UK government may force online retailers to pick up e-waste from consumers • The Register

UK government may force online retailers to pick up e-waste from consumers • The Register

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Britain’s government is mulling a proposal from the cross-party Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) that would force online retailers to collect old electronics from customers for recycling. Although this would theoretically limit the amount of old kit sent to landfill, and thus the amount of raw materials that need to be extracted to produce new products, it would also put online retailers on the same footing as their bricks-and-mortar equivalents. Traditional retailers – like Currys PC World and John Lewis – that sell over £100,000 of electrical equipment each year are obligated to take back electrical waste from their customers, either in-store or through other means.

These 21 Projects Drove Mexico’s Sustainable Development Goals in 2020

These 21 Projects Drove Mexico’s Sustainable Development Goals in 2020

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Despite a 2020 with many economic and health difficulties, makesense , an organization that designs social and environmental impact programs, had a positive impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. It did so through the development of 21 programs in Mexico on entrepreneurship, health, education, violence and gender equality, water care, promotion of clean energy and climate change. Working together with three groups: citizens, entrepreneurs and organizations, makesense made possible the development of social impact projects

The Business of Sustainability

The Business of Sustainability

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Our world is working to regain a hold on what matters for sustainability in partnership with business. Sustainability requires all our parts to bring about effective change and last results. Entrepreneurs play a critical part in leading the way to help this world deliver sustainable products, solutions and actions that will leave this earth better for those left to carry the torch. Sustainable is “the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level; avoidance of the depletion of natural resources to maintain an ecological balance.” 

Global Leaders Replace Sustainability Policy With Circular Economy At Scale

Global Leaders Replace Sustainability Policy With Circular Economy At Scale

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Global leaders in circular economy business agree the time to act is now for first-mover advantage on circular economy business opportunities and meeting global climate change targets. With 45 percent of global emissions generated through consumer products, business have a pathway to sustainable growth by combining renewable energy with a circular economy business model that designs out waste while creating new business value.

Here’s how sustainable fatty acids boost the circular economy

Here’s how sustainable fatty acids boost the circular economy

ByThe Circular Economy Team

The spin-off of Wageningen University and Research (WUR), ChainCraft, makes sustainable and fully circular fatty acids. The raw material is used in various industries and for different products. Currently, the company focuses on the animal feed industry. “The fatty acids are good for the intestinal flora of the animals,” says Niels van Stralen, director of ChainCraft. At the moment, fatty acids are still mainly made with petrochemical oil – which is made from petroleum – or palm oil. “These types of oil are not good for the environment. Our fatty acids are completely biobased and therefore a lot less environmentally harmful,” states Van Stralen. “Moreover, we can make the fatty acids locally. That saves a lot of costs and CO2 emissions around transport.”

El Corte Inglés Commits To Promote Circular Economy

El Corte Inglés Commits To Promote Circular Economy

ByThe Circular Economy Team

El Corte Inglés is celebrating World Recycling Day with a commitment to a more sustainable economy that works for both people and the planet. The company has already started promoting products that have been recycled or fit into a circular economy model. Since 2015, El Corte Inglés has collaborated with the Fundación Crecer Jugando for the Share and Recycle campaign, which collects and donates used toys to children at social risk.

The new normal: a green, upcycled and circular economy?

The new normal: a green, upcycled and circular economy?

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Environmentally savvy Californians are likely familiar with the phrase “reduce, recycle, reuse,” but what might surprise our community are the novel ways Berkeley businesses are creating new value from waste.  On Earth Day, we talked to the owners of two Berkeley storefront businesses — Darling Electric Salon and Indigo Vintage — and one deep-tech innovator, Opus 12, about how they are taking environmental preservation into their own hands. Environmental practices in hair styling pose extra challenges. “Climate change is incredibly overwhelming. We just feel like starting where we can, which is at our business,” said Karianne Silverman, co-owner and stylist at Darling Electric hair salon.

Cross-KIC project to boost circular economy in Western Balkans

Cross-KIC project to boost circular economy in Western Balkans

ByThe Circular Economy Team

The region is currently performing below average in waste management and has a tendency to look at recycling rates instead of boosting the circular economy by considering the system as a whole. The circular economy is also a pivotal tool for delivering part of the 2050 decarbonisation agenda in Europe, so EIT Climate-KIC has joined forces with EIT RawMaterials, EIT Health, EIT Food, EIT Manufacturing, EIT Digital and EIT Urban Mobility in a Cross-Knowledge and Innovation Community (cross-KIC) initiative aimed at bolstering collaboration and enhancing the circular economy approach in the region. 

The importance, potential and impact of the circular economy

The importance, potential and impact of the circular economy

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Earlier this year, the UAE established a federal circular economy council to generate new economic opportunities, reduce the use of natural resources and protect the environment. In this piece, Nour Sleiman, co-founder and chief marketing officer at UAE-based Cartlow, a re-commerce website explains the impact and importance of the circular economy. Transitioning into a circular economy is not solely aimed at minimising the negative impact of a linear economy, but also on the overall health system of the economic activity. Shifting from a ‘take, make, use, dispose’ to a ‘make, use, return, re-use’ model would require the dedicated contribution of organisations, individuals, and businesses together – large and small – to work effectively at all scales. This model shift will generate new business and create economic opportunities while contributing positively to the environment as a whole. 

Arts and the Circular Economy: An Introduction

Arts and the Circular Economy: An Introduction

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Wales Arts Review is proud to present Arts and the Circular Economy, a new series of articles by Brian Royson Mayne, exploring the ways in which different art forms are promoting sustainability and embracing the circular economy. In this first article, Brian Royson Mayne introduces the series and discusses the origin of the circular economy and how it is being defined today.  This year is the United Nations International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development. It is therefore pertinent to look at the role the arts and artists have had in contributing to sustainable development, one ‘that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.

A washing machine for a circular economy –

A washing machine for a circular economy –

ByThe Circular Economy Team

I recently wrote about how France is investing in a culture of repair, as part of a broad shift towards a circular economy. New standards for repairability and durability will help to push manufacturers to improve the quality of their products, and one company has already been running with the idea. L’Increvable – which translates as ‘the indestructible’ – is a start-up company that developed a new kind of washing machine. It is specifically intended as a sustainable appliance, and that includes a number of different design considerations.
First of all, as the name suggests, L’increvable is durable.

Transitioning Dubai into a Circular Economy | Live Trading News

Transitioning Dubai into a Circular Economy | Live Trading News

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Dubai Economy is strengthening its initiative launched earlier this year to bring together key industry sectors and stakeholders in an all-encompassing journey towards transitioning Dubai into a circular economy in line with the vision of the leadership and strategic plans of the government. The move has gained fresh momentum with H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, recently approving the 2021 Agenda of the Council, which has “Creating a Digital and Circular Economy” among its key objectives.