Repair: Hallmark of Adventures Lived
If each outdoor enthusiast kept their jacket, pants, base layer, for just one or maybe even two seasons longer, each of these garments would “offset” in that time 1/3 of the production footprint...
Beyond ownership: Tool Libraries on the rise
Going beyond ownership and borrowing a blender or a ladder for a limited time at a Tool Library: despite the restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 emergency, this has been one of the simplest an...
SynBio: What Synthetic Biology Can Do for the Circular Economy
Synthetic biology or SynBio is a powerful and versatile tool that can be used in a wide number of applications. The limit lies in the researcher’s fantasy – and, obviously, ethical issues linked...
Making Empties Count: Deposit Return Schemes Across The World
Many experts identify Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) as a key way of reducing the production of single-use packaging waste, especially in the food and drinks sector. The mechanism is simple: encourage...
New EU rules on packaging shows beverage carton is not as renewable as previously thought
Several of Europe’s biggest economies recycle less drink carton than previously thought, shows a recent report from Zero Waste Europe. New EU rules for calculating packaging recycling rates reveal...
How Robotics and AI are Changing Recycling in the US
Recycling can be regarded as one of the pillar of circular economy. The essential step towards the transformation of a good into a new good relies and depends to its process. Recycling process is th...
Enough Is Enough: Overpackaging in the Food System
In Europe alone, the demand for plastic is close to 50 million tonnes a year, 40% of which is packaging. And almost entirely single-use. This is too much. Examples of overpackaging mostly come from ...
Natural hydrogen: a geological curiosity or the primary energy source for a low-carbon future?
The history of energy is one of gradual substitutions from inefficient, dirtier, expensive options to cleaner, cheaper, higher-performing fuels. Mills and machines replaced manual labor, and more re...
Christa Schweng: the Union is Circular
Christa Schweng was elected President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on 28 October 2020 for a period of two and a half years, to run until March 2023. She has been an EESC memb...
Carlo Petrini and Franco Fassio: This is The Future of the Circular Economy for Food
If the agri-food industry wants to contribute to achieving SDGs it must embrace circularity, cut waste and value social and natural capital. It must also favour local scale while paying attention to...
Contaminated Earth. FAO: no more pristine soil on the planet
Food security, water, monitoring the greenhouse gas cycle, maintaining biodiversity: all these ecosystem services depend on the health of the soil. And yet, there is no land on the planet today that...
Europe: another step toward the right to repair
The war is not yet won, but there has been another successful battle. With a vote in the European Parliament on 25th November, the campaign for the right to repair scored an important victory. Overc...
Is remote working really better for the environment?
The Future of Jobs 2020, a report drafted by the World Economic Forum, highlights a number of ongoing trends, including the expansion of remote working, the acceleration of digitalisation , and auto...
The Pros and Cons of Reducing Transport Emissions Using LNG
Heavy haul transport has to understand which path to choose. Better to fully push toward electrification, with technology that is not yet mature, or to go through a gas-powered transition phase? We ...
Good as new: boom in the refurbished tech market (with a push from Covid)
Every year, towards the end of November, our screens are filled with promotions and advertising for Black Friday deals. A feature that is likely to distinguish this autumn from previous years, aside...
Jocelyn Bleriot: Rethinking Cities as Production Centres for Food
The Covid-19 pandemic has unveiled the dysfunctions in the current global agricultural and food systems, exposing many to insecurity and hunger. At the same time, it has also revealed certain commun...
The Stakeholder Conference: a place to discuss the future of the European circular economy
“It’s all about you”. With these words, on 3rd November, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal Frans Timmermans inaugurated the 2020 Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference. He ...
Hydrogen: so many choices, so few actions
Hydrogen, perhaps the most promising technology in clean energy transition era, is still rarely exploited worldwide. Efforts are being made in order to create concretely hydrogen-based solutions, es...
Second Life… is Circular!
The Alliance for the circular economy, joined by Enel and 16 other Italian iconic companies, presented a paper to steer transition towards the circular economy with huge advantages for the climate, ...
Big Plastic’s Manual Of False Solutions For Plastic Waste
Delay, distract, and derail any law or action plan for reducing plastic waste, so business-as-usual can go on as long as possible. These are the three basic tactics that Big Plastic has successfully...