Rethinking the Food System through Circular Economy
The global food system can be defined as an interconnected network encompassing the whole range of actors, infrastructures and activities involved in the production, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal of food and diet products throughout the world, that originate from agriculture, livestock, fisheries, and parts of the wider economic, societal, and natural environments in which they are embedded. Food security for the consumers within this global food system is considered…
The Role of Insurance Companies in the Transition towards a Circular Economy
Insurers are no strangers to environmental concerns. As the economy’s financial first responders, they are often called upon to pay for damages and defend those filing claims involving environmental, social and governance events. In fact, according to a survey by DNV and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), circular economy tactics are rising on corporate businesses internationally. While other studies have been indicating that corporate sustainability is a success…
The Role of Circular Economy in the Oversaturated Fashion Industry
There’s no doubt that clothes and fashion have long been an integral part of almost every aspect of our culture and society. The global fashion industry is estimated to be worth around 2,6 trillion euros, which represents 2% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Nevertheless, the sector’s significant use of finite resources and materials, makes it the second most destructive industry, after oil, for the environment. Considering this, the…
The textile wears innovation – a trip to the discovery of REACT and NEW COTTON
We’ve all become quite familiar with what LOOPS represents to us. And every episode is an occasion to catch up with the avant-garde research to gain a few insights into what is going on in the world of innovation. Episode #4 of LOOPS features a discussion about one of the largest sectors in the world in which both consumers and producers are equally protagonists – the industry of textiles. Behind…
Quality labelling: a weapon to direct our consumption patterns towards circularity
Society and businesses are starting to realise that the resources, needed for making commercial products, are not infinite. The value of resources is still being addressed as a ‘take-make-waste’ focus, which is also a synonym for a ‘linear economy’. Powerful to establish a circular economy in the EU, the transition must be enhanced in each different product market. Meaning no industries or products can be left behind in the transition…
CLAIM and PlastiCircle: two different tracks, same destination.
Another episode of LOOPS has ended, but what has left behind is an open door to the world of innovation, and the changes it can truly bring to the planet we are living in. The topic of this discussion addresses one of the largest challenges of our current time: the pollution and waste of plastics, a composite material whose use is so deeply ingrained in our habits, that makes it…
POMOCA and SkinAlp: a real example of circularity
Circularity has increasingly become a widespread approach in recent years. Circular economy (CE) aims to a more sustainable economic system where all waste, by-products, and end-of-life products are constantly reused, remanufactured and/or recycled resulting in a closed-loop system that minimizes the use of resources and the production of waste, pollution, and carbon emissions. In this context, the collaboration between POMOCA and Skinalp represents the perfect example of circularity where the…
The Plastic Pathway towards Circularity
It is a little over a year since the EU introduced a landmark directive limiting the production of single-use plastics. This set out a series of targets but allowed member states to introduce their own legislation to meet these goals. The Netherlands and Germany took this next step recently, announcing bans on certain single-use plastic products. The German Cabinet introduced a ban on single-use cutlery and plates, plastic stirring sticks…
‘Loops’ First Episode on the Digital Circular Economy
On Wednesday 8th of July, we streamed live our first webinar for Loops, a webinar series about the innovation occurring in the field of the circular economy. Our speakers, Dr Demetriou and Vasilis Katos, both outlined key elements of their work on the circular economy and highlighted the necessary steps and precautions, the future holds. This article sums up the key points of their presentations and the main takeaways from…
Place-based circular economy transition strategy
VELTHA’s direct experiences and collaborations with regional authorities in SCREEN and REPLACE projects, as well as in the Policy Lab, lead to the acknowledgement of the local institutions as key players in the promotion of the transition toward a circular economy: in fact, these have a deep knowledge of their territories and the availability of European indirect funding to dedicate to the transition. The strategical framework to promote the transition…