12 Jan 2021
Call for proposals for textiles implementing partners in Africa - deadline extended until 25 January 2021.
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Conception circulaire
The Flemish government’s Facility Services Agency opts for circular office furnishings
The Facility Services Agency drew up an inventory of all the surplus office furniture from the various departments of the Flemish government. This made it much easier to give the chairs, desks and cupboards etc. a second life.
25 Feb 2021
EU Interreg Alpine Space Project CIRCULAR4.0 takes you on a virtual study tour on Circular Design Business Models in a Circular Economy.
A System Change Compass - Implementing the European Green Deal in a time of recovery
A System Change Compass - Implementing the European Green Deal in a Time of Recovery
The European Green Deal provides the impetus to find more resilient, fair and sustainable economic systems. To deliver this ambition and recover from the economic impact of COVID-19, a systemic approach is needed.
The System Change Compass re-examines the driving forces of our socio-economic system, addressing the issues of resource consumption and environmental pressures.
The report presents future-fit policy directions and economic ecosystems (among them, nature-based, circular materials), and shows how these can better serve our societal needs and work within planetary boundaries. It also highlights 50+ champion orientations outlining a next-generation industrial landscape, with investable opportunities for jobs and a more sustainable future via COVID-19 recovery funds.
22 Mar 2021
The session on Chemical waste as a resource – examples from the distribution sector (hosted by Fecc) on 22 March highlights opportunities for and experience of using high-quality second-hand chemicals, while connecting a variety of value chains. Result: reduced waste, CO2 emissions saved, plus the implementation of a circular business model in the chemical supply chain.
Julia Metzner
13 Feb 2021
The New European Bauhaus is a creative and interdisciplinary initiative, a space of encounter to design future ways of living, at the crossroads between art, culture, social inclusion, science and technology, in the name of simplicity, functionality and circularity. Its team is planning a series of information sessions to present the opportunities to contribute to the initiative.
Convert makes every fibre matter
Convert works to support UN Sustainable Development Goal 12: ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns. It explores how natural sustainable resources can be used to make new products and seeks to reduce the amount of waste on earth through recycling and upcycling. Every fibre matters when waste fibres are used as non-woven material.
25 Mar 2021
Join the Finnish innovation Fund Sitra, the European Environment Agency and the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform to discuss how to create a level playing field for circular businesses and how to enable a transition to a circular economy through incentives that promote circularity. Rendez-vous on 25 March (13:00 to 14:30 CET).
A framework for enabling circular business models in Europe
The circular economy has become a priority policy topic in Europe (EC, 2015, 2020) and is a key objective of the European Green Deal. There is increasing interest in the potential for altering traditional business models to enable materials and products to be reused and remain in the economy for as long as possible — as opposed to being used once and then discarded.
This briefing presents an analytical framework, identifying actions that can be taken to implement circular business models effectively.
09 Feb 2021
Catalonia's Ministry of Territory and Sustainability is organising the 2021 Catalonia Eco-Design Award. This recognises products already in the market or under development or strategies designed to improve the environmental performance of products and services and so contribute to the circular economy. Deadline for applications: 15 February.
Sandra Piesik
04 Feb 2021
It is possible to make products safer and more sustainable by assessing their performance at the design stage of product development, according to the EEA. This approach would reduce risks from chemical pollution and support Europe’s transition to a circular and low-carbon economy.
Universal circular economy policy goals
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has identified five universal circular economy policy goals that provide a framework for national governments, cities and businesses to create a transition that fosters innovation and decouples growth from finite resource consumption and environmental degradation.
As governments and industries around the globe move towards a circular economy, it is key to align ambitions and collaborate effectively. The five goals provide a blueprint for cooperation and the private and public sectors need to pull together to achieve them. The goals acknowledge that the relevant policies are interconnected, which will help avoid creating a patchwork of solutions.
The Fabric Sales - an almost complete circular fashion powerhouse
At the Fabric Sales, a new model has been developed for repurposing and extending the life of designer fabrics.
Elisa
CiLAB collective creates new circular concepts on textile and furniture waste
Together with the students for furniture design of VOMO the CiLAB collective started a journey creating new circular concepts based on textile and furniture waste. The concepts do not only facilitate awareness but also link with the local community and the city of Mechelen.
18 Jan 2021
On 18 January 2021, the co-design phase of the New European Bauhaus is officially starting! The launch was announced by Commissioners Gabriel and Ferreira.
European Environmental Bureau
The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) is Europe’s largest network of environmental NGOs working for a better future where people and nature thrive together.
Framing the Circular Economy as an EU recovery opportunity
Framing the Circular Economy as an EU recovery opportunity
Recovery from the Covid-19 crisis presents an important and unique opportunity for the EU to accelerate its transition towards a climate-neutral and circular economy. While there is little dispute about the opportunities offered by the funds available for the low-carbon and circular economy, the longer-term impact on Europe’s decarbonisation trajectory will depend on the choices made in the National Recovery and Resilience Plans and on how the overall policy framework is adapted.
After describing the EU recovery plan, this paper discusses various policy instruments – both new and existing – to create demand for circular materials and lower-carbon products, illustrated by examples of four resource and carbon-intensive sectors, namely construction, steel, textiles and plastics.
Ecopreneur.eu - the European Sustainable Business Federation
The European Sustainable Business Federation Ecopreneur.eu features six national associations with 3000 sustainable companies - mostly SMEs.
A member of the ECESP Coordination Group, Ecopreneur.eu is the international business organisation in Brussels committed to ambitious measures, rules and regulations for a low-carbon circular economy. Ecopreneur.eu advocates a new economic framework by bringing concrete experience from pioneering companies into the political debate, showing best practice examples and advocating the needs of green SMEs in a credible way.
The Ecopreneur.eu Low-Carbon Circular Economy Advocacy Group is a sounding board of circular economy pioneers, including Tarkett, Werner & Mertz, Interface, REMONDIS and HUMANA Kleidersammlung.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, or how to accelerate the transition to a circular economy
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:
- Learning
- Business
- Institutions, Governments and Cities
- Insight and Analysis
- Systemic Initiatives
- Communications.
Arthur ten Wolde
Michael Laermann
REFUCOAT: recycling food packaging and preventing salmonella
The European REFUCOAT project developed innovative, efficient, bioplastic food packaging production processes using renewable, recyclable materials which could replace conventional fossil fuel-based raw materials. Three different bio-based active packaging systems were developed.
Ostraco: from discarded oyster shells to beautiful glass
In France, the designer Lucile Viaud found her way to contribute to organic recycling. More precisely, to recycling of seafood waste. Her work is focused on transforming oyster shells into glass.