Reuse and New European Directives: Basic Guidelines
Trading in second-hand goods is one of the world’s oldest professions, but the ecological value of reuse has only recently been recognised. The circular economy package provides tools and targ...
Bio-on's Rapid Rise
A new generation of high-performance biodegradable polyesters has arrived, made from sugar co-products or waste, derived from beetroot, potatoes, glycerol and extracts from fruit and veget...
Turning Cork Ethical
Cork is a valuable material: more than 40 years are needed to obtain a single cork. It is a noble material that embodies the history of its native land. It can be 100% recovered and recycled, to be ...
Nà¸rrona: Outdoor Fashion Changes Clothes
For Jørgen Jørgensen, CEO of Nørrona, sustainability is a life goal. In the business world there is often talk of a “value proposition” to be made to customers throu...
Cruz Foam: Making Packaging from Shellfish
Name: Cruz Foam Sector: New materials Pros: Biodegradable and compostable material made from chitin obtained from waste shrimp shells Characteristics: The patented process c...
Ioniqa: Virgin PET from Non-recyclable Packaging
Name: Ioniqa Sector: Recycling technologies Pros: An intelligent magnetic separation process transforms low-quality plastics into virgin PET Characteristics: Magnetic materi...
Yescapa: Private Campervan Hire
Name: Yescapa Sector: Collaborative use service Pros: Campervan, caravan and van rental for private individuals, with insurance and 24-hour assistance included Characteristics:&n...
Subscription Electronics with Grover
Name: Grover Sector: Product as a Service Pros: By signing up to the service, users have access to all the most innovative technology through a pay-as-you-go system Characteristi...
What a Waste
The circular economy is needed now more than ever. The USA alone produces around 260 million tons (US short tons) of municipal solid waste per year from homes and businesses, amounting to around 2.0...
The Circular Economy Makes Progress, Climate Actions Stall
The Action Plan for the Circular Economy includes approval of the directives on waste in force as of 4th July 2019, regulation on fertilizers pushing for recovery of organic waste, agreed on 12th De...
Decarbonise Now
The Mauna Loa observatory, in Hawaii, has found the average concentration of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, to be above 410 parts per million (ppm), the highest level seen in the last 800,...
The Future Demands Ambitious Goals
But, as the latest round of the UN climate change talks begin in Katowice, Poland, it is worth remembering that we have, in the 2015 Paris Agreement, the framework we need to build a common response...
We Are Still in Time
Photo Credit: MCC Thomas Koehler In October, the IPCC – that under the auspices of the United Nations studies the effects of climate change – published a s...
Towards a Sustainable and Prosperous Europe
2018 has been a turning point for the transformation of Europe into a more sustainable and circular society. The year started with good news for innovation frontrunners in the form of the ...
Circular Economy Academies
“We will all become ‘circular’ because it is the right thing to do, but I don’t think it is necessary for every person to know in detail what the circular economy i...
Are Universities Ready for the Circular Economy?
University of Bradford. ©Tim Green aka atouch/Wikimedia Commons/cc-by-2.0 Looking at the numbers and expectations regarding the development of a circular economy ...
Sustainable and Circular: This is How Brussels Envisions the Bioeconomy
Phil Hogan Carlos Moedas “A turning point, a milestone.” This is how Carlos Moedas and Phil Hogan – respectively Europ...
Regenerating Local Territories with the Bioeconomy
The new European Strategy for the bioeconomy places emphasis on the territorial dimension: rapidly developing local “bioeconomies” throughout the continent. The geographical focal points...
A Way Out of the Crisis
Greece’s rescue package amounts to €290 billion over the last eight years. However, for Athens it mainly boils down to blood and tears. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperat...