The Horizon 2020-funded European Green Deal Call is open for registration. It will spur Europe’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis by turning green challenges into innovation opportunities.
Many European countries still lack a national strategic roadmap for transposing the European directives at national level.
Some outstanding issues include the need to have clearer operational guidelines for the adoption of circular models and metrics for monitoring the transition towards circular models.
This study has been prepared in collaboration with Enel and with the scientific contribution of Enel Foundation. It unfolds in three main parts:
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 Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy fulfils the commitment in the Programme for Irish Government to publish and start implementing a new National Waste Action Plan. This new national waste policy will inform and give direction to waste planning and management in Ireland over the coming years. It will be followed later this year by an All of Government Circular Economy Strategy. The need to embed climate action in all strands of public policy aligns with the goals of the European Green Deal.
The policy document contains over 200 measures across various waste areas including Circular Economy, Municipal Waste, Consumer Protection and Citizen Engagement, Plastics and Packaging, Construction and Demolition, Textiles, Green Public Procurement and Waste Enforcement.
Join the "Solution" session of the 9th European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns (30 September - 2 October 2020) to hear the experience of three cities that have got down to the job of reducing or reusing plastic, construction and bio-waste.
This policy panel on implementing a circular economy in cities is part of the 9th European Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns, taking place from 30 September to 2 October 2020 in Mannheim, Germany.
Always wondered how circular economy could help take your city or region to the next level? This webinar by the European Federation of Agencies and Regions for Energy and the Environment (FEDARENE) is for you!
This workshop on 20 October 2020 will look at how cities and regions have invested in a circular economic system and how this has made them more resilient during the Covid-19 crisis.
Circular Change joined other Coordination Group members in several activities to encourage the participation of other relevant circular economy stakeholders in Central and Eastern Europe.
As part of Circular Week 2020, this meeting will highlight how Finland is building a circular economy system and how important a holistic approach to this concept is. We will learn about the latest circular packaging materials presented by representatives of Finnish companies. In the end, a matchmaking session will be held for interested business representatives.
On 16 September 2020, the President of the European Commission, Ms Ursula von der Leyen, gave her first State of the European Union address. President von der Leyen presented the priorities of the Commission for the coming year where the green transition of the economy and the circular economy hold prominent places.
Until 30 September 2020, the University of Helsinki is seeking contributions for a planned edited volume, exploring the various social and cultural aspects of the shift from the current take-make-waste extractive industrial model to the restorative circular economy concept.
In the EU, waste water and solid waste are separately managed. Syctom and SIAAP, through their project COMETHA, aim to demonstrate the available synergies in institutional and technical cooperation regarding the circular economy principles for carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, and the optimisation of renewable energy production. Target: a future with “zero non-recovered sludge and solid waste".
On 8 September 2020 the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Commission (EC) will hold the 16th meeting (online) of the Technical Platform for Cooperation on the Environment, dedicated to "How can local and regional authorities use the circular economy as an enabler of a sustainable recovery?"
Les Assises de l’économie circulaire reviennent les 7 et 8 septembre 2020 avec un événement inédit - web et 100% gratuit - pour aborder des sujets de fond, concrets, au bénéfice et à la portée de tous et de chacun.
The Capital Region of Denmark is committed to becoming a fossil-free and circular region by 2050. Inter alia, this entails achieving an 80% recycling rate for the region’s waste by 2035, and growing green business activities by 8% by 2025. New forms of cooperation and dialogues between stakeholders are necessary to reach these goals.
Through a three-year public-private partnership, the Region and its partners aim to pave the way for greater collaboration between the waste sector and the business community. Metabolic collaborated with the Region to undertake a material flow analysis and an environmental assessment of the Region’s waste system, and to identify impact hotspots and circular opportunities.
Read the executive summary of the waste analysis, or the full Danish report.
This transversal White Paper by the Interreg MED's Green Growth community displays the horizontal approach towards cooperation on Circular Economy and Green Growth in the Mediterranean as well as challenges, success factors and lessons learned.
The first of 4 Thematic Working Groups created by the Interreg MED's Green Growth community focused on Sustainable Consumption and Production by enhancing Resource Efficiency in the Mediterranean agrofood sector, as well as in urban areas through the implementation of the Smart City Concept.
The White Paper zooms in on the difficulties that companies face in:
It then presents the projects' solutions and the benefits of resource efficiency for the environment and the economy. The projects were monitored according to the EU CEAP's indicator framework.
The European Commission has launched the public consultation on the green claims initiative. It will be open until 3 December 2020.
The Circularity Gap Report Norway is an in-depth analysis of how Norway consumes raw materials to fuel its societal needs. Currently, 97.6% of materials consumed each year never make it back into the economy.
Norway also has one of the highest per capita consumption rates in the world (44.3 tonnes per person). At 2.4%, its circularity rate is below the global average (8.6%). Each year Norway consumes 235 million tonnes of materials - metals, fossil fuels, biomass and minerals - to meet its internal needs.
However, the report reveals how Norway could see a 20-fold increase in its circularity by restructuring its businesses and industry through 6 key actions in the following fields:
This case study on the EU's Circular Economy Plan (CEAP) by the Ellen McArthur Foundation reflects back on the steps which the European Commission took to take a lead in circular economy policies globally. From initially aiming at improving resource efficiency, to redefining growth with positive social, environmental, and economic benefits, this case study analyses this policy-making process.
The CEAP was a comprehensive body of legislative and non-legislative actions adopted in 2015, which aimed to transition the European economy from a linear to a circular model. It mapped out 54 actions, as well as four legislative proposals on waste.
By rethinking resource efficiency and material flows, the European Commission has developed a framework to promote systemic change.
