Day: August 7, 2021

New survey findings published March suggests local authorities and SMEs want the circular economy to be much more of a priority – both for their own organisations and for UK policymakers.
The research with 300 senior decision makers in local authorities and SMEs across England found that 77% believe accelerating a global circular economy should be a high priority for policymakers in the build up to COP26.
In addition, 74% of all respondents would like their own organisations to make more use of the circular economy. 28% are not convinced that circular economy practices are currently well embedded in their organisation.
Despite the appetite for change, the survey also shows the need for greater clarity on the circular economy. 23% of those polled weren’t sure of how a circular economy can help tackle the climate crisis, and over a quarter felt that they needed more help to understand how they and their organisations could benefit from it.
Read the full article at: www.circularonline.co.uk

On almost any given Saturday, just as the sun peeks over the horizon deep in southern Thailand, entrepreneur Nattapong Nithi-Uthai can be found at perhaps the best spot in town to watch the Pattani river slowly flow into the Gulf of Siam.
It has the makings of a beautiful spot, but Nithi-Uthai isn’t there to take in the view. He and some dedicated friends go to pick up trash, endless loads of it heaped on the banks. The group first selected this site in 2016 for its natural beauty and immediately set out to remove a mound of garbage dumped there by local restaurants.
“We actually took three months to get rid of that. It was full of maggots and everything. It was real trash, not ocean trash. You cry because it’s too much,” Nithi-Uthai told the Globe. “The point when you clean maggots out of a mountain of trash, something happens inside of you.”
Read the full article at: southeastasiaglobe.com

Following the re-opening of its stores on April 12, EE has announced that it’s extending one-day in-store phone repairs to 17 of its stores in the West Midlands bringing the total to 85 stores across England with plans to expand to more of the UK later this year. The move should decrease electrical waste and bring more credence to the idea of a circular economy where goods are used to their fullest extent.
The firm cited worrying research that said 60% of customers were likely to throw their broken phone away before attempting to get it fixed. EE has been repairing phones since 2005 with 60,000 repairs conducted each year. Its services are approved by Apple, Google, Huawei, and Samsung and cover cosmetic damage, network calibration functions, Bluetooth, Wi-F, NFC, Battery, Display, Audio, Camera, and Software issues.
Read the full article at: www.neowin.net

The economy today works as one straight line. Raw materials are taken from the environment, made into goods and then thrown away. However, this method of manufacturing isn’t sustainable in the long run. A circular economy is the answer to maintaining the earth’s finite resources. Instead of being thrown out, materials are continuously repurposed and reused. This emerging system is gaining momentum with businesses, countries and consumers, but there is plenty of work ahead.
Read the full article at: www.netimpact.org

Furloughed from her hospitality job during the first lockdown, Hannah Russo was trying to sell her child’s baby clothes when she found many other mothers trying to do the same. From there has come Babybundle, a website where parents can buy and sell bundles of often unused clothes to each other. “Many mums are gifted baby clothes, or have seen how quickly their babies outgrow clothes, with some not even worn due to size and seasonality. The mums share the interest to pass on these clothes. Secondhand is no longer second best – it comes with many benefits: economically, sustainability, and also mums supporting one another,” she says.

Promoting the shift from the linear economy towards a circular economy and fostering transparency in the processes, raising awareness and reducing costs are the goals of CircularChain, the cooperation ecosystem that Ecoembes and Minsait are developing in order to build the blockchain platform for the circular economy in Spain. 
It’s a project that has posed a major challenge in terms of technological innovation and it will have a considerable impact on environmental sustainability. This network of distributed records will help public authorities, local entities, operators, recyclers and other organizations to securely share and control all the data in the system and speed up all the transactions related to the waste selection process.
Read the full article at: www.eurasiareview.com