Maarten Vanden Eynde: Gadget 3D, cotton threath, wooden bobbins, 2017

From a cradle-to-cradle philosophy to a circular economy strategy

Started under the nickname “cradle-to-cradle”, the principle of the circular economy has come a long way in ten years’ time, also in the public opinion. While at the beginning everyone laughed about the idealistic entrepreneurs who made office furniture in standard pieces and nuts and screws that could be expanded by extension but also demolished and reused in other furniture, most found this an unusable business model. We were therefore still in the era of the throw-away culture, encouraged by the multinationals who focused their sales policy on selling new office furniture, new computers, new smartphones, new clothes to the same users almost every year. And the used ones were dumped, preferably in Africa or Latin America, without shame.

And then mining companies arrived at the conclusion that one mine after another became empty or would cost a lot more to continue to be exploited. At the same time local residents also became more critical of the mine operators or the cotton field cultivators who for years had been grudgingly digging up their environment, treating them with acids, polluting the air, emptying the water table and actually offering no employment or added value to the region. The realisation that Earth’s mineral resources were finite grew steadily along with the population of our planet. There was no more laughing with companies that collected old pieces. The Corona crisis was confronting: enormous delays have arisen in the delivery of materials that can actually be found at the local scrap heap or landfill.

The realization has therefore arisen that resource optimization, efficiency of materials, their reuse, increase of recycling, but also ecological design are strategies  in a more cyclical economy to reduce the consumption not only of plastics , but also of a number of other products that use important raw materials and materials that are potentially dangerous for the environment and human health[1]. One of the consequences is that people start to realise  that we really should not own so many objects, machinery and devices at home. Once the lifeline of those is finite, no one takes good care of them, and the mountain of disposable items has conquered the world. The example is particularly poignant when it comes to plastic: the oceans are becoming full of plastic, the fish eat that unbreakable plastic and end up in the food chain, with all the resulting cancer-generating consequences.

Certainly the digitisation of society and the fact that the digital natives have become buyers has led to the emergence of new business models in which cars, computers, household appliances, maintenance machines etc. can be reserved and delivered or collected. When they are delivered for rent, they are ready for use and also maintained.

This is a mind shift that is gradually happening among the citizens, with the urban younger generation motivated in the lead. They see the consequences of climate change, they can no longer travel and are working at home in front of their computer screens. And they require a more ecological offer from the companies. They have become critical of the multinationals that pretend: greenwashing has become a term of abuse.

And as soon as there is a market, companies jump on it. And the early birds will be the quickest to make the switch. Because it is coming. And the authorities, led by local authorities, are pushing in that direction. Because they see new opportunities for their region, in terms of employment, in terms of citizens’ well-being, and in making their city or region more resilient to climate change.

Time-span & TINA

The transition to a circular economy is one of the building blocks of the Green Deal, the European agenda for sustainable growth. The transition to a circular economy substantially reduces our ecological footprint. In the EU, this could lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions of almost half by 2030 and even 83 percent by 2050. The economic benefits are also significant. For companies in the EU, measures such as waste prevention, eco-design and reuse can save costs of 600 billion euros or 8 percent of annual turnover. The new business models that are emerging also provide a new dynamic with additional innovation, growth and more employment. Jobs are created in recycling, maintenance and repair, sectors that are labour-intensive. Moreover, we can expect that the transition will create new jobs that do not yet exist today.[2]

It is encouraging to notice that governments and citizens around the world have already become so evolved in their thinking that they assume that the switch from linear to circular economy can be the only step forward. For many the TINA principle is acquired: There Is No Alternative. Democratic countries are struggling to achieve this goal because not all noses are yet in the same direction. Not only are business leaders often grumpy, because they see the many investments that need to be made, but also because they are not always convinced that the solutions will be as profitable as what they are doing right now. The sense of urgency is missing for the moment because the risk that they will ever run out of business or customers by continuing to produce in the same way is too distant in time to be influential. The population itself is also not always convinced and often hides in its comfort zone. The example of the posh neighbourhoods in Barcelona who think it’s a shame to put their garbage bags in front of their door because of odour nuisance is typical.[3]

Sensationalism & The press

There is still a lot of communication work to be done in order to convince citizens that everyone has to contribute if they want to keep the world habitable and that citizens do have an important role to play. I have learned from the corona pandemic that in a democracy there will always be a persistent minority who will not feel called to be part of a society that imposes rules for the common good, and who are convinced their opinion is the right one, and will continue to fight for a utopian dream of absolute freedom. Continued communication and motivation will hopefully help reduce this group to an absolute minimum in the long run.

Even if citizens in many European countries now willingly cooperate with separate waste collection, the reports that the press often spread about it are confusing. For example, a few years ago I read in Belgium a report in the gossip-press that a waste processor would have said that all that separated waste was brought back together for incineration because it was too difficult to recover parts. That’s barfly wisdom but it remains in the subconscious and is just as persistent as the story that the former French president Sarkozy has prevented in extremis an imminent EU directive stimulating that only straight bananas should be sold in the EU.

What bothers me therefore personally, however, is that the press barely takes up its obvious role in this event. Since the press is a profit-oriented business, journalists often limit themselves to sensationalism, to political errors and to controversy. Striking results in the fight against CO2, striking new discoveries by researchers, cooperation between companies and between companies and universities are barely mentioned, because they do not arouse the interest of the general public. That, of course, is the chicken and egg argument.

The role of the press varies from country to country. Thanks to its Change Inc, the Netherlands have created a permanent source of information. Dutch-speaking Belgium is now also making a creditable attempt with Made in Green Economy. If one inquires to the traditional (quality) press and type in the words “recycling” or “circular economy”, the difference becomes very clear. In the German newspapers one finds almost daily reports, in the French and Italian also. In Belgium and the Netherlands it is a bit more limited, just like in the Spanish, Danish and Swedish newspapers. The Portuguese or Canadian press publishes an article every two months. The American about ten articles a year.

Various sectors & shareholders first

In an extensive study we made over the last year, and that will be subject of a book that will be published in March 2022[4], one of the important conclusions is that the reuse of waste as a new raw material is not easy for a number of sectors. The 70 to 80,000 different types of plastics that moreover are often mixed, need to be mapped and then reduced. And that requires the cooperation of all companies in all countries. And let it be the chemical companies, the petroleum processors, that are the most unteachable. Nevertheless, university researchers are working on solutions every day and important results are also being achieved. The public has a right to get to know these kinds of successes. The press doesn’t care.

The textile industry is also a major polluter, not only because of the use of synthetic yarn. Growing natural yarn such as cotton also has an enormous negative impact on nature. We have reached a stage where the young generations is starting to become sensitive to it. We also discovered that a number of fashion designers take the lead to do something about it. But, as mentioned above, as long as fast fashion is not considered “not done”, it will remain a multi-billion dollar business and the idealists will continue to be a minority again and again. And that, again, is a movement that the press must participate in.

Companies are important players in making the circular story successful. Multinationals often struggle with their shareholders, who don’t give a shred of thought about the survival of the planet. Eco-driven CEOs are therefore often called back when they try to take a circular or sustainability course. In the case of multinationals, reputation is often the only vulnerable thing there is: large NGOs know this well enough. It’s a company’s Achilles heel and the latter often kick it hard to force stubborn multinationals to go beyond just greenwashing. The journey towards a circular economy is therefore led by medium-sized and family-owned companies, by start-ups and scale-ups, as well as by universities and research centres.

The business of business is business

This is a quote from Milton Freedman, neo-liberal economist who won the Nobel Prize in Economy and was an advisor to former US-president Ronald Regan. We confirm his premise: a business cannot exist if it does not make a profit. But that’s where the connection between Freedman’s time, the end of the twentieth century, and our present time, the third decade of the twenty-first century ends. And with this I endorse a Christmas contribution in last year’s the Danish newspaper Berlingske by Prof. Steen Hildebrandt who, referring to Friedman, states: “There are two worlds. Two vastly different sets of success criteria. In both corporate images, scarcity of resources is required; nothing should be wasted, but the criteria used are different. There is no doubt - this business is a business; it must make money. But in new ways, under a new business paradigm. One can always discuss what is goal and what is means. Two things cannot be discussed: a business cannot exist if it does not make a profit. And it cannot exist if it does not simultaneously strive for some of the goals that can be summed up under the heading of sustainability or the UN’s 17 world goals.”[5]

Start-ups & associations & local

We often have reservations about start-ups. Start-ups that set up a project out of both social and ecological concern often find themselves short of breath. And having to rely on public funding, even if disguised as an investment fund, is not often the best possible step to gain credibility in the corporate world when taking the next step to scale-up. Many of our interlocutors, also from Eastern Europe, indicate that lots of start-ups get stuck in using recycled materials, without being able to create a real market. The numerous platforms that now see the light are also often convenience solutions where the impact is rather a lucky shot or serendipity. The Lithuanian second-hand platform Vinted[6] has been lucky enough to catch on, but is vulnerable because it doesn’t proceed with quality control and thus admits fraud. After all, people are not always honest.

The sector associations play a crucial role in developing circular economy thinking patterns and taking joint initiatives. Family businesses are clearly taking the lead here. The role of the sector associations in the eagerness of companies to collaborate with universities and research centres should also not be underestimated. They can call on their members to conduct joint research, which then can be used by all stakeholders. In my own country, I recently found a vacancy announcement on LinkedIn for a circular economy coordinator for the construction sector association.

And although Anglo-Saxon countries look with great suspicion at initiatives taken by local authorities, I wish to draw attention to the latter. The impact of local authorities can be quite important: motivating citizens to participate in separate waste collection projects, refining separate waste collection so that private companies can devise more applications, stimulating and supporting start-ups in circular economy, bringing together various players to create  markets related to circular economy, etc.

Opportunity for investors

The switch from linear to circular is also a huge opportunity for investors. They not only assess companies on the basis of their financial results, but also increasingly look at their sustainability performance. Regulation and investor preferences will devalorise unsustainable companies in the long run.

Analysts estimate that investments in the circular economy will grow to USD 4.5 trillion by 2030, more than a quarter of the EU’s current GDP. Today, the global economy is only 8.6 percent circular, so there is still a long way to go. The transition to a circular society is a train of which we all should get on board.[7]

Opportunities for citizens

A transition from linear to circular is coming, unless you’re blind or bury your head in the sand. Our consumer behaviour will change, and is already changing. This may be considered as a revolution,  be it a benign revolution to look forward to. What is wrong with families who start to privilege the use of things and stuff rather than the ownership of it? They apply this principle since several years now when it comes to music platforms were they rent the song and don’t buy the CD anymore. The same principle goes for renting a house rather than being the owner of it. What is then wrong with renting garden tools instead that everyone owns these separately and moreover benefits of the repairs and maintenance of the objects. And machines for rent is already accessible in many western countries. The next step they foresee is rented space for furniture makers. And what about renting a car instead of owning a car that is parked in the garage or in the parking lot? And how about the new trend of slide-in houses in prefab form or even houses on wheels[8], or student rooms on recycled boats[9], all energy neutral and with remains that are recyclable? Or about going to repair café sessions, learning how to repair broken cell phones or tools.?

What we discover by examining the evolution of our economy and our society is that the circular economy is definitely in our own interest: there is less ecological footprint, it creates employment closer to home and worldwide. Europe itself has few raw materials, so do many other countries. When they are democracies they are systematically blackmailed by less democratic regimes who refuse to sell their virgin material, because they abhor those countries’ preference for democracy. So we will have to put faith in our own hands, trying to keep our prosperity and to help others by a mechanism that in time will create a growing middle class. If this happens we know that this approach can also lead in the future to a global world population decline by 2050.

Let’s face it: the transition is coming step by step, along with growing insights and a technology that follows and stimulates. It is a type of prosperity that on the one hand harks back to a long-lost world in which things were not thrown away so quickly, in which appliances were repaired, in which sweaters were taken off to collect knitting wool again. It is a world mythically magnified by an older generation to proportions of well-being that never existed. On the other hand, it is an option to use all new techniques and resources that are currently available not even as a threat, but as a means to achieve the objective of reusing and thereby reducing the extraction of new raw materials. As a result, new local employment is created again, but on a global scale. This drastically reduces global CO2 emissions. And let’s face it: a world in which the average citizen feels appreciated, gets his money’s worth, has a future perspective that his children will also survive on this planet, wherever they live, isn’t that worth it?

Louis Delcart, board member European Academy of the Regions

[1] ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ: Mελέτη Alpha Bank: Πού βρίσκεται σήμερα η κυκλική οικονομία στην Ελλάδα και οι εφαρμογές της, in: Hellenic News of America, 23-12-2021; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/676384678922665984/where-is-the-circular-economy-in-greece-today-and

[2] Frank Maet & Véronique Goossens, De nieuwe beloftevolle markt voor beleggers,( The new promising market for investors), in: Belfius News, 14-01-2022, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/673621935039692800/the-new-promising-market-for-investors

[3] Karin Janker : Wie Barcelona an der Einführung einer Müllabfuhr scheiterte,( How Barcelona failed to introduce separate garbage collection circuits), in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 5-11-2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/667372692840873984/how-barcelona-failed-to-introduce-separate-garbage

[4] Louis Delcart, Towards a circular economy – the great experiences book, Lambert Academic Publishing, Chisinau, March 2022

[5] Steen Hildebrandt, Disse succeskriterier kan skabe fremtidens virksomheder,(These success criteria can create the companies of the future), in: Berlingske, 25-12-2021, https://www.berlingske.dk/kommentarer/disse-succeskriterier-kan-skabe-fremtidens-virksomheder

[6] Unfortunately, the fact that Vinted constitutes a market platform that also allows private individuals to sell to other individuals opens the door to fraud. In the Belgian press, the company was recently accused of promoting fraud through its rules. Sellers who offer expensive second-hand items from well-known brands on the platform, send them in, and are then accused of counterfeiting. They will then receive another piece, from a cheap brand, in the mail back. Vinted balks at his 20-page rules. But the damage is done: the smell of random decisions at the platform tarnishes the brand. Some luxury second-hand clothing websites work with an authorization system. But then you need a large database and a small army of specialists who can judge whether something is real. But that costs a lot of money and undermines the platform boy’s profit. It is therefore waiting for EU initiative. At European level, a proposal for a digital services act is on the table. In it, the European Union looks at online liability; Karlien Beckers, ‘Probeer in 24 uur maar eens te bewijzen dat je jas niet fake is’(Try to prove in 24 hours that your jacket is not fake), in: De Standaard, 8-1-2022, https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20220107_97888158

[7] Frank Maet & Véronique Goossens, De nieuwe beloftevolle markt voor beleggers,( The new promising market for investors), in: Belfius News, 14-01-2022, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/673621935039692800/the-new-promising-market-for-investors

[8] Nils Schillewaert: Tiny houses, compacte woningen op wielen, worden steeds populairder maar de wet volgt nog niet,( Tiny houses, compact homes on wheels, are becoming increasingly popular, but the law is not yet following) in: VRTNews, 29/09/2021 https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/667371287709138944/tiny-houses-compact-homes-on-wheels-are-becoming

[9] Romy De Weert, Drijvende studentenwoningen op gerecyclede schepen,( Floating student housing on recycled ships), Change Inc, 6-01-2022,https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/672742317707444225/floating-student-housing-on-recycled-ships

The circular economy cannot be imposed from above

This article was written as a possible introductory lesson to the EIT Western Balkan HEI Capacity Building on Circular Economy program. https://eitrawmaterials.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/EIT-Western-Balkan-HEI-Capacity-Building-on-Circular-Economy-program_Call-Text.pdf

There is a Dutch translation of this article on: https://earaernl.tumblr.com/post/660521751248338944/circulaire-economie-laat-zich-niet-van-bovenaf

Although many OECD countries are working on it, the economy is only slowly developing from linear to circular. However, many economists are convinced that this is the only viable path if we want to prevent a climate catastrophe by 2050 and thereby leave a habitable and developable world for the next generations. Numerous articles in the press point out that many companies are only at the beginning of a gigantic effort to make their production CO2 neutral but also sustainable and that a lot of innovation will be needed before that happens. So what are the reasons why the transition towards a circular economy is so difficult to make? This article attempts to provide an overview of the causes.

The 3 R’s

Not every country is as far along when it comes to introducing a circular economy. Prof. dr. Herminio Sastre, director of the Chair of Circular Economy at the University of Oviedo (Spain) and professor of Environmental Technology, sums up the three principles again in an article published this year in El País: Reducir, Reutilizar y Reciclar[1] or Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. And although the same professor points out in the same article that this is a principle already successfully used by our grandparents to minimize the waste they produced, there are big differences between the period of those grandparents and the present one. Our grandparents lived close to the land on which food was harvested, bought utensils and furniture that were often still produced in workshops no more than two hundred kilometers from their home, and spent most of their income in shops situated within 1 kilometer of their home.  They could also call on repairmen such as electricians, mechanics or plumbers who gave the best of their capacities to get the appliances working again. One of the indictments of the students in May 68 was a cry against the emerging consumption society. Multiple were already  the closures of factories in textiles, mechanics, metallurgy throughout Europe and America. Many utensils, products, food, etc. that we currently consume as families were now produced on an industrial scale, often even far from home, or with parts that have completed a 4 month sea voyage. The post-industrial consumption society has also become a throwaway society, with concepts such as fast food, fast fashion and even fast furniture.

It is only from the second decade of the twenty-first century that the multinationals that had hitherto been geared to a type of hyper-consumption and also stimulated this behaviour, were confronted with a call for change. Their first reaction has been one of greenwashing: pretending. Poignant examples are H&M and Ikea that supposedly greened their production, but only did this with words. And after a while the other – smaller – companies looked down on this fake behaviour. Because studies from independent research institutes such as the British Eco-Age were published that denounce such practices. [2]

And here we come to the core of our argument: the evolution from linear economy to circular economy cannot be imposed from above and must also be developed from an economically sound model. An example is packaging: in Europe there has been a trend for twenty years - and later laid down in European directives - to make the polluter pay for the processing of his waste. Organizations have therefore arisen in every country, in which the business sectors are the shareholders, to recover the packaging of their goods and even recover the entire discarded goods. And they have to do something with that: so a thinking about recycling has arisen based on the principles mentioned above: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. A recycling industry has thus emerged that is achieving great first successes. This process has not yet started in the US: the companies left the recovery of packaging to the local government, which sold it to China. It was a non-profit operation that should cost the municipalities and counties nothing. Until at the end of 2018, China closed the door to American packaging and municipalities were saddled with a recycling hangover. It is only now, 2021, that a number of states (New York, California, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maine and Oregon) are starting to take steps to copy the European – and also Canadian – “polluter pays” [3] model.[4]

Circular economy: what is it really about?

Québec Circulaire, a group of French-Canadian organizations focused on the transition to this new mode, defines the circular economy as follows: “New economic model aimed at decoupling economic growth from natural resource depletion and environmental impact through two main mechanisms: 1) Rethinking our production-consumption methods to consume fewer resources and protect the ecosystems that generate them 2) Optimize the use of resources already circulating in our societies.” [5]

Our organisation, European Academy of the Regions, which advocates the regionalisation of a number of economic and socio-cultural sectors, closely follows the development of the circular economy. The reader will notice later that the most successful initiatives are taken by regions and/or cities. Since the beginning of May 2021, we have therefore set-up a blog in which newspaper articles are translated from various countries to English with examples of successful circular economy initiatives or of critical studies: earaercircular.tumblr.com.

To date, we have made a statistical study on the 91 articles published between 3/5/2021 and 25/08/2021 that will give the reader an idea of the themes that are most frequently discussed and of the remedies that are created. The articles come from newspapers and magazines from Belgium (Dutch and French), the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and the US and to a lesser extent from Switzerland, Canada and France. Here is an overview of the topics covered:

 As a Dutch article[6] from the very useful electronic newsletter Change Inc already points out: there is a lot of good will, but a lot still needs to be achieved, especially when it comes to circular techniques such as the reuse of materials: plastics in the first place, since there are 80,000 different types that are often used in combination and the result of which becomes difficult to recycle, batteries in the second place, which in turn gives electric cars an Achilles heel, concrete in the third place because breaking down and clearing sorted rubble is a perilous and therefore expensive undertaking. Textiles, on the other hand, are going in the right direction, especially when it comes to natural yarns, jeans are a headache because they are run through by chemicals, among other things to stretch them.[7] It is very striking that so few articles are devoted to innovations, not because universities do not work on them, but mainly because it is the large companies that do not want to invest in completely new production processes. Small-scale agriculture is regularly brought to the attention, but does not appeal to the general public so much: it is difficult and an important effort to make time for varied shopping. We feel that especially avoiding plastic packaging has become a hype that consumers are starting to pay attention to. But here too, according to Rogers’ innovation theory[8], we are still only in the stage of the innovators and early adapters and it is the first hesitant early majority that should start to act. Circular business models such as leasing[9]  sofas or electrical appliances instead of buying them, allowing manufacturers to take them back and rearrange them, has so far been a theory that has been implemented only very modestly. The share economy is gradually getting underway, especially with bicycles and steps in cities. But is it sustainable in view of the multiple abandoned pieces alongside the road.

Technology as an accelerator of processes and business models?

Large companies that are serious about their transition to a circular economy are using technological innovation as an ally to accelerate. The strategy often is based on four axes. Ecodesign: The products are based on approaches that meet sustainability criteria from birth, allowing them to extend their service life and increase the subsequent recycling of their components. Efficiency and innovation of processes: it is about optimizing resources and processes so that waste is given a new destination. Renewable energy and alternative raw materials: Renewable energy sources and raw materials of residual origin are used in the manufacture of the products. New consumption patterns: Initiatives are promoted that prioritize renting over product purchases, promoting more responsible consumption. [10]

Pressured by public opinion that has reacted scandalously to the news that returns from e-commerce for fashion brands have been incinerated, major brands have turned to technology that allows a customer to better see how a garment would fit on his/her body. . Zalando wants to integrate that technology on its platform. Clothing chain H&M is also developing such a virtual fitting room. It is not yet known when these developments will be ready for use. [11]

Circular economy: the triple helix once again

In our study, we also pay attention to indications of how initiatives are created, who is the influencer:

These are very striking results. Many initiatives have arisen from companies whose top management is aware of the bend that urgently needs to be made and who also see commercial opportunities to start early. They are often supported by their trade association, especially when the industry has a large number of financially strong players, who allocate sufficient resources to their trade association to carry out R&D or have it done. They also influence legislative initiatives by speaking out for or against them. In the discussion about levying a deposit for beverage cans in France, a large number of industry associations spoke out in favor of introducing this. [12]  The industry associations of professionals in the recycling industry[13], on the other hand, expressed their reluctance. In the US, the lobby group Ameripen, a group of stakeholders from the packaging industry, has recently suggested that they are open to the idea of ​​EPR, extended producer responsibility (see above).

There are also a number of cooperative initiatives, mainly in southern Europe, that still succeed in creating successful initiatives from a small-scale approach. The large Basque cooperative bus builder Irizan is collaborating with the Spanish public transport company Iberdrola in a plan for city buses, battery recycling and smart charging network[14]. La Fabrique Circuit Court in the province of Namur in Belgium brings together cooperative processing workshops, independent workshops and logistics spaces. All committed to the short food chain. An indispensable link for small artisan producers. [15] In Antwerp, a cooperative association Warmte Verzilverd has persuaded the multinational Agfa-Gevaert to use its residual heat in a new residential area a few kilometers away[16].

A second important player in this conversion is the academic world, especially faculties or even entire universities that have been conducting research into new materials or new applications for a long time, such as Wageningen and Saxion in the Netherlands, BOKU in Vienna, Hochschule München, Universities of Ghent and Antwerp, Aalto in Finland, Oviedo in Spain, etc. Large NGOs also contribute by commissioning studies: WWF, Greenpeace, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, etc. The initiatives sometimes come from the university itself, sometimes on behalf of companies or industry associations, sometimes from regional authorities with sufficient funds, but they are stimulating.

The traditional third player are the authorities, but very often regional governments or large cities. They stimulate by doing seed financing. The Walloon and Brussels governments have thus set up and provided means for several public agencies to link circular economy projects to social projects[17].[18] But also by enacting local regulations. For example, the government of Flanders imposes through its public tenders[19] that new public construction initiatives are to be realised on the principles of the circular economy. As a result, contractors are forced to organize themselves in a certain direction. The city of Apeldoorn in the Netherlands, on the other hand, put out a tender[20] to realize a link between its database with all existing building materials in public space and a digital marketplace. This makes it possible to trade released materials so that they can be reused elsewhere.

Circular economy: what contributions can regions make?

As already mentioned, there are numerous puzzle pieces that all need to fit together. The first part concerns the collection and processing of waste. Although separate waste collection is promoted in the EU, this is often still very rudimentary in many member states. Composting is one of the basic activities that a family with a house can do themselves. There are also towns such as Vitoria in the Spanish Basque Country that offer communal composting services, for those who live in an apartment and don’t have space to compost. The municipality installs these devices in certain parts of the city and users only have to go there to deposit organic waste. Disused clothing or electrical/electronic equipment should also be taken care of by the local authorities. [21]  Electronic components and clothing go to the container parks[22]  that the municipalities have build in different parts of each city. Separate collection is being implemented even more thoroughly in thirty Dutch cities. Where in the past they mainly collected residual waste, paper and organic waste, there will soon be a line for orange peels, coffee grounds and foil. Smart collection is concerned with the issue of how we can collect waste separately at the source in an efficient and sustainable way, without the inner city environment silting up with trucks. [23] Antwerp in Belgium encourages residents and visitors to throw their waste in the trash can outside the home as well. By scanning the packaging, they can save digital coins that they can cash in at local merchants. [24]

Another puzzle piece consists of stimulating initiatives. For example, the municipality of Haarlemmermeer is the first municipality in the Netherlands to use circular asphalt in a motorway. The supplier of the asphalt, construction company Dura Vermeer, only uses residual waste for the asphalt mixture, and does not add any new products to it. [25] Another example of stimulation can be found in the Walloon Region in Belgium. Use the waste of one SME as raw material for another SME. Promote reuse or recycling instead of incineration. Reducing unnecessary transport … These are the objectives of a circular economy pilot project that is being carried out in a zoning plan in the Liège region. This project, initiated by the Walloon Minister for Sustainable Development, aimed to make SMEs network in order to bundle their waste management and promote their recycling or reuse. [26]

Ultimately, legislation is a final piece, at whatever level. The public sector is by far the largest customer of the construction sector in Switzerland, accounting for about half of the order volume. It has an important role model function by ordering more recycling material. With the new procurement law that came into effect on January 1, 2021, quality and sustainability should become more important. By also introducing the construction with recycled material in the tender conditions, builders make an effective and concrete contribution. [27]

Final remarks

Circular economy can only be successful if companies see a profit model in it, or are forced to change their course by public opinion because of negative perception. We are not yet there: Southern Europe has not yet really developed a recycling economy that can develop profitable activities and therefore act in stand-alone modus. This is the case in Northern Europe. The US, in particular, is lagging. This is mainly due to a lack of legislation. Yet it is striking that quality newspapers such as the New York Times regularly refer to the European legislative framework, which has grown from a consensus. The large non-profit organizations also take the European directives as a starting point and example. The stubborn refusal of American multinationals to release funds for research to develop business models in that direction made them build an advantage over European companies. This attitude has disrupted the level playing field. We argue that this aspect should also be raised at G-7 and G-20 meetings. This kind of disruptive economy is one that is based on greed and not innovation. It is a dangerous precedent in a world where climate change is the main jammer of the century.

[1] Julio Núñez, Cuando lo que hacían tus abuelos era la base de la economía circular, in El Pais, 18-03-2021 , https://elpais.com/sociedad/ecoembes-espacio-eco/2021-03-18/cuando-lo-que-hacian-tus-abuelos-era-la-base-de-la-economia-circular-da-tu-el-siguiente-paso.html

[2] Ruben Mooijman, Duurzame mode of volksverlakkerij? , in: De Standaard, 30-06-2021, https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20210629_97579521

[3] In the US it is referred to as EPR, extended producer responsibility.

[4] Michael Kimmelman, Recycling in America Is a Mess. A New Bill Could Clean It Up, in New York Times, Jan. 27, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/arts/design/recycling-packaging-new-york.html?referringSource=articleShare

[5] Vincent Ayotte, « Quatre entreprises qui tirent profit de l’économie circulaire » in : PME Montréal blog, 25 juin 2019, https://pmemtl.com/blogue/quatre-entreprises-qui-tirent-profit-de-l-economie-circulaire

[6] Marc Seijlhouwer, Circulaire economie is nog lang geen realiteit in Nederland, Change Inc, 21 januari 2021, https://www.change.inc/circulaire-economie/circulaire-economie-nederland-35467

[7] TOM MICHIELSEN , Textielonderneemster Julie Lietaer: ‘Met bosjes planten alleen gaan we het niet halen’, in: De Tijd, 01 juni 2021, Textielonderneemster Julie Lietaer: ‘Met bosjes planten alleen gaan we het niet halen’ | De Tijd

[8] https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovatietheorie_van_Rogers  Rogers’s Theory of Innovation (as described in his book Diffusion of Innovations) is a theory that tells something about the diffusion of an innovation (a new product or idea) within a group. The original theory was conceived by Frenchman Gabriel Tarde, but made popular by Everett Rogers.

[9] Sarah-Mie Luyckx, Machteld Rijnten (53) vindt het tijd dat u leert over de nare gevolgen van fast furniture. ‘Weg met de Ikeabank!’, in: Trouw, 21 augustus 2021, https://www.trouw.nl/duurzaamheid-natuur/machteld-rijnten-53-vindt-het-tijd-dat-u-leert-over-de-nare-gevolgen-van-fast-furniture-weg-met-de-ikeabank~babede58/

[10] Mariano Ahijado, Un nuevo modelo productivo para llegar a 2030 en buena forma, in: El Pais, 17 dic 2020, https://elpais.com/economia/el-futuro-no-se-detiene/2020-12-17/un-nuevo-modelo-productivo-para-llegar-a-2030-en-buena-forma.html?utm_source=Facebook&ssm=FB_CM&fbclid=IwAR2rQwGtED5cfUduJZjPFwk8_o29TWz5o21qWsQ7QSjyatPpl7KrtE4GtCU#Echobox=1608222521

[11] Heleen Bastiaanse: Ja, retourneren is gratis, maar die trui die toch niet paste gaat misschien wel de verbrandingsoven in, in: Trouw, 16 August 2021 https://www.trouw.nl/economie/ja-retourneren-is-gratis-maar-die-trui-die-toch-niet-paste-gaat-misschien-wel-de-verbrandingsoven-in~bcd678f4/

[12] AFP, Les industriels de la boisson favorables à la consigne in : Ouest-France, 07/07/2019, https://www.ouest-france.fr/economie/industries/les-industriels-de-la-boisson-favorables-la-consigne-6434050 "The deposit for the recycling of beverage packaging is necessary for a truly circular economy,” say the signatories to the forum. The signatories represent Boissons énergisantes France (BEF), Boissons rafraîchissantes de France (BRF), la Maison des eaux minérales naturelles (MEMN), la Fédération du commerce et de la distribution (FCD), la Fédération nationale des boissons (FNB), la Confédération nationale du commerce de gros et international (CGI), du Syndicat des eaux de sources (SES), le Syndicat national du lait de consommation, l'Union nationale interprofessionnelle des jus de fruit, et enfin Citeo.

[13] Fnade, la fédération des entreprises du recyclage et du traitement des déchets & Fédération Federec

[14] Javier Vadrillo, Iberdrola e Irizar se alían en la movilidad eléctrica, in: El PAÍS, 20-7-2021 https://cincodias.elpais.com/cincodias/2021/07/20/companias/1626778110_839044.html

[15] Valentine Van Vyve, La Fabrique Circuit Court, le chaînon manquant pour les petits producteurs, in : La Libre Belgique, 02-08-2021, https://www.lalibre.be/planete/inspire/2021/08/02/la-fabrique-circuit-court-le-chainon-manquant-pour-les-petits-producteurs-VQGQHRUR75HJTPJKJJMID5JBUY/?fbclid=IwAR3mC2ETAq8VpcJKTheh-x2iqsl1QPsg18HVOdfDMYVXHpl6vEz7O7VwbHk

[16] Celine Bruyndonckx , Nieuwe woonwijk in Edegem zal verwarmd worden met restwarmte van Agfa-Gevaert, in: VRT News, do 02 jul 2020, https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2020/07/02/woonwijk-edegem-verwarmd-door-restwarmte-bedrijf-agfa-gevaert/

[17] Anne Masset, “L'Amazon vert” lancé par deux Belges : “Être un entrepreneur ‘à impact’, c’est encore plus difficile” in : La Libre Belgique, 8-08-2021 https://www.lalibre.be/economie/entreprises-startup/2021/08/08/etre-un-entrepreneur-a-impact-cest-encore-plus-difficile-QOUFTLCTNFB2ZDTCVV2N2D5XDU/

[18] Pierre-François Lovens, Cette start-up qui veut responsabiliser le business des GSM et tablettes reconditionnés, in : La Libre Belgique 27-7-2021 https://www.lalibre.be/economie/entreprises-startup/2021/07/28/la-start-up-belge-qui-veut-responsabiliser-le-business-des-gsm-reconditionnes-ZVVW34PNIRFDDHNFESON3NE4SE/#:~:text=Le%20march%C3%A9%20du%20reconditionnement%20des,carte%20de%20la%20fili%C3%A8re%20locale.&text=Son%20business%20concerne%20la%20collecte,de%20GSM%20et%20de%20tablettes

[19] Antonin Marsac, Du “béton circulaire” pour réduire les émissions de CO2 du secteur de la construction (et oublier un fiasco du passé à Bruxelles), in La Libre Belgique, 12-06-21, https://www.lalibre.be/economie/entreprises-startup/projet-zin-de-befimmo-du-beton-circulaire-pour-reduire-les-emissions-de-co2-du-secteur-de-la-construction-et-oublier-un-fiasco-du-passe-a-bruxelles-60c378a37b50a6318dca2a2d

[20] Teun Schröder, Gemeente Apeldoorn lanceert database en marktplaats voor circulaire materialen, in: Change Inc, 7 juli 2021, https://www.change.inc/circulaire-economie/gemeente-apeldoorn-database-marktplaats-circulaire-materialen-36725

[21] Julio Núñez, Cuando lo que hacían tus abuelos era la base de la economía circular, in El Pais, 18-03-2021 , https://elpais.com/sociedad/ecoembes-espacio-eco/2021-03-18/cuando-lo-que-hacian-tus-abuelos-era-la-base-de-la-economia-circular-da-tu-el-siguiente-paso.html

[22] In Spain they are referred to as puntos limpios.

[23] Teun Schröder, Schone en veilige binnenstad door slimme afvalinzameling en digitale innovatie, in: Change Inc., 15 juli 2021, https://www.change.inc/circulaire-economie/schone-veilige-binnenstad-slimme-afvalinzameling-digitale-innovatie-36783

[24] Jan Stassijns, Antwerpse actie om afval ook buitenshuis in vuilnisbak te gooien,  in: De Standaard, vrijdag 2 juli 2021, https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20210701_97614170

[25] Romy de Weert: Van afval naar asfalt: gemeente Haarlemmermeer legt circulaire autoweg aan, in: Change Inc, 15-12-2020 https://www.change.inc/circulaire-economie/van-afval-naar-asfalt-gemeente-haarlemmermeer-legt-circulaire-autoweg-aan-35275

[26] Gilles Toussaint, Ton déchet, ma ressource, in : La Libre Belgique, 1-3-2021 https://stories.lalibre.be/inspire/numero24/index.html

[27] Patric Van der Haegen, Kreislaufwirtschaft: Gemeinsam nachhaltiger bauen, Presse blog,  13. April 2021 https://www.presse-blog.com/2021/04/13/kreislaufwirtschaft-gemeinsam-nachhaltiger-bauen/

Picture: Paprec Automated Waste Treatment Unit in Rheu (France)

This article was written in response to a lecture given by Louis Delcart at the second Digital Nerds Contest in Romania in April 2022.

The digitization of the economy, in all its aspects, including the internet of things and artificial intelligence, is promoted around the world and is the subject of debates at academic level and on the level of the World Economic Forum, of business and country strategies, and of financial and content support for cities, countries and organizations such as the EU, and the UN. It is recognized as an industry that can be deployed in places where there is no tradition of heavy industry and thus offers a solution for countries and regions in development or in reconstruction.

The industry that is the subject of this article, i.e. the circular economy, is also recognized as a generator of employment, but its focus is on countries and regions that have traditionally already had an industrial tissue or have built up a new tissue, and that are constraint to a shift in order to literally survive in an era with hellish consequences from climate change. The majority of serious studies teach us that the biggest shift has to be made by the manufacturers themselves, who have to redevelop the entire design of their products in such a way that the spare parts they have produced for already existing products can be quickly re-used when assembling new products.

The principal motive for this way of acting is that virgin raw materials are becoming scarce in the earth, therefore unaffordable. Moreover, reusing existing raw materials is much less energy-wasting and therefore closer to CO2 neutrality than continuously mining and producing virgin raw materials. Starting from our large database of articles treating circular economy developments, we will try to find out how both trends - digitization and circular economy - interact and to what extent they reinforce each other.

When we talk about digitization in the context of the circular economy, we will be talking about different areas. The European Academy of the Regions has been creating a blog for about a year in which it daily translates articles from the press of various countries such as the Benelux, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Scandinavian countries, the US and Canada that highlight practical applications of circular economy[1]. We then filtered out the applications that had a clear IT approach. In this way we have arrived at a ranking with six large domains.

The most important area of expertise is, of course, the collection and recycling of waste. And then we are not only talking about the reuse of plastics, but also about urban mining and the recovery of metals, the reuse of textiles, etc.

The following domain is linked to this: individuals should be motivated to return objects, such as plastic packaging, bottles, electrical and electronic devices. This often requires incentives such as a deposit.

An entirely new application is the creation of markets that bring together holders of materials that can no longer use them with companies or individuals who could use them. With the necessary intermediaries who transport the goods in question from A to B.

Waste treaters and manufacturers are often confronted with the fact that materials such as plastics or textiles come in thousands of types, often mixed. And that neither knows who needs what and how to separate them. Big data is therefore needed to identify all these different materials, the distinctions so that the new users know that they are buying the correct materials. Companies often want to be sure that the lifespan of objects, devices or machines can be extended as long as possible and that they can recover the objects at the end of their life for recycling. The means that are increasingly being used for this purpose is to rent out the devices or machines instead of selling them. Then the supplier can be sure that they will be well maintained and he can recover them and replace them at the end of their life. This closes the circle with regard to the circular economy.

Not all materials that are recovered can still be used for their original destination. Aluminium and zinc, for example, are infinitely recyclable. Lithium and the other battery materials as well. But not many plastics. Not always building materials. Nevertheless, hundreds of universities are diligently looking for alternatives to make new things with existing materials. That’s another domain.

And then finally there’s a special phenomenon: the fact that people are starting to see that they don’t have to own every single piece of equipment, machine, car, bicycle. The sharing industry is spreading at an unbelievable speed, especially in urban areas. This increases the use of appliances so that they are really at the end of their life when they are thrown away, and so that the owners do everything they can to recover or recycle as many pieces as possible.

1.     Waste management

When one speaks about the circular economy, one refers in the first place to the reuse of objects or machines that are considered to be obsolete, due to being out of fashion, no longer functioning or worn out. In the current context, these end up in the garbage bag for separate waste collection or at the waste container park, where waste is also separated and recovered by specialized collectors.

But the separate waste collection also mixes many types of waste. In Belgium and the Netherlands, people speak of PMD bags, where plastic bottles and flasks, metal packaging and drinking cartons are collected and recycled after sorting. In Northern Europe, computer science often comes in handy for this sorting. The first waste sorting machines that came on the market were often still mechanical. They sorted metal magnetically, and sorted of waste by rotary screening machines. The next step was then optical sorting, whereby the various materials were optically recognized by cameras and mechanically separated. Nowadays, companies can be found that combine mechanical and optical means with artificial intelligence and robots to do separate waste sorting for: plastic[2], packaging[3], scrap metal[4], construction and demolition waste[5], wood.

The optical recognition of raw material also plays a role in the construction business. A Dutch invention to separate concrete into raw materials reduces material use and saves containers of CO2.

The “urban miners” of the Dutch company “New Horizon” now want to find more places to set up the concrete machines and are looking for municipalities and regions that can help. Ultimately, the goal is to make the invention big worldwide[6].

The same applies to separate waste collection. From 2025 on, the first thirty large cities in the Netherlands must have emission-free zones. This creates a number of challenges for carriers who frequently visit these zones. This also applies to waste collectors and recycling companies. But with the development of new collection models and digital technologies, the clean city centre is getting closer and closer.

PreZero, the waste collection company of German origin and active in the Netherlands, works with containers equipped with sensors in some places. These sensors send a signal when the bin is almost full, letting the company know that it can pick up the container. This prevents vehicles from turning out to pick up a half-empty container, which can happen unforeseen during holiday periods, for example. In the Dutch city of Arnhem the first results are positive and the number of kilometres driven has been reduced considerably[7].

The world’s first automatic textile recycling facility is built in Malmö. The facility, which uses optic sensors to identify different textile types, has been opened in summer 2020. The project marks the third phase of the Swedish Innovation Platform for Textile Sorting (Siptex) [8], and comes after a successful pilot project in Avesta[9].

Automatic sorting processes are required to be able to efficiently sort the large amounts of textile rubbish which cannot be recycled and which is not suitable for fibre to fibre recycling. The aim is to use the recycled textiles to make padding, insulation, and cloth for industrial cleaning, slowly increasing the amount of textiles recycled from 3,000 to 16,000 tonnes over five years.[10] The facility will be operated by Sysav [11], the recycling company owned by 14 municipalities in Skåne[12], which today operates the site.

2.     Digital incentives for waste collection

A second series of waste applications where ICT comes in handy is to encourage citizens to deposit waste that can be collected separately. This is often -but not necessarily- accompanied by some type of incentive that is given to the citizen in the form of a digital voucher or bill, with which discounts are negotiated from local merchants.

In Belgium, the city of Antwerp is encouraging in this way its residents and the tourists who visit the town to keep the streets clean by using outdoors waste cans.

Click, a new application in the Belgian port-city of Antwerp, encourages residents and visitors to throw their waste in the dust bin outdoors as well. By scanning the packaging, one can save digital coins that one can redeem at local merchants[13]      .

Romania, and soon also Moldova, is focusing on the toxicity of e-Waste and wants to recover this. Shops who sell the devices, agreed also to take them back and to work on the recovery. This is not different from other EU countries. The difference lies within the incentive in order to stimulate citizen to bring in their old appliances.

In Romania a program “Scrap for appliances” (Rabla pentru electrocasnice) has been implemented. Romanians receive vouchers, which can be used in stores, in exchange for old appliances (TV, refrigerator, washing machine, etc.).The same program could be launched in Moldova. The value of the ticket will be up to two thousand lei, depending on the energy class of the product. The “scrap for appliances” aims to encourage Romanians and Moldovans to replace their used appliances with energy-efficient, less polluting ones.

Spain has installed small container parks with containers (or “puntos limpios”, “clean spots”) of various colours in various places in the cities. It encourages its citizens to drop their waste over there in a separated way. Here also, some encouragement is needed, especially in order to present the correct waste at the correct container.

Sant Boi de Llobregat, a town of 84,500 inhabitants  located in the Barcelona province, has recently received yellow containers capable of recognizing the waste that should be thrown in them and warning the citizen if he/she/they is doing it incorrectly. What differentiates them from the rest of the containers is an electronic ring located in their opening that collects the information of the products through their bar codes. And it can also process data on habits (frequency of use, type of waste, neighbourhood …) to help improve the process. These smart containers will be part of the container network of the Reciclos project, the first Return and Reward System promoted in 2019 in Spain by Ecoembes that rewards residents who recycle with virtual points (baptized as recycles), exchangeable for shares in product giveaways, public transport vouchers or donations to collaborative environmental and social projects. About 24 hours after the citizen has used the technological ring, they will receive the points and can spend them. In Sant Boi, for example, residents can exchange them for donations to the ‘Tots som Santboians’ Association, dedicated to helping people with disabilities and which will use these grants to launch an initiative to preserve green spaces in the area.[14]

In Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden, glass, especially beer bottles and cola bottles, are recovered, rinsed and reused by the producer. This asks the customer an amount to be able to do this. This is called a ‘deposit’. The customer can recover that money by returning the empty glass. This often happens in supermarkets.[15]  In the past, they had to hire staff for this. That costs money. So there are companies that now have machines produce that optically recognize the bottles for deposit. These issue a voucher, which can then be deducted from the next purchase in the supermarket. Everyone wins.

France goes even one step further.

The Normandy-based company GreenBig invented the deposit of the 21st century with its machines to recycle plastic bottles. Automatons – baptized “b: bot” – are multiplying on French territory. A plastic bottle recycling machine has been in service since the end of January 2022 at the Leclerc store in La Flèche. Users are paid one eurocent per bottle swallowed by the machine.[16]

3.     Creating digital market places

Creating digital marketplaces is one of the most frequent and lucrative initiatives of start-ups, because of the interest of many investors. Although, in the eyes of green boys and girls, Amazon is the example of how things should not be organised, the developers of these initiatives within the recycling sector, often consider the Palo-Alto company as their lighting example. They occur in just about all sectors: construction, textiles, perfumes, reusable waste in general, repaired smartphones, but especially plastics. After all, that is the most difficult market with its 60 to 80,000 species where big data can be useful. We give a few examples below. We will not discuss the digital agricultural markets, the so-called short food supply circuit, sin this article, because it is directly linked to the recycling subject that we tend to treat. If the reader is interested in this subject anyway, I propose to refer him to my article “Selling Agricultural Products through the Short Food Supply Chain: It is Becoming Increasingly Popular”.[17]

First the generalist. A Dutch company that created a platform in order to bring producers of waste together with users of waste for new applications. Moreover, they also organise the transport between the two.

Saving more waste streams from the incinerator, that is the mission of the Dutch company Seenons. The start-up, founded in 2019, uses technology and smart logistics to help companies recycle residual flows such as coffee grounds, oranges and oil. Seenons developed a platform for fine-grained waste flows. This allows them to ‘match’ companies that have to get rid of their waste with parties that want to do something with this waste. The parties themselves choose the location and time. A kind of Tinder, but for waste. A collection of logistics partners then transports the waste from a to b. “Ideally, they use return logistics: one’s truck is already in the city centre and one will return empty, that space can be used to collect a residual flow somewhere. The company itself uses electric cargo bikes for small volumes and for large volumes electric boats or a press truck.[18] For example, Seenons already collects orange peels and coffee grounds from the Amsterdam catering   and delivers the load to liqueur maker Dik & Schil. But coffee grounds can also be used very well to make soap or as a breeding ground for oyster mushrooms. The platform raised another 6 million euros in an investment round recently, bringing the foreign plans and the goals of zero-waste one step closer.

The market place that grew most ion the past two years is the one of second-hand clothing. For years they were like cat and dog: luxury brands did not want to know anything about the second-hand sale of their clothing and accessories. Too little control, too little exclusive, too much mothball smell. But that time is over now. The Lithuanian platform Vinted has been the driving force behind a change in purchasing behaviour, which has now reached such proportions that more second-hand clothes are sold over the virtual counter than new ones and that the big brands have to adapt.[19]. A Boston Consulting study[20] estimates the industry’s annual growth rate at 12 percent. In that context, the 3 percent growth of the ‘normal’ luxury segment appears to be small.

Vinted – the largest second-hand fashion platform in Europe, raised recently 250 million euros in a capital increase round. Via the originally Lithuanian platform, members can buy and sell second-hand clothing. The investment was made by ETQ Growth. This means that Vinted now has a value of 350 million euros. With the new investment, the second-hand fashion platform Vinted is expanding to regions within and outside Europe. In addition, the company invests in user experience, security, payments, shipping, infrastructure and in new product tools and functions. With this, the company wants to make second-hand clothing the norm and enable more people to participate in the circular economy.

The Realreal[21], Depop[22], Grailed[23], Vestiaire Collective[24] are also online platforms for second-hand luxury goods. These have sprung up like mushrooms in recent years.

And then there are three different start-ups, all three of which mirror the Amazon e-commerce platform and whose ambition is to become the Amazon of their sector. Circular in Motion aims to become the Amazon of the Recycled materials.

Circular in Motion®, a European start-up, based in Amsterdam with founders from various nationalities has created a revolutionary e-commerce platform where their professional expertise and their environmental values are combined in one system. Trading recycled materials safely and reliably online, that is the promise of Circular in Motion. Using blockchain technology and the expertise of credit insurer Coface, the platform aims to enable the purchase and sale of certified plastics. The company aims to become the Amazon of renewable materials. The company’s CEO got the idea for the trading platform after working in the petrochemical industry for 22 years. Due to the abundance of links in the supply chain of plastic producers, he noticed that communication was sometimes difficult. As a result, companies have little flexibility in choosing partners to do business with. With changing European regulations on their way, whereby producers are obliged to use a proportion of recycled material, it is becoming increasingly relevant that buying and selling parties find each other. In the blockchain application the selling party can only offer renewable materials that are certified as such. This means that the specifications have been checked. Blockchain makes it possible to record information about transactions with the impossibility to be changed in the meantime. The buying party then checks in the real world whether the raw materials received are really certified renewable, in accordance with the characteristics and claims of the seller. If this turns out not to be the case, then one will fall through the cracks as a seller and he will be kicked off the platform. About 100 companies have now joined the beta version of the platform, from waste processors and recyclers to polymer producers and processors, as well as some prominent brand owners. Circular in Motion has entered the commercial stage in the third quarter of 2021.[25]

The repair platform Refurbed is the fastest growing online marketplace for refurbished electronics in the German-speaking region. Its office is located in Vienna/Austria, but most of its software development team is spread over Europe and working remotely. They operate an e-commerce platform with sites in over a dozen different European countries through which we sell completely renewed electronics like phones, laptops and tablets. Products sold via its marketplace are like new, come with at least 12 months of warranty, and are up to 40% cheaper and much more sustainable. The shortage of chips and the general shortage of raw materials has contributed to the fact that people are buying fewer new goods and using more remanufactured products can help to deal better with limited resources.[26]

The German company Cirplus wants to be a kind of Amazon for recycled plastics. Its aim is to create the first global internet exchange for plastic material.

Under the company name Cirplus, which is made up of circular (circular) and surplus (added value), the two founders reached the second round of Entrepreneur First. That brought them an initial start-up capital of 80,000 British pounds in 2019. Two years later, more venture capitalists from Sweden and Germany joined the company. In addition, Cirplus is supported with state subsidies. Cirplus currently has 10 employees and around 1000 users are registered on the platform. The number is increasing all the time, not least because the platform is still free of charge. The company is currently still living on investor and subsidy funds. Investors firmly believe in Cirplus. They aim to be a professional procurement platform for plastic and all recycled plastic materials.[27]

And then there are new types of government markets that are emerging. Environmentally conscious governments that try to link discarded utensils with companies that want to keep these materials in the cycle. The parties just need to know how to find each other. Hence the importance of ICT and the internet.

The municipality of Apeldoorn recently launched a link between its database with all existing building materials in public space and a digital marketplace. This makes it possible to trade released materials so that they can be reused elsewhere. Apeldoorn is the first municipality in the Netherlands to take steps towards the circular economy at local and regional level in this way. Financially supported by an innovation subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of the Interior, the municipality innovated by making up a raw materials accounting scheme for all materials in public space and connected it to a trading platform. It works like this: Special cars – comparable to Google cars – scan the public space using different techniques. In this way they collect information about the material over and alongside which they drive, such as the type of stone, thickness of the stone layer or height of the sidewalk and colour. This information is combined with data from the Dutch municipal basic information (GBI). The GBI is a database available to every municipality and where information can be found about purchased materials. It then links these data to an online marketplace. Basically a kind of dating site for materials. Based on the offer on the trading platform, the municipality is looking for a match with another party, such as a municipality or contractor, who can make use of these secondary materials. This is how we facilitate circular construction.[28]

4.     Data collection for waste recycling or reuse

A very big trend is the one that makes the switch from purchasing a device to renting the device and the service it provides. This tendency is high on the list of recommendations put forward by significant institutions to achieve a truly circular economy. The philosophy behind it is that the supplier will then do everything it can to keep its device ready for operation for as long as possible and therefore make it repairable. And if the device is replaced by a newer one, the parts will be designed so that they can be reused fairly quickly with new versions from the supplier. However, this requires very good database management of all devices in circulation. Also paying attention to its consumption, performance, life cycle, etc. This therefore requires quite a bit of remote data collection and particularly up-to-date big data management.

In the coming years, instead of the traditional sale of light sources, the Belgian lighting company Etap wants to focus more and more on concluding agreements with companies, schools and hospitals, whereby Etap will take over the management of the lighting. This means not only cost savings for customers, but in addition, customers can reduce their carbon footprint by combining reduced energy consumption with the reuse of lighting materials. Etaps’ strong asset is that it has both the development and production in its own hands and can therefore focus on circularity in a controlled manner. An example? The CEO of Etap can already boast of a striking circular project. The lighting from the WTC towers in the North District of Brussels, which have been completely stripped and renovated, has been reused in classrooms of a Brussels school after maintenance. But that light management can only run optimally if the life cycle of luminaires and lamps is monitored. Then replacements can be made in time and the customer is satisfied. The Internet of Things plays an important role here. [29]

Pallets to transport goods on a truck or train are also subject to an owner shift. An environmentally conscious Dutch company that both made and sold pallets and rented them out, has sold its manufacturing department and has only focused on the rental and thus the reuse of pallets, called Faber Group’s circular pooling system. They only want to be able to keep those pallets in service for as long as possible, so they need data about their lifespan.

That is why the company recently started with a partner for Internet of Things solutions: Connected Load Carrier. The aim is to provide pallets with a tag that allows one to measure, for example, how much weight rests on them, how often they get a blow and what temperature they are in. The awareness is growing more and more how valuable all these data are. The company uses this information itself to prevent loss and thus ultimately increase the reuse rate. Everything contributes to more circular movements and more frequent rotation, which means fewer new pallets are needed. Moreover can now feedback a lot more information about pallet usage to the customer[30].

Since there are 60 to 80,000 types of plastic in circulation, many of which are virtually non-recyclable, a database of all plastic types, and especially the recyclable ones, is urgently needed. Since such standardization is parallel to what the Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V. has done for other industrial products, such as paper, for example, it was almost appropriate that this institute was thought of to create some order in the plastic chaos. Please note: the US – as the only country in the world – uses different standards.

Together with industry giants such as the Dual System Deutschland[31] (the Yellow Bag), the disposal company Remondis[32] or the plant manufacturer Krauss Maffei[33] as well as the German Institute for Standardization[34], the two founders of the plastic material market platform Cirplus we talked about before have initiated the urgently needed new DIN standard for plastic waste. As early as October 2021, it has created dedicated framework standards for the classification of plastic recycled materials, for example according to origin, quality or quantity, and so far all market participants recognize and encourage them.[35]

Moreover, in order to assist the industry in effectively securing the supply of recycled resins suitable for food and beverage packaging, global commodity intelligence company ICIS[36] has announced the release of the Recycling Supply Tracker – Chemical, which provides the producers of fast-moving producer goods (FMCGs) and chemicals, large converters and retailers with the most comprehensive view of the emerging chemical recycling market. Chemical recycling processes can also be used to revert plastic waste back to an earlier molecular state.

The ICIS Recycling Supply Tracker – Chemical has identified that, in terms of capacity, only around 20% of the global recyclers currently produce polymers as an output of their chemical recycling facilities. The ICIS Recycling Supply Tracker – Chemical is updated with new projects and project developments as they happen. Less than 30% of projects are currently operating at commercial scale, but over half of the plants identified are expected to start up in the next 3 years.[37]

More than a quarter of the world’s population does not have access to clean drinking water at home. And more than half do not have a connection to the sewer. Family-owned company Dutch Clean Tech BV aims to provide millions of households with both services over the next ten years with a service model. “You don’t want to invest in all kinds of devices, you just want your water to be purified.”

A drinking water installation is only the first step in the DCT approach, but they also focus on the infrastructure that drains the used water. After cleaning, it can be safely discharged. Or one can put it to good use elsewhere, for example to irrigate agricultural land. Only with a sewer connection and water purification one can create a structural solution and restore the natural water balance. Because most of the cities that are in need for clean water cannot afford the installation investment, Dutch Clean Tech  came up with the idea of ​​a financing structure in which municipalities pay a monthly amount. We collect the money needed for the installations from investors who receive a fixed return on their investment.[38]

This needs of course an important remote monitoring system in order to detect  consumption, water pollution, leakages, purification and quality of the drinking water etc. Hence: an important digital part of the game.

5.     Using recycled material in innovations

And then there is the whole technology of 3-D printing, which will focus fully on the reuse of plastic and even building materials. This allows new objects to be printed. There is, of course, the energy that the printers consume that should be CO2 neutral, but the printing materials to be used are circular anyway.

And then we arrive at the combination of designers and software to design things. This provides opportunities for designers willing to make standard screws and nuts that can be reused, standard metal supports designed for modular applications which can be rearranged to create different configurations and variants. This is also for designers wanting to do product design innovation from existing products or even waste, wanting to manufacture and produce products on a limited volume.

Real estate and the built environment – responsible for close to 40% of global carbon emissions – have a significant role to play. While much attention is focused on new, state-of-the-art buildings that achieve the highest sustainability certifications, 70% of buildings that exist today will still be here in 2050, highlighting the need to repurpose spaces, retrofit older buildings and refurbish in line with circular economy principles. Companies needed a roadmap to get their real estate to net zero carbon emissions. Now they have one. To guide real estate investors and occupiers on implementing and achieving their net zero carbon targets across their portfolios, JLL has partnered with the World Economic Forum to establish 10 Green Building Principles.

The Finnish Betolar supplies an alternative to cement. Concrete is a very good product. It is strong, safe, financially interesting and lasts a long time. The only problem is that it is not sustainable in an environmentally friendly way.

Betolar now mainly use blast furnace slag from the steel industry. As a result, they do not have to tap new raw materials. The world will continue to make steel for a while even in Europe. Enough places to collect blast furnace slag. Betolar does not supply concrete itself. Instead, it provides manufacturers with the knowledge and chemicals to make their concrete without cement; within the process that the concrete producer is already using. To ensure that the concrete is of exactly the same quality as the original product, Betolar performs tests in their factory. There they investigate the right combination of chemicals. In this way, the concrete producer can supply the same concrete as always, but with less CO2 emissions. Betolar now focuses on concrete products such as sewage pipes and paving stones. In the long run, it also wants to get started with foundation concrete.[39]

Antwerp’s Triple Helix wants to build a factory to process polyurethane foam originated from, among other things, discarded mattresses into chemical basic components such as insulation panels . The factory will operate in a fully circular manner and will provide with its own energy needs. 

Triple Helix is a group of Belgian engineers whose goal is to have a genuine impact on transitioning towards a more sustainable economy. By focusing on removing obstacles for more circular materials through the creation and/or growth of specific solution companies, we can substantially reduce the overall carbon footprint, plastic waste pollution and improper use of feedstocks. And we want to do this is in an economically viable and profitable way.[40]

Reusing materials requires new technologies and processes.

Examples of these opportunities are not lacking, such as the Toledo-based company Preco and its chemical recycling system for plastics that eliminates toxic additives and reduces the progressive degradation caused by the current mechanical recycling. The Spanish recycling company is located in the Toledo Ecopark and manages more than 20,000 tons of plastic and manufactures renewable products with a low carbon footprint.[41]

The company Dgrade in Dubai collects, pulverises and converts old plastic bottles into recycled polyester yarn. They make T-shirts, jackets, caps and face masks from this sustainable material.

Dgrade devised a way to green polyester. They collect discarded plastic bottles and turn them into polyester yarn. Less waste on the street and a T-shirt made from recycled material. Making polyester from plastic bottles costs 50 percent less energy and 20 percent less water. In addition, there are 55 percent less CO2 emissions than with new polyester. Dgrade sells the recycled polyester yarns to companies. Dgrade also makes clothing from their sustainable material. From T-shirts and jackets to caps and mouth masks. To make one T-shirt, you need about 10 500-milliliter plastic bottles, and you can weave the fabric in different ways to create different textures.[42]

6.     Sharing platforms

When one thinks of sharing platforms, one primarily refers to mega companies such as AirBnB, Uber or TaskRabbit. However, these are disruptive and only focus on profit -without human exploitation as a unavoidable con sequence- and not on climate and environment. When we talk about sharing platforms, which are part of the trend towards a circular economy, the starting point is very different. A sustainable product is an item that one can use for as long as possible. As a result, less energy is needed for the production of new products, and no other raw materials have to be used. Either one selects one product until it is really worn out, or one starts using a product together with other people in a kind of sharing economy. One product used by many people has a longer useful life. The business type is already very introduced when it comes to bicycles, Kick scooters, car or device sharing.

The largest group of car sharers is registered with a so-called 'free-floating car-sharing provider’. In this formula you can pick up the car and leave it at any parking space in the city. It is more non-binding because you usually do not pay any subscription costs and you can book a few minutes in advance via an app. The second largest group participates in so-called 'round-trip’ car sharing. The shared car is at a fixed station. You pick up the car there, but you also have to return it to that place.. Often there are subscription costs involved. The smallest group is the 'private cost-sharing car sharing’ or “peer-to-peer car rental” in which local residents can borrow a car from an owner or buy a car together in co-ownership. Making a profit is of secondary importance here.

The most successful car sharing company in Europe is Blablacar. BlaBlaCar is a French online marketplace for carpooling. Its website and mobile apps connect drivers and passengers willing to travel together between cities and share the cost of the journey. The service is named for its rating scale for drivers’ preferred level of chattiness in the car: “Bla” for not very chatty, “BlaBla” for someone who likes to talk, and “BlaBlaBla” for those who can’t keep quiet.

The company does not own any vehicles; it is a broker and receives a commission (between 18% and 21%) from every booking. The platform has 90 million users and is available in 22 countries, almost all of which are in Europe and Latin America – countries include: Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

GoMore is the European leader in combining ridesharing and peer-to-peer car rental and Scandinavia’s leading business in the sharing economy. Our mission is to be the preferred mobility solution in Europe and beyond.[43]

The digital sharing platform founded by GoMore enables people to share their cars or a seat on a planned trip through private car rental, shareable leasing, and ridesharing. The digital sharing platform now has 2.7 million members across Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Spain, leading the way for private car sharing Enabling private car sharing minimises the expenses associated with car ownership and the negative impact on the environment.

Shared bicycles in themselves are not new. In Chinese cities they are the most normal thing in the world and Europeans also drive a lot of kilometres on bicycles that they do not own. In the Netherlands, a cycling country par excellence, the phenomenon has never really taken off, although the very first bicycle sharing plan is of Dutch origin. The municipalities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam experimented with so-called free-floating shared bicycles, which could be left behind anywhere. But in European cities it appears that systems with docking stations work better. These are permanent, mandatory parking spaces for shared bicycles, so that they cannot be placed anywhere in the city. They use such a system in Antwerp, Paris and Milan, among others. In Barcelona, too, tens of thousands of residents annually use the more than 7,000 bicycles offered by the Bicing shared bicycle system.[44]

I avoided to tackle the food business. We assist though at the appearance, all over Europe, of innovative farmers are already growing healthy food, without synthetic chemical inputs, with ever higher yields, while respecting pollinators and nature. This should go together with the willingness of  citizens, who indirectly finance the current system with billions of euros (aid from the Common Agricultural Policy, water pollution control, etc.), to switch this type of support to farmers who feed them towards this new, more resilient and sustainable agricultural model.

Within that new model the role of digitization is extremely important. The creation of alternative sales circuits, avoiding the demanding and greedy intermediaries such as supermarkets and agro-industry, are better because they are created by the producers themselves or organized by a cooperative that seeks a balance between a fair price for the producers and an affordable price for the consumers. And therefore not based on double digit EBITDAs.

A nowadays app that is popular in many Western European cities is “Too Good To Go” app  .  This application of a Danish start-up connects people in major European cities with shops that provide unsold food. With the help of the app one can buy surplus fruit and vegetables, bread and cakes as well as leftover food from restaurants, bakeries, hotels, supermarkets and similar businesses at reduced prices. The app shows all participating shops in the area and lists them according to their distance from your own location[45].

Closing remarks

The digitization of processes or design is often so evident that start-up initiators no longer mention it. It is therefore very possible that we have overlooked themes in which computer science in all its aspects is one of the key factors in the breakthrough of circular economy initiatives. However, this article offers many avenues for thinking that can offer young graduates ideas for further development in their own environment. After all, that is the advantage of digitization: it requires expertise and software programs, sometimes a high-performance printer. No factory halls. And if there is one thing that corona has taught us, it is that projects can be worked on anywhere in the world. They are just those who manually control or produce things that have to be on site.

Louis Delcart, board member European Academy of the Regions, www.ear-aer.eu

[1] https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/

[2] the robots sort plastics by polymer, shape and/or color or they can sort specific objects, such as garden furniture, pipes, crates etc

[3] high purity in recyclables such as Plastics (PET bottles/trays, HDPE, PVC etc.),Foils (LDPE), Lightweight packages, Paper, OCC, Aseptic carton packages, vUBC, is maintained

[4] the robots can sort positively several metals in one pass or do negative sorting of residue and contaminants, Metals by shape/colour: brass, aluminium, zinc, copper, stainless steel etc., Metals by type: Iron scrap, copper wires, “meatballs”, Contaminants

[5] the pre-processing of waste can be heavily reduced and simultaneously sort many fractions such as: Metals, Wood by grade (A/B/C/D-wood), Inert mixed and by type: bricks, concrete, stones etc., Rigid plastics mixed or by polymer

[6] Marc Seijlhouwer, Beton recyclen maakt grote sprong vooruit: bedrijf zoekt naar locaties voor recyclemachine (Recycling concrete makes a big leap forward: company is looking for locations for recycling machine), in: ChangeInc, 3-02-2021; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/650959780738924544/recycling-concrete-makes-a-big-leap-forward

[7] Teun Schröder, Schone en veilige binnenstad door slimme afvalinzameling en digitale innovatie,( Clean and safe city center through smart waste collection and digital innovation) in: Change Inc., 15-07-2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/658119528454275072/clean-and-safe-city-center-through-smart-waste

[8] SIPTex is a Swedish research project that will test and evaluate automated textile sorting by building and operating a pilot facility for 12 months (in Sweden). The recognition and sorting equipment is based on near-infrared (NIR) technology. The project contributes to resource efficiency and closing textile loops by matching customers’ quality requirements with fast and highly accurate sorting technology.

[9] Avesta is a locality and the seat of Avesta Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 11,949 inhabitants in 2015.

[10] The Local: Malmö to host groundbreaking textile recycling plant,in: thelocal.se, 11-7-2019; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/670024895099469824/malm%C3%B6-to-host-groundbreaking-textile-recycling

[11] Sysav, South Scania Waste Company, recycles and treats waste from households and industries in southern Skåne. The company is owned by 14 municipalities with a joint population of slightly more than 710,000, and Sysav is commissioned to manage the household waste in all owner municipalities. The subsidiary Sysav Industri AB has approximately 6,000 corporate customers. https://www.sysav.se/en/siptex/

[12] Skåne County, sometimes referred to as Scania County in English, is the southernmost county – län in Swedish-, of Sweden, basically corresponding to the traditional province Skåne. It borders the counties of Halland, Kronoberg and Blekinge and connects to Capital Region, Denmark by the Öresund Bridge. The seat of residence for the Skåne Governor is the city of Malmö. The headquarters of Skåne Regional Council are located in both Kristianstad and Malmö.

[13] Jan Stassijns, Antwerpse actie om afval ook buitenshuis in vuilnisbak te gooien,( Antwerp organises action to throw waste in the garbage can outdoors as well) in: De Standaard, 2-7-2021; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/655585474681962496/antwerp-organises-action-to-also-throw-waste-in

[14] JN : Un contenedor intelligente que te recompensa por reciclar,( A smart container that rewards you for recycling), in: El País, 28-10-2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/667375319273062400/a-smart-container-that-rewards-you-for-recycling

[15] https://tomra.be/produits/machines-frontales/?lang=fr

[16] Arnaud VASLIN : Dans ce supermarché, recycler vos bouteilles en plastique vous fait gagner (un peu) d’argent, in : Le Maine Libre, 26-2-2022 ; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/680326096914415616/in-this-supermarket-recycling-your-plastic

[17] Louis Delcart, Selling Agricultural Products through the Short Food Supply Chain: It is Becoming Increasingly Popular, International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Studies Volume 8, Issue 8, 2021, pp. 7-13 ISSN 2694-6296 DOI: https://doi.org/10.22259/2694-6296.0808002

[18] TEUN SCHRÖDER, Nederlandse start-up haalt miljoeneninvestering op om Europese afvalmarkt te veroveren (Dutch start-up raises millions in investment to conquer European waste market) in: Change Inc, 08-10-2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/665487447558438912/dutch-start-up-raises-millions-in-investment-to

[19] Karlien Beckers, Van ‘vies’ naar ‘vintage’: luxe omarmt tweedehands,(From ‘dirty’ to 'vintage’: luxury embraces second-hand) in: De Standaard, 28-09-2021; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/664321527312957440/from-dirty-to-vintage-luxury-embraces

[20]  “The secondary market for luxury goods has always existed in the shadow of the primary market,” according to a report from the Boston Consulting Group, but that is beginning to change as demand for discounted pre-owned goods is giving rise to “one of the fastest-growing areas of luxury.” The management consulting firm estimates that luxury resale will grow at an average rate of 12 percent per year through 2021 to a whopping $36 billion market with a 9 percent share of the personal luxury goods segment. That is quite a bit larger than the 3 percent growth rate for the primary luxury market for that same period of time. https://www.thefashionlaw.com/the-luxury-resale-market-is-growing-faster-than-the-primary-luxury-goods-segment-per-bcg/

[21] The RealReal, Inc. is an online and brick-and-mortar marketplace for authenticated luxury consignment. Based on the circular economy, The RealReal sells consigned clothing, fine jewelry, watches, fine art and home decor. It employs an in-house staff of experts including horologists, gemologists, art curators and luxury fashion authenticators who inspect items for authenticity and value. https://www.therealreal.com/

[22] https://www.depop.com/

[23] At its core, Grailed is a simple concept: It’s a website and app for buying and selling high-end, second hand menswear and streetwear. The major investor is the luxury group Kering , that is owned by the Pinault family. Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Gucci, among others, fall under the umbrella of the group. https://www.grailed.com/?utm_content=UIYRILyo5xyIT9vy3Bx9tVLdUkGQ5r01hSVHzM0&utm_source=impact&utm_campaign=27795&utm_term=partnership_affiliate&utm_medium=partner_post&irgwc=1

[24] https://fr.vestiairecollective.com/

[25] Teun Schröder, Dit platform wil 'de Amazon van gerecyclede materialen’ worden met hulp van de blockchain, (This platform aims to become 'the Amazon of recycled materials’ with the help of blockchain), in: ChangeInc, 18-06-2021 https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/654586662560661504/this-platform-aims-to-become-the-amazon-of

[26] Dpa, Gebrauchte Technik in Chipkrise gefragt,( Used technology in demand during the chip crisis), in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 23-11-2021; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/668764664896831488/used-technology-in-demand-during-the-chip-crisis

[27] Steffen Uhlmann, Ein Markplatz für den Müll,( A market place for garbage),in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 19-10-2021; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/665585273398231040/a-market-place-for-garbage

[28] Teun Schröder, Gemeente Apeldoorn lanceert database en marktplaats voor circulaire materialen,( Dutch Municipality launches database and marketplace for circular materials), in: Change Inc, 7-07-2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/656216071419854848/dutch-municipality-launches-database-and

[29] Pascal Sertyn, Etap countert led-revolutie met verhuur van verlichting,( Etap counters LED revolution with lighting rental) in: De Standaard, 1-02-2021, https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20210131_98106025?

[30] TEUN SCHRÖDER, CEO Ingrid Faber: “Hergebruik van pallets is beter voor de klant, het milieu en voor ons een goed businessmodel”,( Reuse of pallets is better for the customer, the environment and a good business model for us in: Change Inc, 30-11-2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/669390304941604864/reuse-of-pallets-is-better-for-the-customer-the

[31] Der Grüne Punkt (The Green Dot) - Duales System Deutschland GmbH (DSD) is an operator of a dual system for waste separation in Germany. https://www.gruener-punkt.de/de/

[32] REMONDIS is one of the world’s largest recycling, service and water companies. With over 30,000 employees and around 900 business locations on 4 continents, the group serves more than 30 million people and many thousands of companies. https://www.remondis.de/en/home/

[33] KraussMaffei is a German manufacturer of injection molding machines, machines for plastics extrusion technology, and reaction process machinery. It was acquired by ChemChina in 2016. https://www.kraussmaffei.com/de/startseite

[34] Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V. (DIN; in English, the German Institute for Standardisation) is the German national organization for standardization and is the German ISO member body. DIN is a German Registered Association (e.V.) headquartered in Berlin. There are currently around thirty thousand DIN Standards, covering nearly every field of technology.

[35] Steffen Uhlmann, Ein Markplatz für den Müll, (A market place for garbage),in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 19-10-2021; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/665585273398231040/a-market-place-for-garbage

[36] ICIS is the global source of Independent Commodity Intelligence Services – connecting data, markets and customers to create a comprehensive trusted view of global commodities markets, enabling smarter business decisions that help optimise the world’s resources. For decades, its prices have been the backbone of thousands of transactions around the world. ICIS helps businesses make strategic decisions, mitigate risk, improve productivity and capitalise on new opportunities. The company makes some of the world’s most important markets more trusted and predictable by providing data services, thought leadership and decision tools. As a result of its global presence, they deliver targeted connected intelligence to influence thousands of decisions across supply chains every single day. Drawing upon our legacy, ICIS is also in a unique position to leverage big data and analytics as part of RELX, a FTSE20 data and analytics company with over 30,000 experts across 40 countries. With its intelligence, the company shapes the world by connecting markets to optimise the world’s valuable resources. https://www.icis.com/explore/

[37] Vladimir Spasić, World’s first interactive global database of chemical recycling projects kicks off, in: Balkan Green Energy News, 1-11-2021, https://balkangreenenergynews.com/worlds-first-interactive-global-database-of-chemical-recycling-projects-kicks-off/

[38] Teun Schröder, Nederlands familiebedrijf wil miljoenen huishoudens van schoon drinkwater voorzien,( Dutch family business wants to provide millions of households with clean drinking water), in: Change Inc, 18 maart 2022; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/679687315436748800/dutch-family-business-wants-to-provide-millions-of

[39] Rianne Lachmeijer, Duurzame stap bij zuiderburen: België krijgt cementloze rioleringsbuizen,( Belgium gets cement-free sewage pipes), in: Change Inc, 03-03-2022, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/678237819155677184/belgium-gets-cement-free-sewage-pipes

[40] Pascal Sertyn: Proeftuin duurzame chemie in Antwerpse haven gaat van start,( Sustainable chemistry pilot project opens in the port of Antwerp), in: De Standaard, 14-01-2022; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/673359652493361152/sustainable-chemistry-pilot-project-opens-in-the

[41] Juan Pablo Zurdo, El incendio, el colibrí y la economía circular,( The fire, the hummingbird and the circular economyà, in El País, 29-09-2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/677695636759609344/the-fire-the-hummingbird-and-the-circular-economy

[42] Kelly Clarke, Meet the Dubai company turning discarded plastic bottles into T-shirts, in: The National News, 1-2-2022; https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/675065989247942656/this-is-how-you-make-one-t-shirt-from-ten-plastic

[43] Anders Sauer Petersen: Sharing circular transport solution, in: State of Green, https://stateofgreen.com/en/partners/gomore/solutions/sharing-circular-transport-solution/

[44] Sjors Beukeboom: Deelfiets breekt niet door, maar nieuwe app moet verandering brengen (Bike Sharing bike doesn’t break through, but new app should bring change), in NOS nieuws, 27-11-2018, https://nos.nl/l/2261097

[45] dpa-Newskanal, App gegen Lebensmittelverschwendung (Food waste app), in: Süd-Deutsche Zeitung 26-07-2021, https://earaercircular.tumblr.com/post/657839520747831296/food-waste-app

Picture: Barkcloth tapa, Fiji islands, KMKG Brussels

1. Waste collection and waste management

Waste collection in Flanders is organised by intermunicipal agencies. These are companies with a statute fixed by a decree of the Flemish government of July 6^th 2001.Waste collection and management agencies have to be separate from other intermunicipal agencies. Their activity has to be limited to the collection and management of waste.

Intermunicipal agencies for waste collection and management can be pure private or mixed private and public. In the first case the capital has been paid up by all municipalities and towns members of the intermunicipal agency. The contribution of each town/municipality has been calculated according to its size and the size of its population. Intermunicipal agencies are entitled to do all financial operations necessary in the framework of their activity, including taking loans from banks. In the second case, the capital of the Intermunicipal agency has been paid partly by the municipalities, partly by a private partner. This private partner is often a company specialised in waste collection and management that will effectively provide the member municipalities with its services.

In waste collection and management, the income of the intermunicipal agency often comes from 2 sources:

a. it is the municipality that pays the invoices for the collection of the waste through its municipal ecologic taxes it imposes each household with. This tax includes the purchase and use of specialised trucks and the salaries of the waste collectors.

b. it is the citizen who pays the invoices of the waste treatment in 3 possible ways:

            1. by buying plastic bags in which he puts his waste for collection by the agency. The agency sells the bags via commercial shops. The price of the bag charged to the citizen contains 3 elements: production price of the bag, fee to the commercial shop for selling the bag, fee to the waste treatment entity for treating that kilogram of waste.

            2. by providing waste bins in lease to each household. The waste is put in the bin each collection day and presented by the household to be weighed. The bin is identified through a chip. The household receives a trimestral invoice for the treatment of the collected waste.

Intermunicipal agencies are only entitled to collect and manage waste of private individuals. Companies, shops, restaurants etc have to look for other ways of having their (professional) waste collected and treated. Most of the time they have a contract with a private waste collecting company that also treats the waste. Waste with a risk factor like asbestos or nuclear waste of hospitals has to be treated carefully: its treatment can be very costly.

Waste is collected separately according to the Law of 29/4/1994 of the Flemish region. Separate waste collection is compulsory as well for private individuals as for companies. In practice almost 90% of the waste is collected separately and can be reused.

Private individuals’ waste is collected in 2 ways:

a. collection at the doorstep through trucks of the intermunicipal agencies: 3 to 4 collections: residual waste, PMB (plastic bottles, metal, beverage packaging), paper, sometimes: green waste to compost

b. collection in containers spread over the municipality’s territory: hollow glass  and used clothes

c. collection in a container park with entrance tax. Most of the time 1 container park per 10.000 inhabitants. Containers for wood and wooden furniture, small chemical waste such as paint, construction, renovation and demolition waste, garden waste for composting, electronic tools such as mixers, drilling equipment, etc, large electronic devices such as dish washers, washing machines, multimedia equipment, lamps and lighting equipment, large residual waste

d. Collection on demand only by specialised firms: asbestos, gas bottles, oils and fuel, firework, radioactive material, car parts, roofing and other asphalt devices, tree trunks      

A third waste collection activity has been installed twenty years ago starting from the principle “the polluter pays”, forcing producers to recover their packaging and even their products. Since producers sell their products mostly through wholesalers and the latter distribute finally through shops and department stores, it was difficult for them to collect and recover their goods and stock them before transport to a re-user. That is why producers from the same sector combined forces and created associations responsible for recovering used stuff. People who buy electric devices and computers, glass bottles, batteries, paper and cardboard packaging, fat of French fries, Styrofoam, paint pots,…  pay on the moment of purchasing a contribution in order to pay in advance the recovering of their goods. The associations organise the recovering of these materials: paper and cardboard, batteries, hollow glass, electric and electronic devices etc. As mentioned before, the main area where the collection and stocking takes place is the container park in every municipality. The sector association pay the container parks to collect the used packages and devices and organise its recovering and reuse at their own costs. Companies, shops, restaurants with cardboard packaging or used wine bottles have these collected directly by private collectors. Construction companies have to get rid of the debris in the same way.

2. Circular economy

What is important though, is that there is a market for this waste. Collecting it separately and doing nothing with it, is not a good idea. Therefore, companies specialise in reusing it. And in Northern Europe, a whole industry of reusable products appears. This makes that the associations created to use the funds in order to recover waste and used products, became profitable. The first products that were reusable were vegetables and fruit waste, paper and glass, but also pet bottles, debris and Styrofoam. One started to speak about circular economy, the moment the public became convinced that this was a behaviour to stimulate: use materials and products a second time, sometimes in a repaired way, sometimes with another destination. This attitude promoted the search for new destinations. One of the main researches over the last years is the reuse of plastics. This is not an easy venture, since there are 80.000 different types of plastics in the world. But in Northern Europe, companies start to invest in factories melting and reusing plastics. As soon as the price of this commodity is feasible, the population will accept the additional price to pay. Meanwhile,we know that the circular economy pays off and is a way to make money. Research by McKinsey on behalf of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation shows that companies that work on the basis of circular principles are among the fastest growing in the economy.

Being successful in the circular economy[1]

If I have to name three success factors for circular enterprise, then these are:

1. Reconceive the concept of ‘value’

The profit of a product lies no longer solely in producing and selling. Value can be created in many ways around the life of a product, as well for manufacturers, as for users and the environment. Think of maintenance and repair services. Or sell products a second or third time, after refurbishment.

The sole circular application does not necessarily sells. Seduce the customer with e.g. the use of high-quality products without prior investment and without worrying about maintenance, with a product that can be customized and that is always up-to-date, with cost savings.

2. Combine servitization, digital technologies and sustainable product design to introduce winning circular solutions

Traditional price-based sales models are under pressure. Customers have less capital to invest. They do not want to engage in maintenance or repair of infrastructure or devices, but concentrate on their core business. In developed countries, the market is also often saturated. Hence the emphasis shifts from product sales to customer after sales, and from ownership to access.

The potential of service-based business models is enhanced by the explosive use of digital technologies. Remote management via IT applications enables, for example, to limit expensive and labor-intensive service of leased products. Intelligent products indicate when maintenance, repair or replacement is required. Information in real time about the availability of devices also enables shared use at an acceptable transaction cost.

Provided that the manufacturer also designs his products in such a way that they last a long time, that they can easily be upgraded or repaired and reused or recycled as soon as they have returned, he increases the profitability of his product-as-a-service model.

3. Find partners in crime, within & outside your own organization, in order to create circular value together

You do not become circular on your own. Forge a coalition of the willing in your own organization. Moreover, cooperation in the value chain is required. Involve suppliers and customers, distributors and installers, but also logistics service providers and financiers.

Circular economy can be split in two types of usage.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide with small-scale examples of these types of usage. I do not comment anymore on the large scale recycling of glass, paper, debris and pet bottles, since large companies know the methodology of it. I insist mostly upon small scale tentatives, some successful already, some in a very early stage, needing to be subsidized. 

a. second hand:

existing material cleaned, repaired and used a second time.

We start to have a lot of second hand (or second life or “vintage”) shops in Flanders. Some of them are called “recycle shops” and are sponsored with public funds when they employ personnel that has difficulties in finding a job on the traditional labour market. The salaries of the coaches are therefore paid by the local authorities, their own salaries are recovered by the sales of their products.  Some do it on a commercial basis, such as second hand clothes (“vintage clothes”), second hand jewellery. Because of a rising poverty but also because of a change in mentality with young people, the recycle shops become a hype. They sell: second hand books, second hand toys, second dishes and cutlery, second hand tables, chairs, seats, beds, couches, second hand bicycles etc.

Cases:

Matchmaker between second-hand baby stuff and parents in school

Mic Mac Minuscule is the one-stop-shop birth list with second-hand, pimped and fair stuff for (grand) parents in good expectation. This happens through other parents who no longer need their baby equipment and want to reintroduce them.

Mic Mac Minuscule tries to contribute by stimulating reuse and lowering the threshold to second hand. They also create unique pieces through collaboration with designers. This birth list does not bother future parents, offers quality and this to 50% of the new value.

How does it work?

1.The list of things: During an appointment (typically 4-5 months of pregnancy), Mic Mac Minuscule (via a local freelance employee), together with parents, compiles the list of things they need for their new-born baby.

2. Without searching, without worries: Based on a professional mood board, Mic Mac Minuscule starts the search for the right stuff behind the scenes. In addition, they screen each product for cleanliness, quality and safety.

3. Everything is ready: Baby almost in sight? All items are ready on time (4 weeks before the due date).

4.Click and choose: Parents put the link to the birth list on the birth announcement and let family and friends simply choose a gift online.

5. Do not need something anymore? Has your baby grown out of his first clothing size? Mic Mac Minuscule brings them back into circulation.

Pooling reusable plumbing

Rotor Deconstruction wants to recuperate quality sanitary recently from refurbishments and preparing it for reuse. When refurbishing office spaces, ceramic sanitary ware is disposed of as waste, together with the materials of the interior finish. However, it is often a matter of devices that have been well maintained and are still functioning perfectly. In the new offices almost identical sanitary facilities are replaced. After all, the current sector is not prepared to reinstall the broken out appliances.

Rotor Deconstruction wants to develop a service around the pooling of reusable sanitary facilities. Together with real estate partner Cofinimmo they are looking for a dismantling site as a test case. RotorDC will dismantle the material and prepare it for reuse. The project must check whether this service model is technically and economically feasible.

Subscribe to children’s clothing

Children’s and maternity clothing has only a very short usage phase within the traditional consumption model. Investing in the purchase of durable and high quality children’s and maternity clothes is therefore not economically interesting for young (future) parents. The Brussels company Tale Me therefore designed a subscription formula for a renewable and adapted wardrobe. Depending on the type of subscription, you choose three or five unique items of clothing that you can exchange for new items every two months (children’s clothing) or every other month (maternity clothes). Animator Anne Balez designs her own collections, but she also collaborates with other designers. All these pieces are only produced locally in Belgium, France and Portugal.

Exchange your clothes

Everyone likes new clothes, but not always to pay a lot for them. But what does one do with all the clothes that hang in the wardrobe and that we no longer wear? This question created the concept of 'swishing’ in England a few years ago, in the US they called it 'swapping’.

Swishing / swapping is shopping and exchanging clothing at the same time. People bring beautiful, clean and presentable clothes that they no longer wear to the event, where others fall in love and give them a second life. Swishing / swapping is therefore also good for the environment.

Swishing / swapping events can be organized by anyone around the world. In Belgium, for example, you can find such initiatives via www.swishing.be.

Repair workshop

In an old incinerator in the North of Helsinki –Uusix- a social economy organization has set up an integral recycling centre. Approximately 300 employees are creative with PCs, bicycles, building material, textiles etc. You can donate material and buy it yourself. Impressive what was / is being realized and how their financing model works.

b. reuse of the material with high added value

In a circular economy, numerous solutions are used to continue to use raw materials and products as high as possible in the economy. They are repaired, shared, have a high second-hand value, are upgradeable, can be easily disassembled and transformed into new products. The chosen materials are recycled or bio-based at birth, and are recyclable or degradable at the end of life.

We give hereby examples of cases that exist in Flanders:

Construction topics:

Recyclable building

On the site of the Termunt Hill, the municipality of Tervuren wants to build a new multifunctional and circular building. The local football club and the youth house will be housed in the building. Other associations or private initiatives can also make use of it. For the construction the municipality uses parts that can be reused later or recycled. After use within a few decades, the building must be able to be disassembled.

Sustainable construction materials from steel slags and CO2

The Stepping stone project to a circular city aims to demonstrate the use of Carbstone products made with local raw materials in the city of Ghent. The innovative Carbstone technology makes sustainable building materials from steel slags and CO2, two waste streams. In this way material cycles are cleverly closed, and that has a positive impact on the environment and on the economy. The City of Ghent project looks at the possible impact on the technical level, but also into the preconditions in terms of logistics, organization, environment and health. Crucial is the cooperation between different links in the local value chain.

The project partners will use the acquired knowledge and experience to strengthen the confidence of entrepreneurs in new technology. This project thus forms a stepping stone towards the further development of the circular economy.

Building materials of excavated soil

BC materials converts earthmoving into circular clay construction materials.

Building requires the extraction of soil as a first step. This is difficult to stock and polluting to transport. In Flanders we dig out 21 million tons per year. Approximately 75% of this is unpolluted, and this soil is 40% non-circularly used in road construction or 60% dumped as waste in quarries.

BC materials connect the chain from soil to circular building material. We convert earthmoving into local building materials such as clay plasters, loam stones and rammed earth. These are CO2-neutral, ensure a healthy indoor climate and contain minimal gray energy. After use it can be given back to the ground or re-converted into building material in an infinitely circular process.

In addition, BC also organizes workshops to transfer knowledge and lower the threshold to the use of locally sourced materials. The workshops are aimed at students and professionals from the construction sector.

Facade bricks click together like blocks

Facadeclick is a dry building system where facing bricks are clicked together like blocks. The Facadeclick system works without glue or mortar, but with innovative connectors that connect the facing bricks. In this way, the facing bricks remain perfectly reusable after their first, second, third … life.

The Facadeclick system works without glue or mortar. It uses innovative connectors that connect the facing bricks with a simple click. The result is a 3 mm joint and a nice tight façade. The patented components and the simple construction process guarantee a flawless execution. With Facadeclick, façades become a temporary circular storage of building materials.

 Extra advantage: no efflorescence anymore

You know them: the dreaded white spots on the façade as a result of salts that remain after evaporation of the building moisture. No matter how well the contractor knows his trade, efflorescences cannot always be avoided and sometimes require a great deal of aftercare. With Facadeclick, efflorescence is a thing of the past because it is a dry building system.

Chipboards from the 'city forest’

Unilin, the company behind Quick-Step, produces panels (chipboards, MDF), roof systems and insulation boards. Today, the chipboard consists of 75 percent recycled wood. An economic choice that also has ecological advantages.

Unilin is one of the largest fiberboard producers in Europe. Initially, the company made its sheets with flax straw - the company was set up by a group of flax farmers who invested together. When flax was no longer sufficient, it switched to so-called thinning wood from the forests, and remains of the wood industry - such as wood in irregular shapes, which is not suitable for the furniture industry.

Later on, residual wood from the packaging industry and the construction sector was also used as raw material to finally focus on the recycling of the so-called “urban forest”, wood that has already been used and ends up in the waste stream. Today, Unilin chipboard consists of 75 percent recycled wood. And the share of recycled wood will only increase in the coming years. By comparison, this percentage was zero twenty years ago.

Textile topics

Incorporating circularity into contracts for linen and work clothing in OCMW(Social Assistance Organisation) and Zorgbedrijf (Health care public company) Leuven

Zorgbedrijf Leuven (HEALTH Leuven) and OCMW Leuven want to incorporate circularity into the framework agreement for sustainable rent and maintenance of linen and work clothing. For this they enter into a dialogue with the sector, because no circularity without the cooperation with all partners in the chain. Specifically, this concerns flat linen and the work clothes of the care providers, the cleaners and the people of logistics and technology, and the maintenance of the personal linen of the residents.

The project includes the purchase procedure from the preparatory phase with market inspection, the testing of the legality and the feasibility, the drafting of the specifications, the assessment of applications and tenders and the assessment of the conformity at start-up. Also discussed: the possibility to buy circularly or a circular government purchase.

Old flags become bags

The Hasselt Flagbag creates all kinds of accessories from recycled flags. With the help of a sewing machine, these old flags are transformed into the most diverse utensils. For example, the company is focusing on waste prevention: discarded flags and pennants that would otherwise end up on the waste mountain will get a new lease of life thanks to Flagbag.

'Think global, act local!’ The distance that a Flagbag travels from raw material to finished product is limited, certainly in comparison with similar products that you buy elsewhere. The flags are from Hasselt and are processed by local workers in a local workshop. The other parts (zips, linings, handles …) are also recycled as much as possible from old textiles or purchased from local dealers. A nice extra: flag fabric consists for 100% of almost indestructible polyester.

Fashion with recycled jeans

The brand that Tom Duhoux, a Belgian designer, brings to the market, HNST, is unique: it will produce the first jeans made from fifty percent recycled denim fabric. One hundred percent is impossible because the fibres shorten during the production process. In addition, production takes place entirely on European soil: the yarn is made in a spinning machine in Flanders, the fabric is woven in an Italian weaving factory. The first HNST collection consists of three trousers and a total for women, and three trousers and men’s jeans vest.

Food topics

Growing oyster mushrooms on coffee grounds from the city

PermaFungi is a pilot project on urban ecology that wants coffee grounds produced in Brussels reuse to grow delicious oyster mushrooms. The company was founded in March 2013 and recently opened a second nursery.

In the nurseries, oyster mushrooms are grown on so-called 'sausages’, which for the most part consist of coffee grounds, which turns out to be an ideal breeding ground for oyster mushrooms. The coffee grounds are collected by bicycle from various branches in Brussels (including coffee bars).

PermaFungi not only focuses on the actual cultivation of mushrooms, but also on the development of self-cultivation kits and workshops.

Land for farmers for local food production

The foundation and the co-operative De Landgenoten (the Landsharers) purchase or manage agricultural land and rent it to organic farmers. They can use it for local food production.

Local food production is an essential part of the circular economy. More and more people from the city are asking. And a lot of farmers are jumping on the cart. They can give a multifunctional and sustainable interpretation to our scarce open space. For example, self-harvest, farmers’ markets and cooperation between citizens and local farmers (community-supported agriculture) are on the rise. By providing farmers with public land in a sustainable way, a city can solve its own need for local food supply.

In this project, De Landgenoten want to support both the public landowners and the farmers, give them the right information and provide inspiring examples to find the right match between supply and demand. This is how smart local food production comes on shared grounds.

Potato residues become green energy

What used to be considered waste, can - thanks to new technology - still be useful. The potato-processing company Mydibel, for example, turns its potato energy into green energy [electricity and heat] in its own energy centers. Mydibel runs entirely on green energy. In addition, this process yields an interesting by-product: a biological fertilizer that farmers can use to fertilize their (potato) fields.[2]

Unsold bread becomes beer

Department stores also have a lot of waste. Unsold products whose expiration date has expired must unfortunately be discarded. There are food aid projects, but still a lot of food goes into the dustbin. Bread, for example, accounts for twelve percent of total food waste. That is why Brussels Beer Project came up with the idea of giving the wasted bread a second life and brewing beer with it: Babylone. Delhaize delivers daily fresh bread that was not sold. That bread is turned into flour and packaged. Part of the malt that you need to brew beer is replaced by the processed bread.[3]

Furniture and home decoration

Reusable modular office chairs

BMA Ergonomics sells ergonomic office chairs to companies and individuals. The chairs are modularly constructed: they can be easily cleaned and repaired, or provided with new cushions. That way they last much longer. BMA gives a take-back premium for every discarded Axia® chair and reuses the seats or their parts.

An office chair is discarded on average after ten years. That is unfortunate, because many parts are longer useful. The Axia® office chairs from BMA consist of pure and healthy materials that are 99 percent recyclable. They are constructed in such a way that they can easily be refreshed and restored.

The take-back premium means that BMA will take back any discarded Axia® chair. In exchange, the customer receives a fee or a return premium. If the chair is in good condition, it will be cleaned and resold as a 'second life chair’. If it is no longer usable, the chair is dismantled and the parts are reused in other chairs or recycled.

BMA also goes further by offering maintenance contracts or a contract where the customer only pays for seating comfort. BMA requests a deposit for the metal skeleton and the seat cushions are rented per month. If there is a problem with a chair, BMA resolves it. The seats are checked annually. This way the company relieves its customers.

Design carpet of bicycle tires

The Cyclo of the Belgian company Papilio is a design carpet made from old bicycle tires. These bands are cut out and woven in a traditional way into a carpet. No chemical or other finishing products are used during the production process. Do you find the markings of the previous owner on the tires? They still tell their own story. This sturdy carpet is also perfectly suited for outdoor use.

Fans as new lighting

The young designer Sep Verboom from Antwerp, received the Henry Van de Velde Young Talent Award  2018 of the Government of Flanders for his products 'Rope hope’, a carpet of fibres from old ship ropes, and 'Fan’, a collection of lamps made from discarded fans and rattan.

Offices as raw material depots

Nnof (Nearly New Offices) is a local manufacturer that develops and produces sustainable office furniture in its own workshops based on existing raw materials provided by the customer. The solutions are good for the environment, budget-friendly, innovative and flexible.

Nnof’s range is broad, ranging from simple reuse to a complete transformation of existing objects. Sliders are reborn as lockers, table tops are cut into seat blocks, and so on.

Reusing material in this way is nice to the wallet and it helps to reduce the ecological footprint of office furnishing.

Socio-ecological furniture manufacturing

Recup Design is a socio-ecological furniture manufacturing company that starts with reusable wood that it receives from private individuals, construction companies, stand builders, and so on. Wood that would otherwise end up in the incinerator will thus receive a second life at Recup Design. Scaffolding wood, for example, is transformed into a library cupboard, an old squash floor is transformed into a dining table, a discarded terrace floor becomes a new garden house … All this is custom-made, completely according to the wishes of the customer.

The employees of Recup Design are mainly people who get few opportunities on the labor market.

Old filing cabinet becomes hip locker

Choosing solid material is usually a good idea. What is solid lasts longer. and therefore needs to be replaced less quickly. But what if you need to change? Many companies are in that situation. At the time they bought large, robust archive cabinets, but due to digitization there is less and less need for storage space. At Pami, a company that designs and realizes office design, they found a solution. “On the one hand, many of our customers had a surplus of [roller shutter] cupboards ·, says marketing manager Christophe van Hees. 'On the other hand, there was a growing demand for individual lockers for employees, because in more and more companies employees no longer have one fixed workplace. The internal R&D department of Pami managed to convert surplus roller shutter boxes into modern lockers. Waste is avoided by reusing surplus roller shutter boxes - even from other brands - and by using residual strips or old worktops to produce shelves and doors of the lockers. This upgrade can simply be done at the customer’s site. So less transport and less CO2 emissions.[4]

Recycling of materials

E-waste is (worth) gold

Umicore Precious Metals Refining is one of the largest recycling parks for precious metals in the world. This member of the Umicore Group is a world leader in the recycling of complex waste streams containing noble and other non-ferrous metals. The company regains and sells precious metals (silver, gold, platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium), but also special metals (indium, selenium, tellurium), secondary metals (antimony, tin, bismuth) and base metals (lead, copper, nickel).

The recycling of these materials is very profitable because the value of metal does not decrease over time. One ton of e-waste accounts for 100 times more gold than what is collected from the mines.

Umicore processes some 100 tons of gold per year and has a recovery rate of almost 95% for metals that are extracted from e-waste.

Purified waste water for agriculture

When companies have shared interests, they can best work together. An example of this is F2AGRI, which makes purified waste water from the food industry available to the agricultural sector. A buffer basin was constructed in Ardooie that is such

150,000 cubic meters of treated waste and rain water from the ARDO factories. The water that comes from the producer of frozen vegetables is made available to local farmers via an underground pipeline network of around 25 kilometers. Farmers who are members of a cooperative can purchase the water at a correct price. The income for the water supplied must cover the expenditure for electricity and maintenance. The system ensures that farmers can also water their crops during dry periods. And that in turn ensures the continuity of delivering the vegetables.[5]

Artists and circular economy

Carmen Björnald, a designer in Milan, Italy and owner of Etsy shop CeeBee Recycle, is an artisan who is able to recycle everyday materials into something new that looks professional and even sophisticated. She makes an eclectic array of useful items from magazine pages, used books and sheet music, as well as fabric from hot air balloons.

The young designer Sep Verboom from Antwerp, received the Henry Van de Velde Young Talent Award  2018 of the Government of Flanders for his products 'Rope hope’, a carpet of fibres from old ship ropes, and 'Fan’, a collection of lamps made from discarded fans and rattan.

Dave Hakkens in the Netherlands puts simple machines on the market enabling artists to recycle plastic bags and make lovely objects out of it. https://preciousplastic.com/

 3. The sharing Economy

 One of the aspects of circular economy is the sharing economy. Sharing economies allow individuals and groups to make money from underused assets. In this way, physical assets are shared as services. If we think of libraries or former video rental shops, we are aware that the principle is very old. But thanks to smartphones, it acquires a second life. The sharing economy has evolved over the past few years where it now serves as an all-encompassing term that refers to a host of on-line economic transactions that may even include business to business (B2B) interactions. Other platforms that have joined the sharing economy include:

• Co-working Platforms - Companies that provide shared open work spaces for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and work-from-home employees in major metropolitan areas.
• Peer-to-Peer Lending Platforms – Companies that allow for individuals to lend money to other individuals at rates cheaper than those offered through traditional credit lending entities.
• Fashion Platforms – Sites that allow for individuals to sell or rent their clothes.
• Freelancing Platforms – Sites that offer to match freelance workers across a wide spectrum ranging from traditional freelance work to services traditionally reserved to handymen.

Criticism of the sharing economy often involves regulatory uncertainty. Businesses offering rental services are often regulated by federal, state or local authorities; unlicensed individuals offering rental services may not be following these regulations or paying the associated costs, giving them an "unfair” advantage that enables them to charge lower prices. We think here about AirBnB or Uber, as disturbing entities. But it should be considered that, with the appropriate regulation, the sharing economy can be beneficial to important layers in the population because it provides expanded access to products, services and talent beyond one-to-one or singular ownership and makes products more used. In a period where people become worried about exhausting the earth, using existing objects more and not throw them away quickly becomes on important issue.   

Louis Delcart, Board Member EAR-AER, www.ear-aer.eu

[1]

This part of the article has been translated from the article “I have something with a circular economy. Do You?” written by Helen Versluys and published on 23-12-2018 in LinkedIn Pulse.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ik-heb-wat-met-circulaire-economie-u-ook-helen-versluys/

[2] Wim Troch: Zij tonen hoe je grondstoffen hergebruikt (They show how to reuse raw materials), in Visie March 2019

[3] Wim Troch: Zij tonen hoe je grondstoffen hergebruikt (They show how to reuse raw materials), in Visie March 2019

[4] Wim Troch: Zij tonen hoe je grondstoffen hergebruikt hergebruikt (They show how to reuse raw materials), in Visie March 2019

[5] Wim Troch: Zij tonen hoe je grondstoffen hergebruikt . (They show how to reuse raw materials), in Visie March 2019

Picture: Restaurant with recycled furniture and decoration in old malt factory in Boortmeerbeek (Belgium)

The dichotomy between generations

I went recently to the presentation of a new strategic plan for several Balkan countries close to the Adriatic. It is hopeful and fascinating that EU-members are involving the Western Balkan countries into a supranational approach for regional development. It is also surprising that the drivers for this the supranational strategy are cities and provinces alongside the Adriatic sea[1], and not national governments. However, parts of  the proposed strategy seemed old school to me, insisting on agricultural, aquacultural and touristic collaboration. The strategy insists upon capacity building and research, and development of SMEs hoping for a transfer of knowhow between old and new Europe.

What stroke me, during my trips to Eastern Europe, but also to the rest of the world, is the fact that in certain disciplines there is no need for capacity building or for transfer of knowhow. The young generation wherever in the world, that grew up in this new and fascinating world, is eager for all novelties and technological developments, and only needs ideas and opportunities to show their acquired interest and capacities.

And those new trends are not aquaculture, agriculture or tourism. They are to be situated in the digital world, the renewable energy world, the circular economy world and the sharing economy world. Moreover, creativity in these disciplines does not necessarily need huge investments to be successful. And it can be applied to regional markets that can immediately benefit from local innovation.

So let us try to develop some ideas for the future, applicable by young entrepreneurs in the Balkans and other upcoming economies.

The digital economy: a worldwide phenomenon

The digital economy goes in many directions. Some are applicable worldwide, like Facebook or Twitter. Some are applicable locally, such as the payment app for toll booths on Romanian motorways, or even the health control bracelet for elderly people in their home linking them to local healthcare centres and keeping them at home for a longer period of time.

But this digital economy creates new jobs, for young developers, young installers, young service providers. We can find applications already in the following sectors: buildings, energy, consumer & home, healthcare & life science, industries, transportation & mobility, retail shops, security and public safety and of course IT & networks.  It appeals to 28 application groups and in 29 different types of locations. These strategies are to be developed in a close collaboration between local and regional authorities as drivers, local technical schools and universities as inspirers and local companies and start-ups as executors. And supranational, national and private funding as financial source. We are talking about applications for internet of things, applications in the sharing economy, developments in 3D-printing[2] and developments in artificial intelligence and robotisation. All this knowhow is present in many countries. Conditions, such as 4G technology are also available in European countries. But this requires local interest from town halls and regional administrations and local strategies. Because in many cases these new technologies can provide a stunning progress in public service to the population, and therefore be a proof for a well functioning local public authorities.

The circular economy: an economic opportunities or for idealists and lunatics?

The definition of the circular economy refers to the more efficient use of raw materials, existing materials, energy, water, space and food  by smartly closing usage cycles. A distinction is made between biological material and technical material. In the first one, the use of farm waste for energy purposes and others is at stake, whereas in the other one the principles of recycling, refurbishing, remanufacturing, reuse and maintenance are the principal characteristics.

Circular economy is a mind-set though, in the first place. It invites the public opinion to embrace the principle of not exhausting the planet, to go for sustainability, for reuse of materials and garbage and for avoiding waste by making the effort of re-entering used products in the consumption chain. Literally this means that people enjoy shopping in vintage clothes shops, enjoy sitting on remanufactured second hand tables in restaurants and enjoy having meetings at work in refurbished seats. It is the young generation, that loves this mind-set; that loves technical innovation in a sustainable context.

Once this mind-set is adopted by a sufficient number of inhabitants, it becomes a market. A market interested in product design innovation from existing products or even waste. A market for manufacturing and producing home made products. This provides opportunities for entrepreneurs willing to collaborate, making standard screws and nuts that can be reused, standard metal supports designed for modular applications which can be rearranged to create different configurations and variants. A market for repairing old furniture, which is dismantled and new shaped, starting a new life cycle. A market for circular shops, to which people bring in their old washing machines, that are repaired and resold at cheap(er) conditions. A market for reusing old stone benches on public sidewalks, dismantle them and brushing stones around it, creating a very modern public space.

The business opportunities in the circular economy are numerous:

·         Recycling: convert waste into a reusable material

·         Repair: Bringing the product back to the original state

·         Upgrade: improving the product with a better functionality

·         Modularity: design a product into easily detachable components

·         Durability: design longer lasting products

·         Resource trade: waste from one company serves as a resource for another company

The sharing economy: the next step in a sustainable world

The sharing economy is of all times. Public libraries are a typical example of it, existing since hundreds of years. They were created out of concern of local authorities to enable people to acquire knowledge and affordable intelligent entertainment. “Popular elevation” it was called at the end of the nineteenth century.  Several principles of rental were installed, each time there was a market: agricultural machinery rental, car rental, garden machinery rental, video rental, bed & breakfast. The principle was identical: sharing a product with others for the life cycle of the product.

Once apps were available, the principle of rental received a whole new content. Peer-to-peer accommodation enables home owners to propose a room to people, promoting it only in an app, AirBNB. Uber offers a private individual to use his own car as a taxi and to receive orders without doing promotion. The driverless car makes companies dream of car fleets that are shared among users that only order a car when they need to use one. The same can be done by companies who need personnel on a temporary basis, and that are unwilling to fill in the necessary paperwork. Online staffing applications offer companies the possibility to share staff.  The same principle is offered to restaurants who make lunches that are not consumed in their restaurant, but in the customer’s home. Delivered by bikers, in special containers. The bikers are able to pass through heavy traffic and deliver hot meals within minutes. The same bikers deliver also parcels in the framework of e-commerce.

Elderly care at home

A specific niche, requiring a thorough collaboration between public and private sector, is the sector of the elderly care. The more we travel to the east, the greater the unwillingness to put someone’s parents in elderly homes. In the first place because of the inexistence of decent and affordable facilities, in the second place because of the century-old tradition that children take care of their parents.

But the reality of the twenty-first century complicates things enormously. The younger generation works in the city, lives in an apartment, and is therefore unable to take retired parents in their homes. Or they even live abroad, send monthly money to the retired parents, but have to take care of them from a distance, through skype.

Developments of remote health control and intervention assurance are thought over and installed. Lunches are distributed, the cleaning of the house is organized. The remote control system is again an internet application. It can perfectly be installed thanks to a bracelet at the older parent’s wrist. It triggers a warning system in a control room, provided there are abnormalities or if the parent pushes the button. The lead time for the intervention should be very limited. It is up to the authorities to take initiatives and to control the quality and the price of these systems. The private sector can organise this, make a business out of it.  It requires IT-knowhow, well trained and dedicated personnel, transportation means (depending on traffic density). We are sure there is a market.

The role of the local authorities

As I mentioned, Europe is promoting the role of local and regional authorities in economic and social development. They can more easily work together, provided there is a willingness to do so and not to fight politically between regions for ideological reasons.

In the first place local authorities inspire and bring partners together from the business world, from universities and technical schools and stimulate start-ups. They fill in a strategy for internet of things applications and also offer (shop) space & look for partners in civil society for pilot projects such as FabLabs or Circular shops.  One of the crucial roles of local or regional authorities is the organisation of (separate) waste collection but not to put it afterwards in a dump but to take initiatives to reuse a large part of it. This requires a market, which does not yet exist. But local authorities can collaborate and take initiatives to create partial markets in order to stimulate circular economy. They can invite business people to invest in plastic bags recycling factories or make deals with electronic device recycling factories. They can stimulate the reuse of debris as a bottom for new roads.  Local authorities could also stimulate elements of the share economy by putting in place rules and regulations and control mechanisms. And they definitely are to examine the organisation of remote elderly care, if there is a need and a demand.  

Louis Delcart, board member European Academy of the Regions, www.ear-aer.eu

[1] http://www.adriatic-ionian.eu/

[2] We visited a nice example of 3D applications : Techno park Tbilisi https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tech-Park/925174827530434

Maarten Vanden Eynde: Gadget 3D, cotton threath, wooden bobbins, 2017

From linear to circular: a strategy, not a serendipity

Since the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century, our economic model has been mainly linear: natural resources are continuously extracted in order to produce goods and services in increasing quantities, that are consumed and then discarded at the end of their use. This model poses a problem for the future of humanity because the planet’s resources are not unlimited. According to the website of Alliance, in 1969, the planet was barely sufficient to meet the needs of the world’s population.[1] The think tank Global Footprint Network [2] estimated that in 2019, 1.75 planets were already needed to meet all of our needs.

One has therefore to note that the model of linear economy no longer allows us to apprehend a reasonable future for humanity. This is why we need to move to a model focused on avoiding waste and reducing the intensity of resource use, while reducing environmental impacts. The increase in the use of materials could also be slowed down due to advanced technology and the possibility of recycling some materials. This is precisely what the circular economy is aiming for.

Already in 2004 the Chinese professor Chen Demin of the University of Chongqing defined the circular economy as follows: “It is a kind of economic model, aimed to protect the environment and realize the sustainable utilization of material resources, and ensure sustainable development for human society. In order to promote the efficiency of resources recycling in industrial and living processes, this economic model refers to a few important measures, which include the clean production using market mechanism and macro-controlling”.[3]

Circular economy is also a mind-set and if I may say so: it should be it in the first place. The hereabove mentioned professor Chen Demin puts it as follows in the same article: “The recycling economy is a dynamic concept. It is a dynamic state that economy, environment and human society develop co-ordinately. It depends on technology advancement. It invites the public opinion to embrace the principle of not exhausting the planet, to go for sustainability, for reuse of materials and garbage and for avoiding waste by making the effort of re-entering used products in the consumption chain.” It is the young generation, the Millennials and the Gen Z, that embraces fully this mind-set, and that also loves technical innovation in a sustainable context.

The building-blocks of a circular economy

There are several definitions of circular economy worldwide. In most cases, one finds the definition of a circular economy resumed in three principles to be put in practice: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle[4]. These keywords are primarily aiming the behaviour of households. These are the steps they could/should take. When we start to focus on companies and the efforts they can make, this list expands further. They will have to invest, but they can also earn money with it.  The list of r-words gets therefore longer in a way that one starts talking about the R-ladder. The ladder then indicates the effectiveness with which circularity is implemented. The higher up the ladder the better. It is about maximum reusability and minimum value destruction of raw materials and products. Some experts who have to assess projects on the intensity of their circularity use the ladder as a checklist. The R-ladder refers to the following matters: refuse, rethink, reduce, re-use, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, repurpose, recycling and recover.[5]

One of the indictments of the students in May 68, was an outcry against the emerging consumption society. Multiple were already  the closures of factories in textiles, mechanics, metallurgy throughout Europe and America. Many utensils, products, food, etc. that we currently consume as families were from then on produced on an industrial level, often even far from home, or with parts that have completed a 4 month sea voyage. The post-industrial consumption society has also become a throwaway society, with concepts such as fast food, fast fashion and even fast furniture.

And here appears the connection between the circular economy and climate change. Every mining operation, clearing forests, growing industrial crops such as cotton consumes large-scale energy, deploys large-scale machinery and -in the case of cotton- swallows water from the environment. This results in large-scale CO2 emissions. Unlike virgin materials,  raw materials that already have been mined or yarns that already have been woven, can be put in use again with as much value as possible, while also reducing amounts of waste materials, and can be reused with less energy and machinery. This technique is referred to as “urban mining”. So not only is the soil less quickly exhausted, the lower consumption of energy and machines drastically reduces CO2 emissions. Raw materials such as lead and aluminium[6] have infinite recyclability without loss of performance that pushes its circular economy credentials into the realm of maximum valorisation.

A typical example for reuse thanks to this urban mining type is the development of recycled batteries. Indeed, researchers from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the US Advanced Battery Consortium have shown that recycled lithium-ion batteries perform just as well as batteries with newly mined lithium. That study offers hope for the electric car industry for which essential metals are becoming increasingly scarce.[7] The results arrive very quickly: a battery for a car consists for the most part of lithium. But there are more metals in it, such as nickel, manganese and cobalt. Several companies, start-ups and others, invested lately in this battery recycling business of which the knowhow is again disseminated worldwide.

French multinational Veolia announced early 2022 to build a recycling plant for electric vehicles in the United Kingdom.

Veolia’s new factory will be located in Minworth, in the West Midlands of the United Kingdom. The company could recycle about 1,000 tons of batteries by 2024. In 2040 this should be 350,000 tons per year. The plant will discharge and dismantle batteries and then complete the recycling processes for mechanical and chemical separation.[8]

The stumbling block in this whole process is the still significant price difference between virgin and recycled materials. This price difference is unfortunately artificial because when calculating the recycling of existing raw materials, all cost factors are included, whereas this is not the case with newly mined materials. In 2018, before the pandemic hit, the world emitted greenhouse gases with a warming potential of about 55 gigatons. About a fifth of this comes from changes in land use and agriculture. Producers of industrial crops such as cotton are not penalized for the enormous water consumption that results in desertification and thus a reduction in CO2 absorption. The remainder quantity of greenhouse gases consists largely of emissions from energy consumption and industrial processes. Data from the World Resources Institute, a think tank, show how these emissions are distributed[9]. Buildings (about 17% of the total) and road transport (12%) are the largest contributors. Other modes of transportation are also of interest, with shipping and flights at 2% each. Logistics players who are responsible for the transport of materials and crops from distant regions are not penalized for CO2 emissions during transport. Within industry, iron and steel (8%), chemicals and petrochemicals (6%) and cement (3%) are big parts of the pie. Miners on the other hand are not penalized for the CO2 emissions of the energy used, nor of those of the machines used. The transition from fossil fuels remains therefore a huge challenge.

Creating awareness

What precedes the circular economy is to make the inhabitants of this planet aware that both the excessive consumption of energy and raw materials not only continuously causes CO2 and methane emissions, but also irresponsibly wastes the many materials that the earth is rich in, but cannot be replenished of. I know this is a long-term task: after all, man is a creature of habit whose behaviour is largely determined by two natural laws: the law of inertia and the law of least effort. The first is defined as resistance to change. The second is behavioural laziness.

Yet people can be activated. In a hard dictatorship behavioural change is imposed and resistance is broken[10]- provided the leader himself already has progressive insights for the governance of his country - . In a democracy, citizens need to be convinced through awareness campaigns. A large part of the population is reluctant to change its behaviour and resist it. The resistance of the antivaxxers during the corona crisis is a poignant example of this. Given this resistance, behavioural changes can only be stimulated at a level close to the population. That is why cities, municipalities and regions take initiatives for this, very often in collaboration with non-profit organisations. It is the municipalities that organize and encourage separate waste collection. It is the municipalities that put coloured containers in the street and smart garbage cans that also reward citizens for their efforts to throw litter in the garbage.

Targeting schools and universities

In order to achieve rapid success, governments of all levels often focus primarily on groups that are still open to change. It is obvious that the young generation is more attentive for their future and therefore also more open to modifying their behaviour and the one of their families. That is also the reason why the awareness campaign focus is often put on those target-groups.

A recent and very effective and targeted awareness campaign towards pupils is the one organized by FostPlus[11], an initiative of the Belgian private sector that promotes, coordinates and finances the selective collection, sorting and recycling of household packaging waste.

In order to keep primary schools open during the Corona pandemic, schools in Belgium have been obliged to properly ventilate the classrooms and to monitor that ventilation and intervene where necessary. Fost Plus has made more than 2,000 CO2 meters available for free to classes that signed up for an educational workshop (LABO – Learning Waste Management at School) from January 2022 on.[12] The CO2 meters are in the form of a house and are made of recycled polypropylene (PP) from door-to-door selectively collected butter dishes and plastic pots, for example, that are given a second life in this way.

Outside the countries that openly declared their recycling strategy since long, this type of efforts is also introduced by new adherents to the principle such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). One of the driving forces there is the company Dgrade. It produces Eco-friendly clothing and accessories made from recycled PET plastic. It supports a closed-loop supply chain working with clients to upcycle their plastic into uniforms, bags and more.[13]

DGrade’s Simply Bottles recycling initiative works with businesses and schools across the UAE to increase recycling rates of plastic bottles.

EU as change driver

The awareness projects that Europe supports through its Cohesion Fund are also numerous. The various Interreg programmes[14] have been bringing municipalities, cities, regions and research institutions together for several decades around projects that are supportive in the field of health, research and education, transport or sustainable energy. They often consist of supporting study days and research projects so that the partners and participants can learn from each other.

As a nice example, I would like to refer to a project called CECI, which is currently running between 1 Aug 2019 and 31 Jul 2023, with €1.5 million in support and partners in several countries. Partners in the project are: LAB University of Applied Sciences (until 31.12.2019 Lahti University of Applied Sciences) (FIN), Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region (F), Moravian-Silesian Innovation Centre Ostrava, a.s.(CZ), Varna Municipality (S), Government of Aragon (E), City of Malines (Mechelen) (B), Regional Council of Päijät-Häme (FIN).The lead partner is located in Finland.

In this Interreg project the aims are: (1) to raise awareness of circular economy and highlight the importance of citizen engagement, (2) to inspire citizens to adopt sustainable consumption habits and behaviour patterns, (3) to promote new sustainable services, e.g. sharing economy, lengthening product life cycles through reuse, repair, remanufacturing and refurbishment, (4) to further encourage waste reduction, energy savings and circular thinking.[15]

Europe inspires also neighbouring countries that have signed a co-operation agreement with the EU to take the same steps. And since the EU is also supporting these steps financially, the inspiration becomes reality.

The Asociația pentru Valorificarea Deșeurilor (Association for Waste Recovery)  is a non-governmental organization established in 2010 in order to identify, mediate and implement an efficient waste recovery system in the Republic of Moldavia.[16]The association is represented by a team of national and international experts specialized in circular economy, legal assistance on environmental issues, waste management, investment, energy efficiency, who provide citizens with a wide range of services and eco-smart solutions for business and sustainable projects. The association is also the publisher of the “Waste Management” Magazine, the only profile magazine at national level, which provides the necessary information support to Local Public Agencies’ representatives, sanitation operators and economic agents in the Republic of Moldavia.

Cities and regions as drivers

The circular economy does not only give a second lease of life to objects, it can also give a second chance to an industrial town with a glorious past. An hour by train from Stockholm, the former Swedish industrial town of Eskilstuna has an unemployment rate that is twice the national average.

In order to stop this seemingly inexorable decline the town adopted a radical strategy: to make Eskilstuna the greenest place on the planet, thanks in particular to recycling. Since 2012, Eskilstuna has rolled out a plethora of green initiatives. [17]  Since 2015, they can also drop off their unwanted items in containers at ReTuna, a large 5,000 m² shopping centre where everything on the shelves is repaired, reused, recycled, upcycled, or produced sustainably. Eskilstuna is therefore the first city in the world to have hosted a shopping mall entirely dedicated to recycling and recovery. Despite some initial resistance to change, both the launch of the recycling system and ReTuna have been a success. It has helped to revitalize Eskilstuna and created 50 jobs, raised awareness of the circular economy for a whole population and made a town hit by unemployment a model for the nation and even the world.

Waste hunting and rethinking production chains

The first scourge of unreasonable consumption that affects businesses as well as households is created by waste. In the food sector alone, the FAO estimates the direct economic cost of wasted products at 900 billion euros per year. In France, this represents 20 to 30 kg per person per year. In the non-food sector, 630 million euros of new products are destroyed each year[18]. For companies concerned with reducing costs for the benefit of their margins, waste hunting should be a top priority.

Second lever for action: rethinking the companies’ production chains. This involves, upstream, optimizing the supply to reduce the purchase of raw materials, working on product traceability to reduce the consumption of resources and energy. Finally, to optimize its flows and waste management.

The principle of zero waste is on the rise, especially in industries that were confronted with a lot of waste because of the precision work they have to deliver. The cost of recovering and reusing this waste was considered too important. However, the scarcity in the raw materials market created during the corona pandemic has stimulated the thinking processes of many companies in various sectors. Below I propose recent examples from two industries in various countries.

The French Bouhyer group, bringing together the foundries of Ancenis (Loire-Atlantique, F) and Revin (Ardennes,  F), develops innovative technological recycling projects as part of a zero waste approach. The combustion of batteries will allow them to save fossil fuels, manganese, coke … Moreover in their zero waste approach, the zinc, residue from the combustion of batteries contained in the fumes, is captured by filters and is also recycled via specialized sectors. For the manufacture of their parts, they use single-use sand and resin moulds. These moulding sands are already 98% recycled. The remaining 2% will now be transformed by a plant decontamination process, phytoremediation: at the end of this process, the sand will be decontaminated, and therefore reusable, while the plants can be used as biomass. With this process, the company is a pilot site in Europe.[19]

The Infinited Fiber Company from Finland has developed a technology that converts textile waste containing a lot of cotton into a new material: Infinna. This fabric is similar to cotton, biodegradable and can be recycled again with other textile waste at the end of its life. The water used to produce Infinna is a fraction of the water used to grow an equal amount of conventional cotton. And because they don’t need farmland or forests to harvest, because they use existing waste streams as our raw material, Infinited Fiber keeps pre-existing materials in circulation and reduce the pressure on natural resources.

What can authorities do in the framework of the development of a circular economy?

Here I will try to bring together the elements that I have detected in the different countries I have followed.

Changing behaviour through legal framework & public procurement

National governments create a legislative framework. That framework can be mandatory, but not all countries opt for it. France traditionally goes the furthest in this regard. The Loi AGEC or anti-waste law that came into effect on January 1, 2022 prohibits many things, but also obliges many things.[20] The fact that France has set strict standards in the production of new plastics, that require the processing of a significant percentage of recycled plastics, has led the large French multinationals, to join forces with processors:

In this context a nice case is the one of the Auvergne-based company Carbios. This interesting scale-up recreates a virgin resin, through a technology unique in the world, based on enzymes, from plastics that could only be buried or burned. Including synthetic textiles, of which only a third are reused. The SME will create two factories, one in France and one in Germany. Listed on the stock exchange, it also convinced to enter its capital the French multinationals L'Oréal, L'Occitane and Michelin, the latter hosting its industrial demonstrator in Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme). [21]

National, regional and local authorities can also steer successfully. They have a lot of resources to spend in the context of public procurement. Call for tenders must be drawn up for this, which indicate which criteria a service provider or a product seller must meet in order to be eligible for the tender. In recent years we have noticed that the three levels are eager to use this opportunity.

The public sector is by far the largest client of the construction sector in Switzerland, which accounts for around half of the order volume in the main construction trade. It has an important role model function provided that it increasingly orders recycling material. With the new procurement law that came into force on January 1, 2021, quality and sustainability should become more important. By also introducing recycled material within submissions in the tendering for construction, builders make an effective and concrete contribution [22].

Mid 2021,  real-estate operator Befimmo presented its ZIN real estate project, which will be located in the northern district of Brussels, and poured “circular concrete”, concrete made from old buildings’ rubble. In this case, it is the towers WTC 1 & 2 that will rise again from their own “ashes”. Befimmo ensures the reuse of 65% of these old buildings, of which only the elevator shafts are still standing today. It all started when the Government of Flanders, the North part of Belgium, issued in 2017 a call for tenders for a real estate project with very high sustainable criteria. Befimmo developed for this purpose its ZIN project, in partnership, and it went further than what it hoped.[23]

Introduce circularity in its own property

The government can re-use the sites they own in the context of the circular economy. This is what happened in Antwerp, for example, where the grounds and buildings of the former General Motors (Opel) factories are being returned to the market for green chemistry. This is no coincidence because Antwerp has the second largest concentration of traditional chemical plants in the world after Houston, Texas and also wishes to play a pioneering role there. The ambition of the Port of Antwerp authorities was to turn the former General Motors site into a ‘testing ground for sustainable chemistry’. In 2020 and 2021, the port authority launched market consultations to attract suitable candidates. Two companies have already emerged from those surveys. [24]

Moral persuasion

In addition to government institutes that try to coordinate matters across the country, I also want to pay attention to regional and even urban initiatives. The role of the regional and local government is mainly to stimulate and coordinate. Cities and towns have limited budgets, but governors and mayors often have a lot of moral persuasion power.

Regions driven by their desire to adopt a circular economy and the employment associated with it can therefore try to morally support the financing of start-ups by convincing venture capitalists of the value of circular economy. The land of Baden-Württemberg, traditionally one of the most prosperous länder in Germany, is presently administrated by a coalition of Christian Democrats and Greens. The latter are doing everything possible to have start-ups in their region supported by venture capital companies. Start-ups depend on investors because they don’t initially make any profits. Funds and large companies invest capital in young companies in the hope that their business ideas will prevail. According to a recently published study, start-ups in Baden-Württemberg raised significantly more money in 2021: they received 599 (previous year: 155) million euros in venture capital from investors. In Germany it was almost 17.4 billion euros in total - more than three times as much as in the Corona crisis year 2020 (5.3 billion), reported the consulting company EY.[25]

Innovation is the main driver of liveable circular economy

Today, multinational organizations with increasingly complex supply chains and processes can struggle to maintain a pulse on ever-advancing circular innovation, while at times they can also lack the capabilities required to embrace new modes of operation in the transition to circular business. By contrast, start-up entrepreneurs create the disruptive solutions to solve these challenges, but may lack the capital, resources or enabling networks to replicate and scale their solutions at pace. It is therefore important to connect multinational actors with disruptive players, stakeholders across the value chain are empowered to fully embrace innovation, to prioritize targeted business models for impact, and respond effectively to new global challenges.

And indeed we see true innovators receiving an early support from structural investors in many domains. This trend increased during the COVID period. The Covid-19 crisis showed indeed how vulnerable our economic model is to shocks. That model is based on large amounts of cheap, easily accessible materials and energy. However, the old linear system with its long and complex supply chains has been thoroughly disrupted by the pandemic. This resulted in major delays, shortages of materials and products and significant price increases. Since 2018 we have seen a special turnaround and we have recorded capital raising rounds at companies with promising circular economy projects.  

It is always interesting to see how venture capitalists from Nordic countries act, because they are the most convinced of the potential the circular economy includes. Nordic Capital announced in March 2021 an agreement to acquire Sortera, a fast-growing Nordic environmental contractor in the collection, recycling, processing and brokerage of residual products from the construction and civil engineering sector.

Sortera’s customers are mainly small and medium-sized companies in Sweden and Finland and the business is divided into three business areas: Recycling (construction recycling services), Materials (complete solutions for waste and water) and Industry (Industrial removal of materials and liquids).[26]

We would like to refer also to the Norwegian start-up Kenobi that has found a method to produce wood for buildings from conifers by reinforcing that type of soft wood available in Scandinavia.

CNBC Business has listed Kebony,  Norwegian start-up as one of Europe’s 25 most creative companies. Two companies have put 30 million[27] into Kebony. In doing so, the company mainly wants to become better known and attract new customers all over the world. In the first half of 2021, the company achieved sales that were 23 percent higher than the year before, which makes it seem like they have found a gap in the market.[28]

A vigorous rebound in economic activity (after the cold snap of the COVID19 pandemic), interest rates being still very low, investors looking for profitable investments… There is no shortage of factors to explain the attention of venture capitalists for start-ups in recent months.

It was May 2021 that the largest operation was carried out (period September 2020 to July 2021): it concerns the raising of 2.3 billion euros by Northvolt, a Swedish manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles. An operation carried out by several Swedish pension funds, Goldman Sachs and Volkswagen[29].

In Spain on the other hand the multinational insurance company Sanitas[30] and the insurer’s parent company, Bupa, that stimulates start-ups in the circular economy, rewarded in the beginning of 2022 Circoolar, a Spanish start-up that, with just two years of existence, is opening a niche in the textile business, from an “ethical, ecological and circular” approach and provided them with an injection of 200,000 pounds (240,000 euros). Moreover they commissioned the start-up to produce Sanitas uniforms in Spain. [31]

The Québec-based Loop Industries is an environmentally responsible manufacturer of PTA (Purified Terephthalic Acid) and EG (Ethylene Glycol). The Company has created a process that decouples plastic from fossil fuels, breaking down waste PET plastic to its base building blocks. These are combined to create virgin-quality PET plastic that can be used in for food-grade plastic packaging[32]. It successful achievements caught the eye of players on other continents.

South Korea’s SK Global Chemical has bought a 10-per-cent stake in Quebec-based Loop Industries Inc. for $56.5-million, and the two plan to form a joint venture to deploy Loop’s proprietary plastic recycling technology in Asia.[33] The same Loop Industries will invest 250 million in a French factory, in association with the part of Suez that has not been absorbed by its rival Veolia. The factory will employ 180 people and produce 70,000 tonnes of virgin resin in Port-Jérôme, on the Seine, a crucible of French chemistry[34].

Another source of growth born from the emergence of a new generation of consumers who are part of a collaborative economy is the second-hand market. There are already several platforms that focus on allowing existing clothing to be reused by new consumers. The Lithuanian-Dutch platform Vinted has become a well-known brand. Another Lithuanian initiative Think Twice, that works with stores is also an excellent illustration. Its first Belgian branch was opened in 2007, now there are ten. Their growing success is undeniable. This growth also translates into employment. Think Twice now employs 65 people in Belgium.[35]

Though a step in the circular direction, facilitating second-hand sales is not the same as buying back directly. Until recently, traditional retail has been resistant to enter the resale market because it ostensibly steals sales from the primary market. As brands see that strong resale values actually drive sales of first-hand, or new goods (as, for instance, luxury consignment website TheRealReal [36] experienced when they partnered with Burberry to encourage consignment) the hostility has thawed. Indeed, if brands want to foster a following and develop a base of loyal customers, embracing the second-hand economy will be essential.

We are in the early stages of a radical transformation in retail. The resale disruptors who have positioned themselves as conscious alternatives to vapid consumption have turned circularity into a major consideration for shoppers and their primary purchases.

Greenwashing: the caveat on the road to circular economy

Marketers discovered very early on that part of the public yearned for living in a healthier environment, to fight against climate change, to fight the plastic pollution of the oceans, to be closer to nature and to understand that every part of nature has its role to play.

They tried to make it clear to their bosses within the big companies that a market was emerging that certainly saw these arguments as a purchase argument, provided that they were correctly responded to. The company executive officers, on the other hand, understood that this would cost them money if they really had to invest and were not yet convinced that these trends would continue. Their shareholders, who have already seen their dividend fall, were of the same opinion. So the companies embarked on a discourse that emphasized respect for nature and the fight against global warming, without, however, offering lasting results.

Large fashion chains but also distributors and shoe producers are in the picture and declared guilty of this.

The last in line to crawl in the dust was the American sports shoe producer Nike, where German investigative journalists found tossed thousands of returned sneakers through the shredder. A team of German investigative journalists placed GPS trackers in Nike sneakers to see if they were recycled as promised. In doing so, they found out that tens of thousands of seemingly new shoes are simply destroyed. Separation of parts – important for recycling – seemed out of the question. The shoes were destroyed entirely: only the filling paper was manually removed beforehand. In the factory, German journalists also filmed workers pushing apparently new Nike sneakers into the shredders.[37]

Large NGOs and quality newspapers make it a point to harass and even sue these companies. Their attacks tarnish not only the sinners in question, but all companies also those that are effectively targeting the transition from linear to circular economy. Business groups are therefore vigorously opposing this type of marketing. In the southern region of Belgium, Wallonia, the employers’ representatives organised in the Union wallonne des Entreprises (UWE) declared recently in the press that greenwashing is no longer an option. UWE wishes to make a long-term commitment to the promotion and practical implementation of the 17 sustainable development goals of the UN within companies.[38]

Circular economy as a future international model

Circular companies tend to be more resilient because they are less dependent on very long supply chains and have lower material consumption. Moreover, a circular company is closer to the customers, but also to the other companies it works with. The movement can be considered as a global: groups of countries like the EU and many big countries in the Far East organise this trend on a governmental level or within a corporate consensus.

