New sustainable packaging will extend guacamole’s shelf life by 15% thanks to labels and additives extracted from the avocado itself. The GUACAPACK Project aims to use renewable sources to develop an innovative biodegradable packaging system that includes barrier labels and antioxidant additives from avocado waste.
The Horizon 2020 project SUSTAINair was launched recently. It aims to research and develop solutions to increase resource efficiency and aircraft performance while cutting down on waste and material costs throughout the aircraft life cycle - what is known as "circular aviation".
SUSTAINair is an H2020-funded platform developing circular economy principles for the aviation and aerospace design, manufacturing, operations and end-of-life phases. This EU-funded research project aims to make the entire supply chain ecosystem greener, in line with the Circular Economy Action Plan, and to set new standards for aerospace manufacturing, enabling an increase in cross-sector synergies.
The SUSTAINair project provides the aviation sector with a path to a more cost-effective, low-carbon economy, while tackling the increase in resource consumption, waste and emissions. Because of this, the SUSTAINair project has been endorsed by the Future Sky research initiative of the Association of European Research Establishments in Aeronautics (EREA).
PlastiCircle Final Forum on 13 April will display technologies for the circularity of packaging waste.
As the Horizon 2020 research programme becomes Horizon Europe, what better time to witness how great ideas turned into real projects? LOOPS will be the opportunity to show what cutting-edge research has been produced, and which changes it can bring to our communities. The topic of the episode on 12 April will orbit around the concept of circularity in the textile industry.
Alchemia-nova, the Institute for innovative phytochemistry and closed loop processes, has colloborated with vertECO, GRETA and LooPi to develop three types of green walls, which treat wastewater to service water standards and create plant biomass and fertiliser.
ACCEZ is a platform which aims to foster circular economy practices in the southern Netherlands. It pools initiatives by several regional universities and public and private actors in the following fields:
The platform bolsters cooperation between partners to develop solutions for knowledge-intensive issues. To do so, they oversee and fund triple-helix research projects. The end-goal of the platform is to enhance the regional knowledge base and networks, with a view to substantially accelerating the transition to a circular economy.
Across the world, cluster organisations have taken a leading role in the green transition. Cluster Excellence Denmark recently released a new e-book titled Towards a New Greener Normal – How Clusters are Dealing with Circular Transition in Times of COVID-19, exploring how this work has continued despite the current pandemic.
The e-book contains informative insights into how clusters are integrating the green transition and digitalisation, leading to brand new and innovative solutions with market potential.
LOOPS is a live webinar series organised by Veltha to explore state-of-the-art technology and foster knowledge exchange from research to industry in the field of the circular economy. Each episode will feature a discussion with Horizon2020-funded projects, providing valuable insights into the research produced so far in this field.
EU institutions and agencies are increasingly raising awareness about the circular economy agenda. They are encouraging marketplace stakeholders to engage in sustainable production and consumption by reducing, reusing, restoring, refurbishing and recycling resources throughout their value chain.
This research evaluates the latest European environmental policies including the new circular economy plans for a cleaner and more competitive Europe. It then goes on to present a systematic literature review focused on the circular economy in the EU context. The findings suggest that there are a number of opportunities and challenges for the successful planning, organisation, implementation and measurement of circular economy practices.
The RepescaPlas closed its third year with the collection of 4.2 tonnes of marine litter and excellent results in terms of recovery of this litter through chemical recycling. The project has now entered its fourth phase, in which it is expected to strengthen the industrial-scale management and treatment of marine litter.
The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra is a future fund collaborating with partners to research, trial and implement bold ideas that shape the future. It aims to make Finland a pioneer in sustainable well-being.
Since 2015, Sitra has been working to lead the way to a circular economy – a new kind of society in which everyday lives and well-being are no longer based on excessive consumption and fossil fuel use.
