The constant stream of new models, products and processes that are helping organizations extend the useful life of resources and materials while reducing, repurposing and ultimately eliminating waste in all its forms
2015 was a pivotal time when humanity turned more decisively toward building a thriving and sustainable world. On our largest shared challenge, climate change, most of the major hurdles to action — both imagined and real — started to crumble. And an unlikely group of new voices joined the fight. From the Pope to global CEOs to almost all the world’s political leaders, the most powerful people got on board.
As more and more companies look to adopt closed-loop business models, the question of whether to create dedicated circular economy roles internally is beginning to bite. Such roles are still thin on the ground, but it’s notable that those businesses that have already adopted them are demonstrating real leadership on this agenda.
While the circular economy package adopted by the European Union earlier this month was bashed by critics as being too weak, Europe seems to be hitting the ground running with its efforts to follow through: The following week, the European Commission put its money where its mouth is and opened up €24 billion (~US$26.4B) in funding for businesses looking to transition to a circular economy model. And a variety of smaller-scale efforts from both the public and private sector are continuing the momentum – here, we highlight a few specific to textiles.
Making shoe soles and washing solvent-drenched rags instead of discarding disposables are two ways General Motors is approaching its aspirational goal of becoming a zero-waste manufacturer.With the addition of six landfill-free sites in Mexico and England, the company’s industry-leading landfill-free count totals 131 facilities.Luton Assembly and Ellesmere Port Assembly achieved landfill-free status, making all 18 Opel/Vauxhall manufacturing plants in Europe landfill-free, which means daily waste is recycled, reused or converted to energy.
On Thursday, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced changes to EU financial tools to help circular economy projects and businesses secure funding and support the realization of EU climate goals. The changes open €24 billion (~US$26.4B) in funding for businesses looking to transition to a circular economy model.
‘If you can’t measure, you can’t manage’ - the first and golden rule of corporate improvement, and key to constructing a case for change. For the emerging practice of ‘circular economy,’ which represents a sea-change in the way we manage our physical resources, the quest for sound metrics is crucial – how do we know what good looks like?
Bad news: You might be a water hog. Americans use more water per person than anyone else in the world – 27 billion gallons every day. Unfortunately, it is the river systems, lakes and wetlands and the wildlife of those habitats that suffer the most as a result of reckless water consumption. A new campaign is trying to call attention to the issue, engage people, and help them learn how to save water for wildlife.
Stakeholders are yet again criticizing the European Commission’s new Circular Economy Package. The original policy, released in December of last year, was denounced as insufficiently ambitious, resulting in its dismissal and a review process over the course of 2015. The Commission adopted the revised package on December 2nd, but some claim the new policy is even weaker than the original.
Heineken has become the first alcohol company member of the The Recycling Partnership, a national nonprofit committed to improving curbside residential recycling, according to a recent announcement.As a leading sponsor, the brewer will provide industry expertise to help improve consumer education, elevate the quality of curbside recycling and drive increased recovery of recyclable glass in communities nationwide.The Recycling Partnership works to improve recycling in communities across the country.
The concept of the circular economy has, at least over the last couple of years, evolved as somewhat of a holy grail for the sustainable business world. It offers the possibility of decoupling growth and resource consumption; a beacon of hope for companies currently grappling with the need to increase profit while reducing their overall footprints. Yet still many view it only as a promising aspect, somewhat confused as to how to transition standard business models from the linear to circular; how to measure these steps along the way, and what an end target might look like. Wednesday morning’s session at SB’15 London aimed to address some of these barriers.
Next week marks the start of important climate negotiations in Paris – the aim of COP21 is to deliver a new international agreement that will put the world on track towards a low-carbon future. The feeling in the air is one of optimism – there are high hopes the agreement could go beyond its intended diplomacy and act as a historic catalyst to drive real leadership on the issue.
Only 15 percent of textile waste is donated or recycled in the United States. About 21 billion pounds of clothing, footwear, towels, bedding, drapery, and other textiles end up in American landfills every year, which adds up to more than 5 percent of the country’s municipal solid waste. At the same time, textile recyclers claim that up to 95 percent of textiles can be reused or recycled.
After a slow start 6 years ago when the G20 and APEC made commitments to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, about 30 countries have launched or accelerated fossil fuel subsidy reforms, according to a new paper by the New Climate Economy.The paper, Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform: From Rhetoric to Reality, identifies the lessons learned from past attempts to reform fossil fuel subsidies, explores why progress has been slow and outlines the principles for successful reform.
With an estimated 41.8 million tonnes of e-waste generated in 2014, recycling and refurbishing our machines is an increasingly important issue. Perhaps more importantly, consumers need to be convinced to recycle their devices and that refurbished ones can be trusted as functional and reliable. Luckily, a certification for responsibly refurbished computers is on the way.
Researchers from UC Davis and UC Cooperative Extension are testing a new method for capturing excess water flows during California’s rainy season by diverting it from rivers into the network of canals running through Central Valley farmland, SFGate reports.This irrigation system remains empty during the rainy months, and the scientists are exploring the possibility of filling some canals with water and directing it onto farmland where it can seep underground.
The latest celebrity chef-led TV show is going beyond delicious meals to dish out hard truths about waste. Chef-turned-food-waste-activist Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall “is on a mission to reduce the amount of waste that Britain produces,” in the new BBC One series, "Hugh’s War on Waste."
What if we could get rare metals for computers and smartphones from plants? What if food and beverage waste could be used to create components for LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes)? We’re one step closer to these realities thanks to scientists from Germany’s Freiberg University of Mining and Technology and engineers from the University of Utah.
Food waste has proved to be a persistent global challenge despite numerous efforts to reduce it from stakeholders throughout the value chain, from corporates, to non-profits, to startups. At the same time, it may not be obvious to business owners and employees what they can do to be reducing food waste in their daily operations.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation announced today that H&M has become its latest Global Partner accelerating the transition to the circular economy.
At SB ’14 San Diego, the Plastic Disclosure Project, the UN Environment Program and Trucost unveiled the fist-ever assessment of plastic use in business, along with the business case for dealing with its global impacts: Among the sobering figures, the report calculated the total natural capital cost of pl