In the 1990s, Chinese scholars proposed a circular economy as a new model to help China make better use of resources and energy. Since then, the model has become an integral part of the national economic strategy, and has been built upon throughout the last three Five Year Plans. Today, there are four main components to China’s circular economy strategy: (1) Circular production — to embed reduce, reuse and recycling into whole production processes; (2) Circular systems of industry, agriculture and services — to follow the principle of optimising industrial processes, greatly supporting circular production;(3) Growth of recycling industry — to recycle and reuse urban waste streams, focusing on remanufacture and renewable energy; (4) Green consumption (‘circular values’) — to guide citizens towards smart, healthy and safe consumption. [39]

Taiwan is one of those countries with no minerals and with a strong industry directed on export. They have already a strong commitment to the circular economy and focus on several industries: agro-food and biomass, construction, electronic and chemistry, plastics, textiles and transportation. Within the methodologies to apply and introduce the circular economy in their system they make a distinction between high-value utilisation, product as a service and systems partnerships. The technical cycle of circular economy distinguishes several methods: material sourcing, process optimisation, product design, recycle, refurbish/remanufacture, repair/reuse, separation/collection.[40] Hundreds of examples are already available: it shows the country is really dedicated to the process.

(South) Korea is a country of large conglomerates that closely monitor market trends and, if necessary, link up with the inventive players in the rest of the OECD. The conglomerates have a lot of industrial influence on the rest of Asia, especially the ASEAN countries with which Korea is linked. The fact that the Korean conglomerates are paying so much attention to circular economy initiatives is a strong indication that they are convinced that this is the way forward. A striking example is from Hyundai.

Hyundai Engineering Co., part of the South Korean car manufacturer, is investing almost 300 million euros in a factory that produces clean hydrogen from plastic waste. The company wants to capture and store the CO2 released during the process. It expects its first production in mid-2022. The factory will be built in Dangjin, about 120 kilometers south of Seoul. Hyundai expects the plant to be fully operational in 2024. The factory will then have to process 100,000 tons of plastic every year, good for 22,000 tons of hydrogen. According to the company, this is equivalent to the annual energy requirement of 150,000 hydrogen cars [41].

Japan -like Korea- has business conglomerates that follow the market very well. Although the idea of ​​3R - a combination of the first three letters of a word: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle- was originated in Japan already in 2005 as a the proper management of waste, Japanese are rarely deep green. Japanese are pragmatic: they bow when they notice that the wind is getting too strong. Japanese car and parts makers are working to develop more sustainable batteries for electric vehicles, part of efforts to reduce total carbon emissions, trace the lifetime of their products and cope with tighter global regulations. And while in recent years, most Japanese carmakers have turned to hydrogen as the fuel of the future, by 2025, electric cars designed and built by a joint venture of Japanese multinationals Sony and Honda should roll off the production line.[42] In the same time the industry works to lessen negative impact of everything from mining to recycling.[43] Efforts for a circular economy are gaining traction in the global fashion industry.

In Japan last year, Fast Retailing’s Uniqlo put polo shirts made of recycled polyester on store shelves, but items using renewable materials that debuted in June sold for about 1,000 yen more than conventional clothes. The costs associated with recycled clothing remain a challenge. Japanese department store operator Takashimaya will team with 15 fashion brands to recycle used clothes to make brand-new apparel as it doubles down on sustainability efforts.

Down Under, Australia, is an Anglo-Saxon country that, unlike the US, has embraced the principle of the circular economy since a couple years. Australia’s ban on waste exports commenced on January 1, 2021, marking a milestone in the progression towards a circular economy and the responsible management of its waste resources. Looking beyond the country’s exported waste, the country detected an even more significant onshore opportunity for materials recovery and emissions reduction that is five times the size of the waste export market: the 20 million tonnes of materials that go to landfill every year in Australia. Australia is a country with many mineral resources that it also exploits. On the other hand, it realizes that these are finite and that they must be used as efficiently as possible.

Closing remarks

This article refers to a global movement that has been speeded up by COVID. It is disruptive, because it breaks with a rewarding economic system that has been developed after the second world war and that created gigantic wealth for one percent of world population, but also a middle class in many developing countries. But it has been also an economic system that is considered nowadays as the cause of many ecological problems, pollution and climate changes. And although those who benefited most of it are reluctant to let the system go, more and more citizens worldwide have been able to convince their authorities that this system is no longer sustainable and that measures have to be taken to shift the entire economy into a less destructive economic system that not only takes growth and profit into consideration but also ecological and social boundaries. In the eyes of many citizens as well as existing companies this vision is disruptive. And disruption is not always considered as the right way to take. But more and more people, entrepreneurs and politicians are convinced that this disruptive future is the only one that will enable us to cope with major problems for the future generation such as climate change, inequality and pollution.

All aspects of this topic and its state of affairs have been treated in a book I published recently with Lambert Academic Publishing and that is available. [44]

Summary

Originating a “cradle-to-cradle”, a movement of idealists wanted to end the disposable economy that resulted from the globalisation of the economy since the Second World War. The principles of the movement turned into a circular economy that has in recent years become a direction in which the young generations recognize themselves worldwide and is picked up by many politicians as the only direction to keep the planet liveable.

The continuous extraction of raw materials and the constant production of new food crops, industrial crops, animals, objects and machines have undeniable consequences for CO2 emissions due to a high consumption of energy and to the long transport periods that the extracted goods undergo. On the other hand, those consumed goods thrown away by consumers again have undeniable consequences for the pollution of soil and groundwater, rivers and finally the oceans. The consideration, especially among the young generation, has therefore grown that human activity on planet Earth cannot continue like this and that drastic changes in human behaviour, consumption and corporate responsibility must be made.

These new sensitivities have their origins in many places of the globe: as well in Europe, Canada, the progressive states of the US as in the Far East. Two target groups are bound to be reached: both the consumer, who must be driven in the direction of preventing waste and managing waste so that it becomes a raw material again, and the companies that need to reconsider their entire production process and treat waste as a new material.

This is a disruptive concept, there is no doubt about it. All the more so because the global transportation of waste is increasingly coming to an end. China ended imports of waste from abroad in 2018, because much of that waste had to be reprocessed there. Latin American and African countries where waste has been shamelessly dumped from North America and Europe are also closing their borders because they do not have the resources to process it and because this waste is often toxic and polluting. But it is a disruptive concept that is constructive and that can as well have positive consequences for the climate as for local employment.

Louis Delcart, board member European Academy of the Regions, www.ear-aer.eu

[1] Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity Accounting – What It Does; https://oneplanetalliance.org/ecological-footprint/

[2] National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts 2021 Public Data Package; https://www.footprintnetwork.org/licenses/public-data-package-free/

[3] Chen Demin, “The Essence of a Recycling Economy: Circular Utilization of Resources”, Chinese Journal of Population Resources and Environment, (2004), 2:1, p.20

[4] Julio Núñez, “Cuando lo que hacían tus abuelos era la base de la economía circular”(When what your grandparents did was the basis of the circular economy), El Pais, 18-03-2021

[5] Rianne Lachmeijer, “Dit zijn de 6 beste circulaire bedrijven van 2022” (These are the 6 best circular companies of 2022 in the Netherlands), Change Inc, 5-02-2022

[6] M.A., “El envaso eterno existe” ( Eternal packaging exists), El País, 30-09-2021

[7] Teun Schröder, “Gerecyclede lithium batterijen doen het net zo goed als nieuwe batterijen” (Recycled lithium batteries perform just as well as new batteries), Change Inc, 21-10-2021

[8] Romy de Weert, “Afvalbedrijf bouwt recyclemachine voor batterijen elektrische auto's” ( Waste company builds recycling machine for electric car batteries) Change Inc, 12-1-2022

[9] Guy Scriven, “The great disrupter”, The Economist Today, 17-09-2020

[10] Sabine Sluijters, “Klimaatmaatregelen China bedreigen aanvoer zonnepanelen Europa”(Climate measures in China threaten supply of solar panels to Europe), Change Inc, 04-10-2021

[11] Fost Plus is an initiative of the Belgian private sector that promotes, coordinates and finances the selective collection, sorting and recycling of household packaging waste. The company is self-financed by its members: companies that produce and sell packaging such as Unilever, Danone and Colruyt. Fost Plus was founded in 1994 as a voluntary private sector initiative. Shortly afterwards, the selective collection of household packaging waste was introduced in Belgium.

[12] Bart De bruyn, “Gerecycleerde botervlootjes waken over luchtkwaliteit in klassen”(Recycled buttercups monitor air quality in classrooms), Made in Antwerpen, 10-01-2022

[13] Kelly Clarke, “Meet the Dubai company turning discarded plastic bottles into T-shirts”, The National News, 1-2-2022

[14] In 1990, Interreg was developed as a Community Initiative in with a budget of just EUR 1 billion covering exclusively cross-border cooperation. Over the years, Interreg has become the key instrument of the European Union to support cooperation between partners across borders. The aim: to tackle common challenges together and find shared solutions - whether in the field of health, research and education, transport or sustainable energy.

[15] Citizen involvement in circular economy implementation, https://www.interregeurope.eu/ceci/

[16] Ruslan Nercaș, “E-deșeurile, o bombă ecologică… Cum scăpăm de aparatele electronice vechi” (E-waste, an ecological bomb … How to get rid of old electronic devices?), Moldcontrol, 22.12.2020 ,

[17] Ammar Kalia, “Eskilstuna: how a Swedish town became the world capital of recycling”, The Guardian, 19-06-2019

[18] Learning Hub, https://archive.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/explore

[19] BpiFrance, « Les fonderies Bouhyer : entre traditions et innovations »( Bouhyer foundries: between traditions and innovations), France-Ouest, 05/10/21

[20] Muryel Jacque, “Plastique, vêtements, recyclage : tout ce qui change en 2022 pour lutter contre le gaspillage”(Plastic, clothing, recycling: everything that will change in 2022 in France in the framework of the fight against waste), Les Echos, 30-12-2021

[21] André Thomas, « Le recyclage des plastiques progresse en France » (Plastic recycling is progressing in France), France-Ouest, 27-01-2022

[22] Patric Van der Haegen, « Kreislaufwirtschaft: Gemeinsam nachhaltiger bauen » (Circular economy in Switzerland: building more sustainably together), Presse blog, 13-04-2021 ; https://www.presse-blog.com/2021/04/13/kreislaufwirtschaft-gemeinsam-nachhaltiger-bauen/

[23] Antonin Marsac, « Du “béton circulaire” pour réduire les émissions de CO2 du secteur de la construction (et oublier un fiasco du passé à Bruxelles) » (“Circular concrete” to reduce CO2 emissions in the construction sector), La Libre Belgique, 12-06-21

[24] Pascal Sertyn, “Proeftuin duurzame chemie in Antwerpse haven gaat van start” (Sustainable chemistry pilot project opens in the port of Antwerp), De Standaard, 14-01-2022

[25] dpa-Newskanal, “Grüne sehen Wirtschaftsministerium bei Start-ups in Pflicht” (Greens see the Ministry of Economics as a duty for start-ups), Süddeutsche Zeitung, 28-01-2022

[26] “Nordic Capital förvärvar tillväxtföretaget Sortera med målet att bli störst i Norden inom miljövänlig återvinning” (Nordic Capital acquires growth company Sortera with the goal of becoming the largest in the Nordic region in environmentally friendly recycling), Nordic Capital, 08-03-2021; https://www.nordiccapital.com/aktuellt/nordic-capital-foervaervar-tillvaextfoeretaget-sortera-med-maalet-att-bli-stoerst-i-norden-inom-miljoevaenlig-aatervinning/

[27] Kebony’s EUR 30 million financing round was led by Jolt Capital and Lightrock, who will join longstanding Kebony shareholders such as Goran, MVP, FPIM, PMV and Investinor, of which the latter two will remain represented on the Board of Directors. The capital injection will expand and accelerate Kebony’s growth initiatives in core markets in Europe and the US. The funding will enable Kebony to further penetrate a EUR 3 billion market, and leverage the underlying megatrends of producing sustainable materials for the residential and non-residential construction industries.

[28] Marc Seijlhouwer,” Nieuwe techniek uit Noorwegen zorgt ervoor dat we het regenwoud niet hoeven te kappen voor hout” (New technology from Norway ensures that we don’t have to cut down the rainforest for wood), Change Inc, 04 -11- 2021

[29] Pierre-François Lovens : « Levées de fonds pour les start-up européennes : voici le classement des pays qui attirent le plus d’investisseurs » ( Fundraising for European start-ups: here is the ranking of the countries that attract the most investors), La Libre Belgique ,25-19-2021 

[30] Sanitas is an insurance company and provider of health and wellness services of Spanish origin. Founded in 1954 by a group of Spanish doctors, it had a solid expansion from 1960. In 1989 it became part of the British United Provident Association (BUPA), an international medical care group, with its origins and its headquartered in the UK  

[31] Inma Moscardo,  “Circoolar transforma el plástico en ropa de trabajo” (Circoolar transforms plastic into work clothes),  El País, 14-1-2022

[32] https://www.loopindustries.com/en

[33] Jeffrey Jones, “South Korean firm partners with Quebec’s Loop Industries to deploy recycling technology in Asia”, The Globe and Mail, 23-06-2021;

[34] André Thomas, « Le recyclage des plastiques progresse en France » (Plastic recycling is progressing in France), France-Ouest, 27-01-2022

[35] Korneel Delbeke: “Tweedehands, goed voor het klimaat en de tewerkstelling” (Second-hand, good for climate and employment), De Standaard, 4-05-2021

[36] The RealReal, Inc. is an online and brick-and-mortar marketplace for authenticated luxury consignment.[2] Based on the circular economy, The RealReal sells consigned clothing, fine jewelry, watches, fine art and home decor. It employs an in-house staff of experts including horologists, gemologists, art curators and luxury fashion authenticators who inspect items for authenticity and value. 

[37] Nico Tanghe, “Nike versnippert splinternieuwe sneakers in Vlaamse fabriek” (American sport equipment company shreds brand new sneakers in Belgian factory), De Standaard, 16-11-2021

[38] Antonin Marsac, “Le greenwashing n'est plus une option”: l'UWE réunit la Reine Mathilde et les entreprises pour aller plus loin dans le développement durable » (Greenwashing is no longer an option), La Libre Belgique, 22/6/2021

[39] Nick Jeffries, “Circular economy in China: six examples”, in: CirculateNews, 16-07-2018

[40] www.circular-taiwan.org/en/practice/case

[41] Teun Schröder, “Hyundai investeert miljoenen om waterstof van plastic afval te maken” (Hyundai invests millions to make hydrogen from plastic waste), Change Inc, 22-12-2021

[42] Johan Raskin, “Sony en Honda bundelen krachten om elektrische wagens te bouwen” (Sony and Honda join forces to build electric cars), De Standaard, 5-03-2022

[43] Eri Sugiura, “Nissan, Denso and Bosch showcase more sustainable batteries”, Nikkei Asia, 22-10-2021

[44] Louis Delcart, “Towards a circular economy. The great experiences book”, Lambert Academic Publishing, 18-02-22, Chisinau, ISBN-13:978-620-4-74455-1; ISBN-10:6204744550; EAN:9786204744551; https://www.morebooks.shop/store/gb/book/towards-a-circular-economy/isbn/978-620-4-74455-1

Picture: Middelheim Biennale, Antwerp, 2013

There is a Dutch translation of this article on: https://earaernl.tumblr.com/post/644291023182462976/circulaire-economie-regionale-en-lokale

When I went to university in Leuven as a passionate student in the early seventies, one of the books we debated - and had never read - about, besides Ivan Illich[1], was “Small is beautiful”. It was a collection of essays by the German economist. Ernst Friedrich “Fritz” Schumacher. [2] The author thus brought the emerging globalization to the attention of the general public. It was also the period of the Club of Rome report[3], which warned of the end of fossil fuels, which were extracted too fast. Schumacher also warned that we were depleting the earth and that the natural resources needed to be processed more expertly, because “gone is gone”. Today, in 2021, Prof. Kate Raworth was honored as an honorary doctorate by my alma mater, the KU Leuven (B) for her economic model that aims to strike a balance between essential human needs and planetary boundaries[4]. The neoliberal era stretching from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump - and hopefully now coming to an end - has nurtured years of inertia and greed.

The circular economy has a real impact on climate change

Circular economy relates to a different ecological aspect than the fight against climate change, but it is certainly related to it. Climate change is due to human intervention to create energy through fossil fuels. This concerns oil, gas, charcoal and coal. These are burned and thus result in an emission of carbon dioxide. Coal mining is a form of mining in which humans also fundamentally intervene in nature and thus disrupt the fragile balance between fauna, flora and humans. Mining is not limited to coal, but includes all kinds of ores that are used to make objects that make human life more comfortable. If these, however, depend on consumerism, whereby people are constantly encouraged to buy new products, not to have products repaired but to be thrown away, that mining will result in the raw materials in the earth being consumed at breakneck speed, until there are none are left. Timber harvesting is also moving in the same direction: unlike ores and petroleum, which once extracted can only be replenished after millions of years, trees can be replanted. But the most valuable trees take decades and even centuries to grow to fruition. And trees collect and store the carbon dioxide in the air. And the more mature the trees are, the higher their storage capacity. So there is also a catch in the grass!

Hence, in the twenty-first century, a movement has emerged that strives not to keep producing (utility) objects and discarding the previous set, but to recollect these used objects and to reuse their materials as much as possible. In the beginning this was referred to poetically: an object could no longer be used from the cradle to the grave but contained materials that were at the cradle of a new object or use: from cradle to cradle.[5] The pursuit of Cradle to Cradle (C2C) goes further than just sustainable development, which is defined as the development in which the current generation meets its needs, without limiting the possibilities for the next generation to do so.[6] Cradle to cradle strives to ensure that our generation meets its own needs and provides future generations with more possibilities. In the beginning the movement was voluntaristic and the first things recycled were works of art. However, the new direction was started and is now referred to as circular economy. [7]

Setting up and developing a circular economy is not easy. There are many stumbling blocks to overcome. Although the raw material made up of recycled materials is often free or cheap, reconditioning it is expensive. In addition, sufficient raw material must be available or the supply must be regular. The circular economy is like a tangle of wool within a 90% linear context[8], according to Hilde Janssens, Marketing & Communications Director of Econocom Belux, a company that plays a pioneering role in the introduction of circular elements in their production. Governments can influence this market by tendering in a more innovative circular manner and by requiring the tenders to contain circular elements or to be fully circular. Often there is the sticking point and local authorities still have cold feet.

Products as a service

One of the trends that begin to take hold in Northern Europe is the offering of products as a service. These are created and also replaced by new objects, whereby the returned material is recycled. For example, there is a well-known lighting company that offers lighting as a service. The disruptive advance of LED lighting hit this lighting company amidships. Instead of selling classic light sources, it now focuses on the rental of lighting.[9]  In the coming years, instead of the traditional sale of light sources, it wants to focus more and more on concluding agreements with companies, schools and hospitals, whereby the company takes over the management of the lighting.

Floors are also no longer seen as a product that is laid and then forgotten. With Flooring as-a-service, the floor is offered as a service: here a customer with construction plans is offered the installation, maintenance and renovation of the floor as a service. In addition, the floor is taken back or recycled at the end of its life.[10]

In the same vein, display-as-a-service was offered to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, which is eager to use it. According to the “as a service” concept, Schiphol pays for the use of the more than 3,000 digital information screens, while the supplier remains the owner of the product. In this way, Schiphol stimulates the supplier to extend the lifespan of a product and to use materials in a circular manner.[11] Schiphol uses more than 3,000 displays to show departure and arrival times, announcements and commercial communications. At the end of the life cycle, as many parts as possible are reused and given a second or third life. Parts that cannot be reused are recycled in an environmentally friendly manner. This concept is new in the digital display market.

The latest achievement in this row is the 2019 announcement by the German company Viessmann that they were launching Heat-as-a-Service. The family business is active in more than 120 countries. Over the years, the company had transformed from a fuel oil to a gas company. They then switched to new technologies such as solar thermal collectors and heat pumps. To eventually make the transition to photovoltaic panels. They have continued to follow the market in its digitization and have kept an eye on the role of the GAFA giants in this. In 2014, Google acquired the smart thermostat maker Nest for a record amount of 2.3 billion euros. And in 2018, there was Amazon’s investment in thermostat provider Tado. With this, the technology giants show a clear interest in the hardware that is present in our living room.[12] With Heat-as-a-Service, Viessmann takes over the control and management of the heating installation completely from the consumer in exchange for a monthly fee.

Circular construction as a driver

Circular construction is building with a better, more economical use of resources.  About 30 to 40% of our waste comes from construction. The way in which we build and live also has a major impact on our CO2 footprint. That is why a joint transition to circular construction makes a big difference. Circular construction strives for an efficient and effective use of resources. The aim is to create or at least maintain economic, social and ecological (added) value. During the construction process, the existing legacy and future opportunities specific to the construction world are taken into account.[13]  Numerous innovations can already be described. We list some of them below.

A Dutch invention to separate concrete into raw materials - called urban mining - reduces material use and saves tons of CO2. Concrete is an unknown, but major polluter: worldwide it accounts for 9 percent of CO2 emissions. That is just as much as the mobility sector. And although alternative materials such as wood are on the rise, concrete is still popular. By reusing it responsibly, one avoids the CO2 that is released during the production process and building becomes a lot more sustainable[14]. Circular initiatives such as concrete recycling, urban mining and data on materials are the drivers of the innovation.[15]

Prefabricated modules provide flexibility in the use of a building or space. The modules can be disassembled at any time. A Belgian company specializes in Smart Adaptable Modules (SAM) that bundle all the utilities of a space in one place. In a traditional construction process, the pipes are brought into the home via a single point. From there they are extended through floors and walls. SAM integrates heating, electricity, water, ventilation, home automation, kitchen and bathroom in one central, adaptable unit. The prefabricated module saves no less than 5 tons of CO2 emissions.[16]

The circular economy, a great job maker

The Covid-19 crisis has made it clear that the supply chains of the old linear model of production and consumption can be quickly disrupted. A study by the Belfius bank[17]  has shown that companies that apply circular strategies appear to be more resistant to the shock of Covid-19 than non-circular companies. The article reports a business survey conducted during the first wave of the pandemic that found that 66 percent of circular companies in Belgium have not experienced shortages in raw materials, parts, lack of demand or financing. Only 2 percent of the linear companies reported no shortages. Circular companies are generally more resilient because they are less dependent on very long supply chains and have lower material consumption.

The article also draws conclusions that demonstrate the importance of the circular economy for the future. A circular society can also help absorb the impact of automation and robotization on the labor market. Research shows that the transformation to a circular economy can create additional jobs. This is mainly because unsustainable processes in extraction and production are replaced by recycling, maintenance and repair, which are more labor-intensive. Jobs will be lost in unsustainable sectors such as mining and fossil fuels, but the transition will also create new jobs that do not exist today. Those jobs range from low to high skilled. At the core of the circular economy you will find renewable energy, recycling, waste and raw materials management. Here you mainly need manual and technical skills. Think of the installation of solar panels, maintenance and work in repair workshops.

The same positive message is given in a contribution from the World Economic Forum.[18] The circular economy is the tool to save the planet and offers a huge market opportunity. However, there is a mismatch between multinationals struggling to keep up with circular innovation and entrepreneurs who lack the resources to scale up. The Circulars Accelerator - spawned from the highly successful Circulars Awards program - is led by Accenture in partnership with Anglo American, Ecolab and Schneider Electric and brings the two parties together to advance the zero waste agenda. The program focuses on innovating products, transforming consumption patterns and recovering value.

The circular economy is far from being a reality

However, the circular economy is not on track in many Western European countries. A first “Integrated Circular Economy Report” from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) is clear: after ten years they have barely progressed in the circular economy. The share of circular companies even decreased, because more non-circular companies were added. And the circular companies that exist have often existed for a long time: think of garages or bicycle repairers. These repair cars or bicycles, which officially counts as circular. There is little or no such repair culture for newer products, especially electronics.[19]

The report concludes that in order to truly say goodbye to the linear economy, entrepreneurs need to see that circular models can be profitable. As mentioned above, one thinks of leasing electrical appliances instead of buying them, so that the manufacturer is responsible for a good second life of the appliance. The mindset of the consumer also needs to change, because although a majority say that buying refurbished devices is a good idea, a minority appears to actually buy a second-hand product.

An important suggestion here is that the noncommittal nature of the entire evolution should be addressed. There must therefore be more compulsory measures, for example obliging companies to use a certain proportion of recycled material. Making products compulsory repairable (including public “manuals” with repair instructions, such as those in the automotive industry since long) can also help.

The regional authorities can actually also provide arguments for reducing waste production and material consumption at manufacturing companies. The levers in manufacturing companies are situated in three areas: the production process, waste management and product design. At manufacturing companies, raw materials often represent 50% of the operating costs. There is room for an improvement margin of 10 to 20% through better collection, better use of materials or slight adjustments in the production process. It appears, for example, that 18% of the raw materials currently ends up in the rubbish bin. [20]  If the authorities, together with the universities, develop tools that make these hidden costs visible to companies, the motivation of business leaders increases to look at their production processes differently.

Certain sectors have already understood. Circular thinking is increasingly becoming mainstream within the Dutch IT sector. For example, more and more organizations are taking initiatives to reduce electronic waste as part of their business model, as well as refurbishing and reusing used hardware..[21]

Cities and municipalities that (want to) close cycles, whether it concerns flows of water, food, waste, materials, people or energy, can turn to the circular economy. Cities and municipalities do not do this alone, but in partnership with each other and with companies, organizations and citizens. Together they focus on smart product design, recycling, reuse and conscious consumption. In this way, a local society is evolving towards a climate-neutral economy in which local, packaging-free production is central and transport is reduced as much as possible.[22] A data monitoring system for industrial waste, materials and raw materials is also vital within all this. Such a system allows complete tracing of the respective waste and material flows to be mapped (collection, sorting, processing,…). Ultimately, this should make it possible to fully monitor the “closed loop”. [23]  On the other hand a circular economy also focuses on the sharing economy and social economy to optimize the use of materials, services and space. [24]

Louis Delcart, board member European Academy of regions, www.ear-aer.eu

DIGITAL APPLICATIONS IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

The digitization of the economy, in all its aspects, including the internet of things and artificial intelligence, is promoted around the world and is the subject of debates at academic level and on the level of the World Economic Forum, of business and country strategies, and of financial and content support for cities, countries and organizations such as the EU, and the UN. It is recognized as an industry that can be deployed in places where there is no tradition of heavy industry and thus offers a solution for countries and regions in development or in reconstruction.

