If It Becomes an Online Whip-Round
Do you remember the old “whip-round” we used to have amongst classmates to buy a present? Well, compare that to the viral potential of digital technologies, to Internet platforms and soc...
From Maple Trees to Biorefineries
Supported by: Great availability of renewable raw materials, institutional infrastructure and support: These are the ingredients that make Canada one of the major players in the bioecon...
An Industrial Rebirth
Yet for all the focus placed on Canada as a resource-rich country, another story deserves to be told. This one talks of transformation and innovation, of adaptation in the face of adversity and of t...
All Canada's Resources
It is well known that Canada is rich in biomass. Less known is the fact that the country also has a myriad of strongly developed industries that can leverage the potential of the bioeconomy. In Cana...
Sugar is Better than Oil
C4H10O2. This is the formula of 1,4-Butanediol, a chemical compound derived from butane, a colourless gas which is obtained through fractional distillation of oil and natural gas. It is a fossil-der...
The Unburnable Carbon Bubble
Mark conceived, with his co-founder Nick Robins who is currently Co-director of UNEP Inquiry, the “unburnable carbon” and “carbon bubble” idea. Since its launch, th...
From Waste to Green Building
Europe is asking us to prohibit – by 2025 – the use of landfills for plastic, metal, glass, paper and cardboard recyclable residues and for biodegradable ones; it is also calling for an ...
Oil Draws a Perfect Circle
The regeneration of used mineral oils represents a well-established positive example of circular economy in our country. Today, in Italy over 95% of used lubricating oils which enter a regeneration ...
A Journey Where Matter is for Good
The circular economy. It is difficult to determine where it starts and where it ends. We could imagine a 3D journey in which a circle becomes a spiral and the third axis is represented by the second...
Artificial and Safe
They appear as black granules, with the distinctive smell and colour of tyres from which they originate: this is recycled rubber from ELTs. It is precisely because of its smell and colour that such...
Intersecting Supply Chains
Intersecting production chains. This could be the key element of the circular economy where the stark difference between twentieth and twenty-first centuries could be noticed, as far as the use of r...
The Peak of Resources
There is a ghost hovering around the world. Its name is “The Peak”. In a way, it is an obvious concept: if we exploit a non-renewable resource, its production is bound to start from zero...
Mission 99% Accomplished
Changing often means evolving, keeping up with the times. What seemed to be a pioneering activity more than thirty years ago, when the Mandatory Consortium for Used Oils (Consorzio Obbligatorio Oli ...
Urban Mine
Better than Germany. Beyond San Francisco. This project is attracting a host of administrators and experts wishing to study and analyse it. It is Italy’s pride and joy. The subject of such att...
More Recycling on the Web
Following transformations in real time. This is how we can sum up the new Comieco’s initiative on e-commerce started recently to steer this sector, which is experiencing a strong growth, towar...
A Plastic Ocean
This new era is characterized by mass extinction of plants and animals, the melting of glaciers, billions of fumes releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and above all the extensive and uncon...
The Many Lives of Matter. Here's how to Convert it Back
Traditional forest industry products (like pulp and paper) are a vital part of the bioeconomy. Here we take a closer look at other emerging products. Forest resources are becoming an interest...
What Can't Be Cured Must Be Endured
For example: the toilet situation in railway stations. In my first article, I already touched upon the theme of “the use of urine.” I would like to go back to it by answering a question....
Towards Renewable Matter
This magazine is intended as a virtual roundtable. Our objective is to represent the share of society and of the international economy – which is far more significant than the media would like...
Undesiderable Recycling
Quite rightly so The Times devoted its Person of the Year cover to Trump: “The President of the Divided States of America.” The grounds for this decision read, “With this real esta...