Currently, Sitra’s work focuses on supporting a fair transition to a circular economy and investigating how business can be based on sharing instead of ownership. Sitra is also working to advance circular trade policies, to increase the understanding of environmental effects of digitisation and to explore the potential of the circular economy to safeguard biodiversity.
Over the last 2 and a half years, CICERONE has worked closely with over 100 stakeholders, primarily programme owners, to build more alignment for circular economy programming and funding in Europe. The event on 30 March is an excellent opportunity to hear the partners present some of the project's results and experience first-hand the launch of the new EU Circular Cooperation Hub.
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.
CICERONE is a group of European programme owners, researchers and businesses seeking to build a platform for an efficient circular economy. Its report Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) on Circular Economy aims to help owners and funders of European circular economy programmes adopt a systemic approach to circular economy transition.
The SRIA was developed based on eight priority themes (biomass and biotechnologies, chemicals, construction and demolition, food, plastic, raw materials, waste and water) and builds on four societal areas that face sustainability challenges (urban areas, industrial systems, value chains and territory and sea) to identify priority areas to tackle EU region-wide issues and facilitate the circular economy transition.
The Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) is an international, non-profit think-and-do tank. Together with companies, political organisations and civil society actors, the CSCP pursues its mission to mainstream sustainability towards the good life for all.
From H2020 projects (R2Pi, Scalibur, Refresh and Spread), to CE Missions to Japan and Mexico, to launching the Consumer Insight Action Panel with the European Economic and Social Committee, co-developing the European Circular Cities Declaration or designing and running the Academy of Change – a unique capacity building programme that can be replicated across various topics - the CSCP integrates multiple stakeholders and various perspectives to help implement a systemic transition towards circularity.
Together with its research partner TNO Netherlands, the European Sustainable Business Federation - Ecopreneur.eu - invites companies to take part in a consortium of green SMEs to respond to future calls from the new HORIZON EU research and innovation programme, which runs from 2021 until 2027 and has a budget of around EUR 95,5 billion.
The Commission's DG Environment and DG for International Cooperation and Development commissioned a study on the circular economy in Africa, and eight country reports were drawn up in preparation for a continent-wide report on the prospects of the circular economy in Africa.
The Rwanda report examines the scope and status of the circular economy there. It looks at the policy framework, trade and investments and the impact and benefits of the circular economy. It also explores circular economy-related cooperation between the EU and Rwanda. It concludes that the government is acting on circular economy principles and is well placed to be the regional hub for Africa in the area of the circular economy.
The Commission's DG Environment and DG for International Cooperation and Development commissioned a study on the circular economy in Africa, and eight country reports were drawn up in preparation for a continent-wide report on the prospects of the circular economy in Africa.
The Senegal report examines the scope and status of the circular economy there. It looks at the policy framework, trade and investments and the impact and benefits of the circular economy. It also explores circular economy-related cooperation between the EU and Senegal. It concludes that Senegal is promoting the green economy as a way to meet basic social needs and support sustainable development, and has adopted a national circular economy policy.
The Commission's DG Environment and DG for International Cooperation and Development commissioned a study on the circular economy in Africa, and eight country reports were drawn up in preparation for a continent-wide report on the prospects of the circular economy in Africa.
The Nigeria report examines the scope and status of the circular economy there. It looks at the policy framework, trade and investments and the impact and benefits of the circular economy. It also explores circular economy-related cooperation between the EU and Egypt. It concludes that there has been no real circular economy shift away from Nigeria's dependence on oil.
The Commission's DG Environment and DG for International Cooperation and Development commissioned a study on the circular economy in Africa, and eight country reports were drawn up in preparation for a continent-wide report on the prospects of the circular economy in Africa.
The Morocco report examines the scope and status of the circular economy there. It looks at the policy framework, trade and investments and the impact and benefits of the circular economy. It also explores circular economy-related cooperation between the EU and Morocco. It concludes that while Morocco is committed to implementing policies in favour of the circular economy, the concept is fairly new.