The industry that is the subject of this article, i.e. the circular economy, is also recognized as a generator of employment, but its focus is on countries and regions that have traditionally already had an industrial tissue or have built up a new tissue, and that are constraint to a shift in order to literally survive in an era with hellish consequences from climate change. The majority of serious studies teach us that the biggest shift has to be made by the manufacturers themselves, who have to redevelop the entire design of their products in such a way that the spare parts they have produced for already existing products can be quickly re-used when assembling new products. The principal motive for this way of acting is that virgin raw materials are becoming scarce in the earth, are often monopolised by protectionist countries such as China and therefore unaffordable. Moreover, reusing existing raw materials is much less energy-wasting and therefore closer to CO2 neutrality than continuously mining and producing virgin raw materials. Starting from our large database of articles treating circular economy developments, we will try to find out how both trends - digitization and circular economy - interact and to what extent they reinforce each other.

1.     Waste management

When one speaks about the circular economy, one refers in the first place to the reuse of objects or machines that are considered to be obsolete, due to being out of fashion, no longer functioning or worn out. In the current context, these end up in the garbage bag for separate waste collection or at the waste container park, where waste is also separated and recovered by specialized collectors.

But the separate waste collection also mixes many types of waste. In Belgium and the Netherlands, people speak of PMD bags, where plastic bottles and flasks, metal packaging and drinking cartons are collected and recycled after sorting. In Northern Europe, computer science often comes in handy for this sorting. The first waste sorting machines that came on the market were often still mechanical. They sorted metal magnetically, and sorted of waste by rotary screening machines. The next step was then optical sorting, whereby the various materials were optically recognized by cameras and mechanically separated. Nowadays, companies can be found that combine mechanical and optical means with artificial intelligence and robots to do separate waste sorting for: plastic[1], packaging[2], scrap metal[3], construction and demolition waste[4], wood.

The optical recognition of raw material also plays a role in the construction business. A Dutch invention to separate concrete into raw materials reduces material use and saves containers of CO2.

The “urban miners” of the Dutch company “New Horizon” now want to find more places to set up the concrete machines and are looking for municipalities and regions that can help. Ultimately, the goal is to make the invention big worldwide[5].

The same applies to separate waste collection. From 2025 on, the first thirty large cities in the Netherlands must have emission-free zones. This creates a number of challenges for carriers who frequently visit these zones. This also applies to waste collectors and recycling companies. But with the development of new collection models and digital technologies, the clean city centre is getting closer and closer.

PreZero, the waste collection company of German origin and active in the Netherlands, works with containers equipped with sensors in some places. These sensors send a signal when the bin is almost full, letting the company know that it can pick up the container. This prevents vehicles from turning out to pick up a half-empty container, which can happen unforeseen during holiday periods, for example. In the Dutch city of Arnhem the first results are positive and the number of kilometres driven has been reduced considerably.[6]

The world’s first automatic textile recycling facility is built in Malmö. The facility, that uses optic sensors to identify different textile types, has been opened in summer 2020. The project marks the third phase of the Swedish Innovation Platform for Textile Sorting (Siptex)[7], and comes after a successful pilot project in Avesta[8].

Automatic sorting processes are required to be able to efficiently sort the large amounts of textile rubbish which cannot be recycled and which is not suitable for fibre to fibre recycling. The aim is to use the recycled textiles to make padding, insulation, and cloth for industrial cleaning, slowly increasing the amount of textiles recycled from 3,000 to 16,000 tonnes over five years.[9] The facility will be operated by Sysav [10], the recycling company owned by 14 municipalities in Skåne[11], which today operates the site.

2.     Digital incentives for waste collection

A second series of waste applications where ICT comes in handy is to encourage citizens to deposit waste that can be collected separately. This is often -but not necessarily- accompanied by some type of incentive that is given to the citizen in the form of a digital voucher or bill, with which discounts are negotiated from local merchants.

In Belgium, the city of Antwerp is encouraging in this way its residents and the tourists who visit the town to keep the streets clean by using outdoors waste cans.

Click, a new application in the Belgian port-city of Antwerp, encourages residents and visitors to throw their waste in the dust bin outdoors as well. By scanning the packaging, one can save digital coins that one can redeem at local merchants.[12]

Spain has installed small container parks with containers (or “puntos limpios”, “clean spots”) of various colours in various places in the cities. It encourages its citizens to drop their waste over there in a separated way. Here also, some encouragement is needed, especially in order to present the correct waste at the correct container.

Sant Boi de Llobregat, a town of 84,500 inhabitants  located in the Barcelona province, has recently received yellow containers capable of recognizing the waste that should be thrown in them and warning the citizen if he/she/they is doing it incorrectly. What differentiates them from the rest of the containers is an electronic ring located in their opening that collects the information of the products through their bar codes. And it can also process data on habits (frequency of use, type of waste, neighbourhood …) to help improve the process. These smart containers will be part of the container network of the Reciclos project, the first Return and Reward System promoted in 2019 in Spain by Ecoembes that rewards residents who recycle with virtual points (baptized as recycles), exchangeable for shares in product giveaways, public transport vouchers or donations to collaborative environmental and social projects. About 24 hours after the citizen has used the technological ring, they will receive the points and can spend them. In Sant Boi, for example, residents can exchange them for donations to the ‘Tots som Santboians’ Association, dedicated to helping people with disabilities and which will use these grants to launch an initiative to preserve green spaces in the area.[13]

Romania, and soon also Moldova, is focusing on the toxicity of e-Waste and wants to recover this. Shops who sell the devices, agreed also to take them back and to work on the recovery. This is not different from other EU countries. The difference lies within the incentive in order to stimulate citizen to bring in their old appliances.

In Romania a program “Scrap for appliances” (Rabla pentru electrocasnice) has been implemented. Romanians receive vouchers, which can be used in stores, in exchange for old appliances (TV, refrigerator, washing machine, etc.).The same program could be launched in Moldova.[14]  The value of the ticket is up to two thousand lei, depending on the energy class of the product. The “scrap for appliances” aims to encourage Romanians and Moldovans to replace their used appliances with energy-efficient, less polluting ones.

3.     Creating digital market places

Creating digital marketplaces is one of the most frequent and lucrative initiatives of start-ups, because of the interest of many investors. Although, in the eyes of green boys and girls, Amazon is the example of how things should not be organised, the developers of these initiatives within the recycling sector, often consider the Palo-Alto company as their shining example. They occur in just about all sectors: construction, textiles, perfumes, reusable waste in general, repaired smartphones, but especially plastics. After all, that is the most difficult market with its 60 to 80,000 species where big data can be useful. We give a few examples below. We will not discuss the digital agricultural markets, the so-called short food supply circuit, in this article, because it is not directly linked to the recycling subject that we tend to treat. If the reader is interested in this subject anyway, I propose to refer him to my article “Selling Agricultural Products through the Short Food Supply Chain: It is Becoming Increasingly Popular”.[15]

First the generalist. A Dutch company that created a platform in order to bring producers of waste together with users of waste for new applications. Moreover, they also organise the transport between the two.

Saving more waste streams from the incinerator, that is the mission of the Dutch company Seenons. The start-up, founded in 2019, uses technology and smart logistics to help companies recycle residual flows such as coffee grounds, oranges and oil. Seenons developed a platform for fine-grained waste flows. This allows them to ‘match’ companies that have to get rid of their waste with parties that want to do something with this waste. The parties themselves choose the location and time. A kind of Tinder, but for waste. A collection of logistics partners then transports the waste from a to b. “Ideally, they use return logistics: one’s truck is already in the city centre and one will return empty, that space can be used to collect a residual flow somewhere. The company itself uses electric cargo bikes for small volumes and for large volumes electric boats or a press truck.[16] For example, Seenons already collects orange peels and coffee grounds from the Amsterdam catering   and delivers the load to liqueur maker Dik & Schil. But coffee grounds can also be used very well to make soap or as a breeding ground for oyster mushrooms. The platform raised another 6 million euros in an investment round recently, bringing the foreign plans and the goals of zero-waste one step closer.

The market place that grew most in the past two years is the one of second-hand clothing. For years they were like cat and dog: luxury brands did not want to know anything about the second-hand sale of their clothing and accessories. Too little control, too little exclusive, too much mothball smell. But that time is over now. The Lithuanian platform Vinted has been the driving force behind a change in purchasing behaviour, which has now reached such proportions that more second-hand clothes are sold over the virtual counter than new ones and that the big brands have to adapt.[17] A Boston Consulting study[18] estimates the second-hand clothing industry’s annual growth rate at 12 percent. In that context, the 3 percent growth of the ‘normal’ luxury segment appears to be small.

Vinted – the largest second-hand fashion platform in Europe, raised recently 250 million euros in a capital increase round. Via the originally Lithuanian platform, members can buy and sell second-hand clothing. The investment was made by ETQ Growth. This means that Vinted now has a value of 350 million euros. With the new investment, the second-hand fashion platform Vinted is expanding to regions within and outside Europe. In addition, the company invests in user experience, security, payments, shipping, infrastructure and in new product tools and functions. With this, the company wants to make second-hand clothing the norm and enable more people to participate in the circular economy.

The Realreal[19], Depop[20], Grailed[21], Vestiaire Collective[22] are also online platforms for second-hand luxury goods. These have sprung up like mushrooms in recent years.

And then there are three different start-ups, all three of which mirror the Amazon e-commerce platform and whose ambition is to become the Amazon of their sector. Circular in Motion aims to become the Amazon of the Recycled materials.

Circular in Motion®, a European start-up, based in Amsterdam with founders from various nationalities has created a revolutionary e-commerce platform where their professional expertise and their environmental values are combined in one system. Trading recycled materials safely and reliably online, that is the promise of Circular in Motion. Using blockchain technology and the expertise of credit insurer Coface, the platform aims to enable the purchase and sale of certified plastics. The company aims to become the Amazon of renewable materials. The company’s CEO got the idea for the trading platform after working in the petrochemical industry for 22 years. Due to the abundance of links in the supply chain of plastic producers, he noticed that communication was sometimes difficult. As a result, companies have little flexibility in choosing partners to do business with. With changing European regulations on their way, whereby producers are obliged to use a proportion of recycled material, it is becoming increasingly relevant that buying and selling parties find each other. In the blockchain application the selling party can only offer renewable materials that are certified as such. This means that the specifications have been checked. Blockchain makes it possible to record information about transactions with the impossibility to be changed in the meantime. The buying party then checks in the real world whether the raw materials received are really certified renewable, in accordance with the characteristics and claims of the seller. If this turns out not to be the case, then one will fall through the cracks as a seller and he will be kicked off the platform. About 100 companies have now joined the beta version of the platform, from waste processors and recyclers to polymer producers and processors, as well as some prominent brand owners. Circular in Motion has entered the commercial stage in the third quarter of 2021.[23]

The German company Cirplus wants to be a kind of Amazon for recycled plastics. Its aim is to create the first global internet exchange for plastic material.

Under the company name Cirplus, which is made up of circular (circular) and surplus (added value), the two founders reached the second round of Entrepreneur First. That brought them an initial start-up capital of 80,000 British pounds in 2019. Two years later, more venture capitalists from Sweden and Germany joined the company. In addition, Cirplus is supported with state subsidies. Cirplus currently has 10 employees and around 1000 users are registered on the platform. The number is increasing all the time, not least because the platform is still free of charge. The company is currently still living on investor and subsidy funds. Investors firmly believe in Cirplus. They aim to be a professional procurement platform for plastic and all recycled plastic materials.[24]

In Belgium, two graduated from the well-known Solvay School of Economics also launched a Green Amazon. They started up Waio in 2018. The idea of it was to create a platform that brings together all the sellers of eco-responsible products. A kind of green Amazon.

They started with toys, fair trade clothing, articles for the garden, decoration, etc. Afterwards they started to focus on the categories that were doing very well: zero waste products and cosmetics in the broad sense: care and hygiene products, such as solid soaps and shampoos. The project now continues under another name, Slow-cosmetique.com . In the midst of the health crisis, in September 2020, Waio purchased the French market place with that name located in Roubaix. Both starters have merged Waio and Slow-cosmetique.com under that last name. The platform, that generates 85% of its turnover in France, brings together more than 200 sellers. “Local artisans and producers, mainly in Belgium and France, and a few in Spain and Italy.”[25]

The disadvantage of this type of marketplace is that many are called but few are chosen, since we see initiatives emerging all over Europe to create digital marketplaces.

A market is also beginning to emerge in e-Waste. Smartphones are being refurbished, especially as new materials become scarce.

The repair platform Refurbed is the fastest growing online marketplace for refurbished electronics in the German-speaking region. Its office is located in Vienna/Austria, but most of its software development team is spread over Europe and working remotely. They operate an e-commerce platform with sites in over a dozen different European countries through which we sell completely renewed electronics like phones, laptops and tablets. Products sold via its marketplace are like new, come with at least 12 months of warranty, and are up to 40% cheaper and much more sustainable. The shortage of chips and the general shortage of raw materials has contributed to the fact that people are buying fewer new goods and using more remanufactured products can help to deal better with limited resources.[26]

And then new types of government markets are also emerging. Environmentally conscious (local) governments that try to link discarded utensils with companies that want to keep these materials in the cycle. The parties just need to know how to find each other. Hence the importance of ICT and the internet.

The municipality of Apeldoorn recently launched a link between its database with all existing building materials in public space and a digital marketplace. This makes it possible to trade released materials so that they can be reused elsewhere. Apeldoorn is the first municipality in the Netherlands to take steps towards the circular economy at local and regional level in this way. Financially supported by an innovation subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of the Interior, the municipality innovated by making up a raw materials accounting scheme for all materials in public space and connected it to a trading platform. It works like this: Special cars – comparable to Google cars – scan the public space using different techniques. In this way they collect information about the material over and alongside which they drive, such as the type of stone, thickness of the stone layer or height of the sidewalk and colour. This information is combined with data from the Dutch municipal basic information (GBI). The GBI is a database available to every municipality and where information can be found about purchased materials. It then links these data to an online marketplace. Basically a kind of dating site for materials. Based on the offer on the trading platform, the municipality is looking for a match with another party, such as a municipality or contractor, who can make use of these secondary materials. This is how we facilitate circular construction.[27]

 4.     Data collection for waste recycling or reuse

A very big trend is the one that makes the switch from purchasing a device to renting the device and the service that is provided together with it. This tendency is high on the list of recommendations put forward by significant institutions to achieve a truly circular economy. The philosophy behind it is that the supplier will then do everything he can to keep its device ready for operation for as long as possible and therefore make it repairable. And if the device is replaced by a newer one, the parts will be designed in such a way that they can be reused fairly quickly with new versions from the supplier. However, this requires very good database management of all devices in circulation. Also paying attention to its consumption, performance, life cycle, etc. This therefore requires quite a bit of remote data collection and particularly up-to-date big data management.

In the coming years, instead of the traditional sale of light sources, the Belgian lighting company Etap wants to focus more and more on concluding agreements with companies, schools and hospitals, whereby Etap will take over the management of the lighting. This means not only cost savings for customers, but in addition, customers can reduce their carbon footprint by combining reduced energy consumption with the reuse of lighting materials. Etaps’ strong asset is that it has both the development and production in its own hands and can therefore focus on circularity in a controlled manner. An example? The CEO of Etap can already boast of a striking circular project. The lighting from the WTC towers in the North District of Brussels, which have been completely stripped and renovated, has been reused in classrooms of a Brussels school after maintenance. But that light management can only run optimally if the life cycle of luminaires and lamps is monitored. Then replacements can be made in time and the customer is satisfied. The Internet of Things plays an important role here. [28]

Pallets to transport goods on a truck or train are also subject to an owner shift. An environmentally conscious Dutch company that both made and sold pallets and rented them out, has sold its manufacturing department and has only focused on the rental and thus the reuse of pallets, called Faber Group’s circular pooling system. They only want to be able to keep those pallets in service for as long as possible, so they need data about their lifespan.

That is why the company recently started with a partner for Internet of Things solutions: Connected Load Carrier. The aim is to provide pallets with a tag that allows one to measure, for example, how much weight rests on them, how often they get a blow and what temperature they are in. The awareness is growing more and more how valuable all these data are. The company uses this information itself to prevent loss and thus ultimately increase the reuse rate. Everything contributes to more circular movements and more frequent rotation, which means fewer new pallets are needed. Moreover can now feedback a lot more information about pallet usage to the customer[29].

Since there are 60 to 80,000 types of plastic in circulation, many of which are virtually non-recyclable, a database of all plastic types, and especially the recyclable ones, is urgently needed. Since such standardization is parallel to what the Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V. has done for other industrial products, such as paper, for example, it was almost appropriate that this institute was thought of to create some order in the plastic chaos. Please note: the US – as the only country in the world – uses different standards.

Together with industry giants such as the Dual System Deutschland[30] (the Yellow Bag), the disposal company Remondis[31] or the plant manufacturer Krauss Maffei[32] as well as the German Institute for Standardization[33], the two founders of the plastic material market platform Cirplus we talked about before, have initiated the urgently needed new DIN standard for plastic waste. As early as October 2021, it has created dedicated framework standards for the classification of plastic recycled materials, for example according to origin, quality or quantity, and so far all market participants recognize and encourage them.[34]

5.     Using recycled material in innovations

And then there is the whole technology of 3-D printing, which will focus fully on the reuse of plastic and even building materials. This allows new objects to be printed. There is still a hick, of course, since the energy that the printers consume should be CO2 neutral, but the printing materials to be used are circular anyway.

Friesland College students in the North of the Netherlands designed a windmill made of recycled plastic that can be delivered all over the world as a kit. The small mill supplies enough power for one room. This makes it a solution for the energy needs of people in countries where electricity is limited. The windmill consists of four hemispheres, an axle, a number of gears and dynamos. All parts are made from recycled plastic in a 3D printer. The innovative and sustainable design of the windmill earned the students an award from the national Energy Design Challenge of SMARTcircular; an energy competition that challenges young people of all educational lines – from primary school to university – to develop sustainable solutions.[35]

And then we arrive at the combination of designers and software to design things. This provides opportunities for designers willing to make standard screws and nuts that can be reused, standard metal supports designed for modular applications which can be rearranged to create different configurations and variants. This is also for designers wanting to do product design innovation from existing products or even waste, wanting to manufacture and produce products on a limited volume.

Closing remarks

The digitization of processes or design is often so evident that start-up initiators no longer mention it. It is therefore very possible that we have overlooked themes in which computer science in all its aspects is one of the key factors in the breakthrough of circular economy initiatives. However, this article offers many avenues for thinking that can offer young graduates ideas for further development in their own environment. After all, that is the advantage of digitization: it requires expertise and software programs, sometimes a high-performance printer. No factory halls. And if there is one thing that corona has taught us, it is that projects can be worked on anywhere in the world. They are just those who manually control or produce things that have to be on site.

Louis Delcart, board member European Academy of the Regions, www.ear-aer.eu

[1] the robots sort plastics by polymer, shape and/or color or they can sort specific objects, such as garden furniture, pipes, crates etc

[2] high purity in recyclables such as Plastics (PET bottles/trays, HDPE, PVC etc.),Foils (LDPE), Lightweight packages, Paper, OCC, Aseptic carton packages, vUBC, is maintained

[3] the robots can sort positively several metals in one pass or do negative sorting of residue and contaminants, Metals by shape/colour: brass, aluminium, zinc, copper, stainless steel etc., Metals by type: Iron scrap, copper wires, “meatballs”, Contaminants

[4] the pre-processing of waste can be heavily reduced and simultaneously sort many fractions such as: Metals, Wood by grade (A/B/C/D-wood), Inert mixed and by type: bricks, concrete, stones etc., Rigid plastics mixed or by polymer

[5] Marc Seijlhouwer, Beton recyclen maakt grote sprong vooruit: bedrijf zoekt naar locaties voor recyclemachine (Recycling concrete makes a big leap forward: company is looking for locations for recycling machine), in: ChangeInc, 3-02-2021; Circular economy and regional development — Recycling concrete makes a big leap forward:… (tumblr.com)

[6] Teun Schröder, Schone en veilige binnenstad door slimme afvalinzameling en digitale innovatie,( Clean and safe city center through smart waste collection and digital innovation) in: Change Inc., 15-07-2021, Circular economy and regional development — Clean and safe city center through smart waste… (tumblr.com)

[7] SIPTex is a Swedish research project that will test and evaluate automated textile sorting by building and operating a pilot facility for 12 months (in Sweden). The recognition and sorting equipment is based on near-infrared (NIR) technology. The project contributes to resource efficiency and closing textile loops by matching customers’ quality requirements with fast and highly accurate sorting technology.

[8] Avesta is a locality and the seat of Avesta Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 11,949 inhabitants in 2015.

[9] The Local: Malmö to host groundbreaking textile recycling plant,in: thelocal.se, 11-7-2019; Circular economy and regional development — Malmö to host groundbreaking textile recycling… (tumblr.com)

[10] Sysav, South Scania Waste Company, recycles and treats waste from households and industries in southern Skåne. The company is owned by 14 municipalities with a joint population of slightly more than 710,000, and Sysav is commissioned to manage the household waste in all owner municipalities. The subsidiary Sysav Industri AB has approximately 6,000 corporate customers. https://www.sysav.se/en/siptex/

[11] Skåne County, sometimes referred to as Scania County in English, is the southernmost county – län in Swedish-, of Sweden, basically corresponding to the traditional province Skåne. It borders the counties of Halland, Kronoberg and Blekinge and connects to Capital Region, Denmark by the Öresund Bridge. The seat of residence for the Skåne Governor is the city of Malmö. The headquarters of Skåne Regional Council are located in both Kristianstad and Malmö.

[12] Jan Stassijns, Antwerpse actie om afval ook buitenshuis in vuilnisbak te gooien,( Antwerp organises action to throw waste in the garbage can outdoors as well) in: De Standaard, 2-7-2021; Circular economy and regional development — Antwerp organises action to throw waste in the… (tumblr.com)

[13] JN : Un contenedor intelligente que te recompensa por reciclar,( A smart container that rewards you for recycling), in: El País, 28-10-2021, Circular economy and regional development — A smart container that rewards you for recycling (tumblr.com)

[14] Ruslan Nercaș, E-deșeurile, o bombă ecologică… Cum scăpăm de aparatele electronice vechi,( E-waste, an ecological bomb … How to get rid of old electronic devices?) in: Moldcontrol, 22.12.2020, Circular economy and regional development — E-waste, an ecological bomb … How to get rid of… (tumblr.com)

[15] Louis Delcart, Selling Agricultural Products through the Short Food Supply Chain: It is Becoming Increasingly Popular, International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Studies Volume 8, Issue 8, 2021, pp. 7-13 ISSN 2694-6296 ; https://www.ijrhss.org/papers/v8-i8/2.pdf

[16] TEUN SCHRÖDER, Nederlandse start-up haalt miljoeneninvestering op om Europese afvalmarkt te veroveren (Dutch start-up raises millions in investment to conquer European waste market) in: Change Inc, 08-10-2021, Circular economy and regional development — Dutch start-up raises millions in investment to… (tumblr.com)

[17] Karlien Beckers, Van ‘vies’ naar ‘vintage’: luxe omarmt tweedehands,(From ‘dirty’ to ‘vintage’: luxury embraces second-hand) in: De Standaard, 28-09-2021; Circular economy and regional development — From 'dirty’ to 'vintage’: luxury embraces… (tumblr.com)

[18]  “The secondary market for luxury goods has always existed in the shadow of the primary market,” according to a report from the Boston Consulting Group, but that is beginning to change as demand for discounted pre-owned goods is giving rise to “one of the fastest-growing areas of luxury.” The management consulting firm estimates that luxury resale will grow at an average rate of 12 percent per year through 2021 to a whopping $36 billion market with a 9 percent share of the personal luxury goods segment. That is quite a bit larger than the 3 percent growth rate for the primary luxury market for that same period of time. The Luxury Resale Market is Growing Faster than the Primary Luxury Goods Segment, Per BCG - The Fashion Law

[19] The RealReal, Inc. is an online and brick-and-mortar marketplace for authenticated luxury consignment. Based on the circular economy, The RealReal sells consigned clothing, fine jewelry, watches, fine art and home decor. It employs an in-house staff of experts including horologists, gemologists, art curators and luxury fashion authenticators who inspect items for authenticity and value. https://www.therealreal.com/

[20] https://www.depop.com/

[21] At its core, Grailed is a simple concept: It’s a website and app for buying and selling high-end, second hand menswear and streetwear. The major investor is the luxury group Kering , that is owned by the Pinault family. Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Gucci, among others, fall under the umbrella of the group. Grailed: Largest Online Marketplace to Buy & Sell Menswear

[22] https://fr.vestiairecollective.com/

[23] Teun Schröder, Dit platform wil 'de Amazon van gerecyclede materialen’ worden met hulp van de blockchain, (This platform aims to become 'the Amazon of recycled materials’ with the help of blockchain), in: ChangeInc, 18-06-2021 https://www.change.inc/circulaire-economie/marktplaats-blockchain-gerecyclede-materialen-circulaire-econ

[24] Steffen Uhlmann, Ein Markplatz für den Müll, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 19-10-2021; Circular economy and regional development — A market place for garbage (tumblr.com)

[25] Anne Masset, “L'Amazon vert” lancé par deux Belges : “Être un entrepreneur ‘à impact’, c’est encore plus difficile” (“Green Amazon” launched by two Belgians) in : La Libre Belgique, 8-08-2021 https://www.lalibre.be/economie/entreprises-startup/2021/08/08/etre-un-entrepreneur-a-impact-cest-encore-plus-difficile-QOUFTLCTNFB2ZDTCVV2N2D5XDU/

[26] Dpa, Gebrauchte Technik in Chipkrise gefragt,( Used technology in demand during the chip crisis), in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 23-11-2021; Circular economy and regional development — Used technology in demand during the chip crisis (tumblr.com)

[27] Teun Schröder, Gemeente Apeldoorn lanceert database en marktplaats voor circulaire materialen,( Dutch Municipality launches database and marketplace for circular materials), in: Change Inc, 7-07-2021, Circular economy and regional development — Dutch Municipality launches database and… (tumblr.com)

[28] Pascal Sertyn, Etap countert led-revolutie met verhuur van verlichting,( Etap counters LED revolution with lighting rental) in: De Standaard, 1-02-2021, https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20210131_98106025?

[29] TEUN SCHRÖDER, CEO Ingrid Faber: “Hergebruik van pallets is beter voor de klant, het milieu en voor ons een goed businessmodel”,( Reuse of pallets is better for the customer, the environment and a good business model for us in: Change Inc, 30-11-2021, Circular economy and regional development — Reuse of pallets is better for the customer, the… (tumblr.com)

[30] Der Grüne Punkt (The Green Dot) - Duales System Deutschland GmbH (DSD) is an operator of a dual system for waste separation in Germany. Home | Der Grüne Punkt (gruener-punkt.de)

[31] REMONDIS is one of the world’s largest recycling, service and water companies. With over 30,000 employees and around 900 business locations on 4 continents, the group serves more than 30 million people and many thousands of companies. Welcome // REMONDIS Global Website // Germany

[32] KraussMaffei is a German manufacturer of injection molding machines, machines for plastics extrusion technology, and reaction process machinery. It was acquired by ChemChina in 2016. Home - KraussMaffei

[33] Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V. (DIN; in English, the German Institute for Standardisation) is the German national organization for standardization and is the German ISO member body. DIN is a German Registered Association (e.V.) headquartered in Berlin. There are currently around thirty thousand DIN Standards, covering nearly every field of technology.

[34] Steffen Uhlmann, Ein Markplatz für den Müll, (A market place for garbage) Süddeutsche Zeitung, 19-10-2021; Circular economy and regional development — A market place for garbage (tumblr.com)

[35] Teun Schröder, Studenten ontwerpen 3D-geprinte windmolen van gerecycled plastic (Students design 3D-printed windmill from recycled plastic), in Change Inc, 11-05-2021, https://www.change.inc/circulaire-economie/windmolen-gerecycled-plastic-36271

It is clear that green economy and circular economy do not only offer solutions for the major problems of climate change. They also create new jobs. This is necessary because due to digitization and the introduction of robotics and artificial intelligence, many labour-intensive jobs for the low-skilled will be lost. Decentralised countries have a feeling for regional development and the benefits of it.

A striking testimonial comes from Australia, a federation of states with a lot of autonomy. The New South Wales website www.nswcircular.org dedicated on the circular economy mentions: “Regional development strategies are particularly well suited to planning with the circular economy in mind. Communities with remote and decentralised industry, energy and water systems already know the benefits of local closed loops in using locally available resources, and minimizing transport costs. Agricultural and mining communities, for example, are constantly being challenged to adapt to climate change, resources depletion and high production costs.”[1]

We also see that it is the cities and regions that are taking the lead in supporting both start-ups and large companies that have started the actual conversion.

Port cities as traditional economic forerunners

Traditional port cities for example often are quicker in setting up initiatives in that perspective, because they usually also have an industrial hinterland and do not want to see that lost.

For example, I read examples from Antwerp and Bordeaux where the city and the region, via local agencies, are targeting new start-ups, supporting scale-ups but also large companies.

An incubator for sustainable chemistry called BlueChem[2] opened in May 2020. It is an initiative of the Port of Antwerp. A year and a half later, 12 start-ups and 6 large companies have been established, with which the incubator is currently at an occupancy of 63%. The City of Antwerp provides financial support to start-ups that rent a lab in BlueChem in order to furnish that lab. To this end, a BlueChem Kickstart Fund was established in 2019. With this fund worth 3.4 million euros, the city can help new start-ups in BlueChem on the long term. The first files for the BlueChem Kickstart Fund were approved by the council of mayor and aldermen last week: Inopsys[3] and Peace of Meat[4]. BlueChem is located in the NextGen district[5], the former site where the Opel cars were was produced, that is converted into a circular hub in the port of Antwerp.

French Tech Bordeaux on the other hand is a combination of entrepreneurs, engineers, designers and developers of the Bordeaux and Nouvelle-Aquitaine region but not only! It is also investors, large groups, associations, media, public operators, research institutes, educational establishments and communities who are committed to the growth of Bordeaux start-ups and their international influence. Recycling is becoming a promising sector even in the world of start-ups. Especially in the Bordeaux ecosystem where they are multiplying.[6]

In the same region there is also EPA Bordeaux Euratlantique (Bordeaux Public Development Establishment) a state body specializing in urban development and in particular responsible for developing the banks of the Garonne in the Bordeaux metropolitan area. It intervened recently in guaranteeing the future of a former paper mill, owned by the Belgian group Etex that stopped its activities in March 2021. Under Euratlantique’s impulse the Burgundian industrialist Global Hygiene, was selected to ensure the paper mill’s conversion aiming to eventually produce 30,000 tons of single-use products by concentrating on the production of wadding from recycled paper.[7]

In the same way goes the evolution of the port city of Kiel on the Baltic Sea. One of the major projects in Kiel: the port should be climate neutral by 2030.

Huge shore power systems are to supply anchored ships with green electricity and the city is negotiating with shipping companies to convert their ships accordingly. In addition, Kiel is striving for an alliance with other ports in order to prevent environmental dumping. However, the area of influence of the city administrations is clearly limited when it comes to the really big levers.[8]

Malmö, an important port in Sweden also on the Baltic Sea, makes efforts in the same direction. Although still in its early stages, the industry players in the harbour of Malmö City are collaborating in new ways, particularly with a focus on innovative utility systems that have the potential to support the wider City of Malmö[9].

Residual heat flows in the port area were mapped in detail, helping to develop a new district heating system with private-sector partners trialling types of hybrid ‘ecto-grid/smart-net pilot,’ as ways to support energy recovery and the development of low temperature heat network solutions. Progress was made towards new food production systems based on residual flows, including technological and economic assessments for an aquaponic systems, which gained positive results.

“Donut”-cities

One of the economists whose theories have the greatest impact on the evolution from linear to circular economy is the British professor Kate Raworth. In her book “the Donut Economy”, published in 2017, she states that the economy balances between an ecological upper limit and a social lower limit. That lower limit consists of human rights such as safety, health and sufficient food. The ecological upper limit concerns issues such as air pollution, climate change and soil depletion. The economy is therefore subordinate to the planet. When one draws this model, you see a large circle (the planetary boundaries) with a small circle (the social lower boundary), hence the name donut economy. The space between those two circles forms the donut. The ‘sweet spot’: a circular economy that is good for people and the environment.

Her theories are adhered by many politicians -mostly regional and local politicians- and NGO’s worldwide. But she figures out that the city is where it starts first. At the donut economy action lab, that is a platform that helps people and organizations put the donut economy into practice, she and her fellow researchers never asked anyone to talk about the donut, use the donut, or implement the donut. Everything that happens is because people decided to use it. Cities are leading the way in this. More than countries, more than villages. Amsterdam has been the first city in the world to have applied her theories in practice. In addition to Amsterdam, other cities, like Birmingham, but also the Caribbean island of Barbados, also started using it, which provides inspiration. But there is also something about the scale of the city that makes cities pick it up. The city has power over housing, transport and heating. So the city has opportunities to do things. There is also a limit to what a city can do, as the city is embedded in national regulations, yet a city can do a lot. And it is her -and also my- opinion that a lot of people feel more connected to their city than to their country.[10]

Regions and cities all over Europe take useful initiatives

Regions and cities are not only tasked with collecting and processing garbage. Healthcare, education, economic development are all themes that quite a few regions, counties and cities are trying or even wishing to include. Not every regional authority has the necessary financial resources, but they can influence all and get things going. Due to the fact that the EU uses cohesion funds to promote regional development, regional functioning is taken seriously in many countries. However, that does not mean that every region or city is equally dynamic or has the same emphasis.

Italy

According to the GreenItaly 2021 report produced by the Symbola Foundation and Unioncamere, Italy is the leader in Europe in the circular economy. In the Peninsula, recycling of all waste (urban and special) amounts to 79.4%. A result well above the European average (49%) and that of other large countries such as Germany (69%), France (66%) and the United Kingdom (57%) and, finally,  Poland (54%) and which allows an annual savings of 23 million tonnes equivalent of oil and 63 million tons of CO2 equivalent in emissions. The Boot also confirms its leadership in the reduction of raw materials per unit of product, as well as being awarded the best score in the circular economy performance index for the third consecutive year. The latter measures the degree of efficient use of resources in five categories: production, consumption, waste management, secondary raw materials market, investment and employment. The growing sensitivity towards environmental issues on the part of companies, consumers and citizens is also driving the adoption of the circular economy. Fears related to the climate emergency and the outbreak of the pandemic have in fact led to greater ecological awareness and to re-evaluate the impact of human activities on the health of the planet. From a recent survey conducted by the Political and Social Analysis Laboratory of the University of Siena, which involved a sample of 2,049 Italians, 89% believe that the climate emergency represents the main threat to national security, increasing compared to 2020, when 84% considered it as such.[11] The administrative subdivisions of Italy are made up of municipalities, provinces, metropolitan cities, regions and the state. Regions are territorial entities while metropolitan cities, provinces and municipalities are local entities.

Emilia-Romagna was the first region to adopt the principles of the circular economy in 2015. It established the permanent forum for the circular economy to which local institutions, representatives of civil society, business organizations representing companies and environmental associations participate. The commitment of the Region is continued in 2016 with the resolution relating to the Regional Waste Management Plan (PRGR), operational tool with the necessary actions to achieve the challenging objectives of the law. The main tools identified by the Plan are: incentives for municipal administrations, application of punctual pricing systems, promotion of reuse, participatory programs, supply chain agreements, coordination with trade associations for by-products, symbiosis, industrial activities, information and education activities on prevention and recovery.

The Tuscany Region introduced in 2018 the principle of the circular economy in its own Statute. The goal is to guide regional policies towards a circular economy model through the Regional Development Program (PRS) with the identification of minimum objectives and contents. Another regional instrument is the Plan for the management of waste and the remediation of polluted sites (PRB). The Region sets up technical tables concerning different districts and production sectors, in particular the extraction of marble, the textile, paper, steel, tanning and chemical sectors, waste from electrical and electronic equipment and those from construction and demolition, the fans from the purification of waste water, the integrated cycle of municipal waste.

The Lombardy Region has equipped itself with a Roadmap for research and innovation on the circular economy. Based on the development priorities present in the roadmap, widely shared between regional stakeholders, private and public investors can work together to support emerging initiatives, with financing instruments that include both public administration incentives and additional and complementary investor financing instruments institutional. In this context, a Plan towards the circular economy is being developed, new regional waste management program including the regional reclamation program for polluted areas. The Region has also published a public notice to verify interest and the availability of universities and public research centres in Lombardy for research on new plants, innovative technologies, integrated circular economy solutions and models of business.

France

France has traditionally been a highly centralized state with a government that is strongly governed by legislation. In recent years, the French national government has also been a frontrunner in the evolution towards a circular economy in creating more national legislation that steers the economy in that direction. Its anti-waste law, one of the first to propose initiatives in favour of the circular economy, promulgated in early 2020, entered into force on January 1^st 2022. From January 1, 2022, the over-packaging of certain fresh fruits and vegetables weighing less than 1.5 kg will be prohibited.

Companies will no longer be able to landfill or incinerate clothing, hygiene products, childcare products, school books, batteries or electronic products and furniture that have not been sold. They must first be put in service once again, reused or recycled. The “Triman” logo[12] will be displayed on all packaging to indicate that the waste is subject to a sorting rule. Companies will also have the obligation to clearly inform individuals on how they will have to dispose of them (terminals, recovery in store, yellow bins, etc.).[13]

The fact that France has set strict standards in the production of new plastics, that require the processing of a significant percentage of recycled plastics, has led the large French multinationals, such as LVMH, Estée Lauder, Clarins, Danone, L'Oréal, to join forces with processors like the American Eastman or the Canadian Loop who invest into factories in France that process plastic waste into new raw materials.[14]

In this context a nice case is the one of the Auvergne-based company Carbios. This interesting scale-up recreates a virgin resin, through a technology unique in the world, based on enzymes, from plastics that could only be buried or burned. Including synthetic textiles, of which only a third are reused. The SME will create two factories, one in France and one in Germany. Listed on the stock exchange, it also convinced to enter its capital the French multinationals L'Oréal, L'Occitane and Michelin, the latter hosting its industrial demonstrator in Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme).

On the other hand, France also has a decentralized administration. There are three levels of local authorities: municipalities, departments and regions, known as ordinary local authorities. A fourth intermediate stratum between the municipality and the department is made up of inter-municipal cooperation structures (public establishment of inter-municipal cooperation with own taxation or unions), which are not local authorities, but whose deliberative assemblies are made up of elected representatives from member municipalities. The structure occurs by necessity because of the small size of many French municipalities. The European Commission noted already in 2013 that 40% of all municipalities in the European Union are French, for an average population of 1,800 inhabitants, against 5,500 in the rest of the EU. These scattered local authorities contribute also largely to a public call for a strong centralised government. In France, the finances of the various levels of the local authorities, like their competences, are determined by law. The resources of local authorities are of four kinds: (1) Own resources (local taxation);(2) State grants and subsidies;(3) Advances and loans;(4) Income from property and services rendered.

Partly inherited from former provinces and historic regions, administrative regions were created from 1960 on. The number of administrative regions decreased on January 1, 2016 from twenty-seven to eighteen (thirteen in mainland France and five overseas).

Examples of stimulating the circular economy can be found in many regions. I quote hereby one of a less known region in order to show that the concept lives throughout France.

Originally founded to lead the Territoire Zéro Déchet Zéro Waste (2015-2018) initiative set up by the 4 local authorities of the two departments in the historic Savoie region (Grand Annecy, Grand Chambéry, Grand Lac and Rumilly Terre de Savoie), the association SoluCir[15] was established “to identify and support circular solutions for the territory”. Today, the association has 102 members, including 72 companies from Savoie and Haute-Savoie, who want to “influence public policies in favour of the development of the circular economy”. The SoluCir association wants to make of its trade fair edition 2022, held for the first time in 2020 in Annecy[16], the major event for the circular economy. Large industrial groups will be present: Danone Waters will exhibit its Terragr'Eau project, Tefal will show how it organises the collection of old stoves in Rumilly and the Fournier group, a major sponsor of SoluCir, will explain how it intends to become the leader in the reuse of used furniture.[17].

Spain

Spain is divided into seventeen autonomous communities and two autonomous cities. Not all regions developed active economic policies. And not all regions chose the green economy and the circular economy. The Basque Country, like Galicia, has resolutely promoted the green economy. The results mainly consist of companies -both large and SMEs- in the region working together and working out a renewed economic policy.

The companies of the Euskadi environmental industries cluster association (Aclima) had a turnover of 2,101 million euros in the Basque Country in 2020 in environmental areas. the Basque environmental sector has come to represent around 5% of the Basque Country’s GDP, and is called upon to continue growing and become a lever for competitiveness for the rest of the sectors in the economic recovery after COVID-19. Within the sector there is a high representation of the value chain of waste management and secondary raw materials, which incorporates managers, equipment manufacturers and valorisers. The Basque Country has more than 200 companies dedicated to health and several pioneering centres in the Spanish State that work in collaboration with universities and hospitals. Of these, more than 94 entities carry out research in biotechnology, dedicating more than half of their internal spending to R&D. The business biotechnology sector of the Basque Country is made up mainly of small and medium-sized companies, intensive in qualified personnel and with a constant commitment and investment effort in research, which develop products and services mainly applied to health. Aclima Basque Environment Cluster and Basque Health Cluster have defined a new bio-health value chain based on the circular economy for the production and supply of essential health products, after the Coronavirus crisis has exposed external dependence on supplies. This project responds to the 2030 Agenda and the European Green Deal and is developed within the framework of aid to the Circular Economy of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa.[18]

Germany

The Federal Republic of Germany counts the sixteen federal states of which three city-states. They have their own constitutions, parliaments and governments. Unlike in non-federalist countries, the federal states in Germany have many local powers. With due observance of the above, the Kreisen, sometimes translated as districts, form the administrative layer under the federal state. There are two types, Kreis-free cities (Kreisfreie Städte or Stadtkreise) and ordinary Kreisen (Kreise or Landkreise). Kreis-free cities are large cities (often with more than 100,000 inhabitants) and have not only the powers of a city, but also those of a Kreis. The administrative structure is the structure of a city, see below. The lowest administrative level is formed by the municipalities (Gemeinden), including the cities (Städte). As well in Kreise as in Cities the structure and powers differ from state to state.

The city of Wuppertal with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany would like to develop a systematic climate protection strategy that is also an economic, investment and quality of life strategy. Wuppertal of all places is now . In the middle of the 19th century, one of the largest economic centres in Europe and one of the first German industrial regions was located here. The textile factories on the banks of the Wupper fueled the development of modern mass production - including mass waste. Now the region, which is considered to be the cradle of industrialization in Germany, is to become a model for a radical turnaround towards a sustainable economy. It still sounds like utopia: that a city is managed in such a way that no waste is generated and resources are used all over again. But in Wuppertal one doesn’t want to wait any longer and get closer to a garbage-free future step by step. A “Circular Valley” is being created according to a design by the “Wuppertal Movement”[19] citizens’ association. In the middle of the city, around the colossus of a gas boiler from the 50s, which towers 66 meters high into the sky. The cylinder was used in the past to store energy; today it houses a domed hall with a cinema screen. A place where the old is preserved and the new created - the symbol of circular thought. Selected start-ups and researchers from all over the world should settle here and develop new business ideas and technologies for the circular economy. Everything is closely interlinked with the Wuppertal Institute. [20]

Sweden

The counties of Sweden (Swedish: Sveriges län) are the top-level geographic subdivisions of Sweden. Sweden is today divided into 21 counties. The regional council is the elected regional political assembly that oversees the municipal affairs of the county, primarily in regard to public healthcare, public transport, and culture. The municipalities of Sweden (Swedish: Sveriges kommuner) are its lower-level local government entities. There are 290 municipalities which are responsible for a large proportion of local services, including schools, emergency services and physical planning.

Växjö for example is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County. It had 66,275 inhabitants (2016) out of a municipal population of 90,721 (2017). The city claims to be the “greenest” city in Europe, so the local municipality plans to make its step towards the circular model as soon as possible. To make responsible consumption easier, the municipality plans to build an interactive re-use village Återbruksby[21] in Norremark.

Borås on the other hand is a city and the seat of Borås Municipality, Västra Götaland County. It had 66,273 inhabitants in 2010. In Borås, the local municipality, university, and regional authorities focus on the textile industry and its possibilities to become a part of the circular economy. Re:textile is a project within Science Park Borås which aims to develop new design principles, business models, and production systems that enable circular flows in the textile industry. By creating new garments developed to last a long time by being able to be repaired, reworked or updated, opportunities for completely new business areas in repair, redesign and other types of services are opened that extend the life of the garment and create economic growth. Alongside, it created Re: Design Factory – an innovation environment for prototype development and implementation of pilot projects with companies and innovators.

The Netherlands

There are twelve provinces of the Netherlands, representing the administrative layer between the national government and the local municipalities, with responsibility for matters of subnational or regional importance. To a large extent, the provinces of the Netherlands are financed by the national government.. As of January 2021, there are 352 municipalities and three special municipalities in the Netherlands. The latter is the status of three of the six island territories that make up the Dutch Caribbean. Municipalities are the second-level administrative division, or public bodies, in the Netherlands and are subdivisions of their respective provinces. The municipalities get most of their finances from the national government. The municipality is the lowest level of government, but this does not reflect the importance that the Amsterdam and Rotterdam governments play in Dutch political life. The economic big five – the regions of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Southeast Brabant (Eindhoven) – together make up about fifty percent of the Dutch economy. At the same time, this indicates that the Netherlands also has many regions with an economically modest size.

The south province of the Netherlands, Limburg, has  long eastern boundary that forms the international border with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. To the west is the international border with the similarly named Belgian province of Limburg, part of which is delineated by the river Meuse. The province developed a large industrial zoning around the intersection of the A2 and the A76 dedicated to green chemistry, called Chemelot. Chemelot represents a chemically oriented site of no less than 800 hectares in South Limburg. The site is unique because of many elements: the central location in South Limburg, the good accessibility by rail, road, pipeline and airport, the presence of a large number of factories that complement each other, the umbrella permit, the unique collaboration between factories, research and development and pilot plants. The site also offers a number of central facilities such as utilities, fire brigade, maintenance, a company emergency organization, infrastructure and regulations. Chemelot is also the name of the organization that forms the central counter for the companies in the industrial complex and the campus, but also for potential residents of the site, the environment and the authorities. The organization is also very active in attracting new business, stimulating cooperation between companies and initiating contacts with the outside world.[22]

The most recent accessor on the zoning is Black Bear Carbon[23]. The team behind this group decided in 2010 to set up a company to stop the aimless burning of car tires. Their goal was (and still is) to achieve less CO2 emissions and to recover oil, gas and carbon black from old tire granulate. It works like this: to make tires wear-resistant and black and to provide them with a good structure, carbon black is added to the rubber of the car tire. Where “old” manufacturers produce carbon black by burning heavy petroleum fractions - that release a lot of CO2 and pollution - Black Bear Carbon has invented how carbon black can be extracted from old tires. And that in a clean and sustainable way. The company has now become an international player and the next phase has begun: Black Bear Carbon is going to build a factory at Chemelot Industrial park[24] in Limburg.

Belgium

The politics of Belgium take place in the framework of a federal, representative democratic, constitutional monarchy. The federation is made up of (language-based) communities and (territorial) regions. The regional and community parliaments and governments have jurisdiction over transportation, public works, water policy, cultural matters, education, public health, environment, housing, zoning, and economic and industrial policy. They rely on a system of revenue-sharing for funds. The two biggest regions, Flanders and Wallonia, are further subdivided into five provinces each. The Brussels-Capital Region is directly divided into 19 municipalities. In total, Belgium counts 581 municipalities. Belgium therefore has 1 more local level than traditional other democracies. Provincial and local government is an exclusive competency of the regions. On the other hand, it should also be said that the territory that is now Belgium has historically had strong local structures such as cities since the Middle Ages, which had acquired a fairly large right of self-determination vis-à-vis higher authorities. As a result, I still find very far-reaching and well-organized initiatives around circular economy and sustainability in provinces, cities and municipalities. Also the fact that there is a very well-developed and high-quality network of higher education institutions in both the North and the South of the country, that they are run from the federal states and are closely linked to the cities and provinces in which they are located , contributes to a well-functioning triple helix that makes Belgium one of the leaders of the circular economy.

Regions in Belgium also have powers to stimulate employment. In the southern state of Wallonia, there is a strong government involvement in the creation of employment for vulnerable individuals. There, the government quickly discovered that the circular economy can create employment, allowing them to link their own initiatives to start-ups in the circular economy.

The Belgian clothing brand Opte[25] has been created as an eco-responsible alternative to a textile industry. In big brand warehouses, fabric scraps are burned or thrown away. To avoid this waste, Opte recovers - via textile agents in textile companies or specialized companies - these fabric scraps to make new clothes. Requiring ready-to-wear know-how and cutting-edge technical skills to produce their pieces, the co-founders of Opte wanted to produce their ecological pieces in their own country. But: the clothing workshops can be counted on the fingers of one hand in Wallonia. They turned to the Adapted Work Company (=ETA) C.A.R.F.[26]

The Northern state Flanders is more liberal and business driven. Which does not mean there is no public intervention. Let us provide with the example of the port of Antwerp.

A new water factory will be established on the NextGen district[27], the former site where the Opel cars were was produced, that is converted into a circular hub in the port of  Antwerp. The factory will bring 20 billion litres of waste water from the households living in Antwerp, treated already by Aquafin[28], to the much higher quality level of cooling water[29]. A new pipeline distribution network in the port will also ensure that industrial customers on both the left and right banks can use the circular cooling water. The new factory is a joint venture between Aquafin, a public water-treatment company,  Ekopak[30],a private water treatment company, PMV[31], a public investment fund and water-link[32], the water company for the Antwerp region.     

Portugal

Portugal is a unitary State: the central State has, in mainland Portugal, several regional directorates of ministries intervening in different areas.  The 1976 Constitution establishes that Portugal is divided only into autonomous regions (Azores and Madeira) and districts on the mainland. In turn, all these are divided into municipalities and the latter into parishes. There are nowadays also Coordination and Regional Development Commissions (CCDR) — North; Center; Lisbon and Tagus Valley; Alentejo; Algarve —. The recycling method in Portugal runs parallel to Spain: they have to deposit their separated waste in small coloured containers, called “Ecopontes” in Portuguese,  that are set up in places in the city. Since there is therefore no separate waste collection at the doorstep, this requires a lot more convincing effort from the local authorities. That is why the Portuguese press focuses on that, and much less on the efforts of local companies to put that waste back on the market as material. It is also clear that the cities and municipalities should make an effort in this regard, together with the waste management companies. Here is an example of cooperation between the city of Cascais and the waste processing company. It starts from the inconvenient truth that recycling is not always easy. The space at home to separate is not much and the recycling bin is not always next to the door. And for those who still don’t know the best practices of colour recycling, it can be confusing: the butter and milk packets look dirty, can we recycle them or not?

Baring this in mind, Cascais City Council, with the support of Sociedade Ponto Verde, launched the “De Casa para o Ecoponto” initiative: the municipality distributes sets of waste separation bags, so that it is easier to separate garbage at home. They are sets of 3 ecobags that are offered to residents of Cascais, wrapped in a cardboard case with information on how to correctly separate the materials. The kit also includes a detachable guide with the materials that must be placed in each yellow, blue and green bag, and that must be placed in plain view in the citizens’ kitchen. Thus, the packages follow “From Casa to Ecoponto”(From home to the waste container), without contamination. In this campaign, the municipality of Cascais intends to deliver 10,500 sets of waste separation bags.[33]

Denmark

Denmark is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. As a result of an administrative reform beginning of 2007, five regions replaced the counties and the number of municipalities was reduced to 98. Regions are not entitled to levy their own taxes, but rely on central state funding (around 70%) and funding from the municipalities (around 30%). 90% of the budgets of the regions is allocated to the national health service. The primary task of municipalities is local administration of welfare and social needs. This encompasses social services, primary schooling and childcare, infrastructure, transportation, and tasks defined as integration of refugees and immigrants. Other municipal areas include employment (such as running job centres), culture and leisure, setting up businesses, initiatives for children and young people, and city and rural fixtures and fittings.[34]

In Denmark, the use of resources in a sustainable, efficient, and responsible manner has been at the centre of Danish regulations and business models for decades. Denmark’s recycling targets aim to ensure 60 per cent of Danish household waste and 70 per cent of packaging waste are recycled by 2030. Denmark has a strong tradition for collaboration and partnerships between the public and the private sector, as well as cross-sectoral partnerships. In collaboration with the private sector in 2019, the Danish government established 13 climate partnerships. The partnerships were created to strengthen public and private sector collaboration in order to realise climate objectives by 2030. The partnerships span across all sectors and industries. The climate partnership on waste, water and circular economy presented recommendations regarding how Denmark could become a world leading circular economy by 2030, highlighting measures to be taken both politically and within industry. Several of the partnership’s recommendations on waste, have now been adopted into the latest political agreement on the area. Innovation and research are a key drivers in the future development of circular economy business models. The Danish Government promotes the development and use of new technologies and modes of production from research stages through demonstration and pilot experiments, to full-scale commercial plants as well as the transition to new circular business models.[35] This analysis has been made by a non-profit organisation -State of Green- that has been founded in 2008, as public-private partnership between the Danish Government and Denmark’s four leading business associations: Confederation of Danish Industry, the Danish Energy Association, the Danish Agriculture & Food Council and Wind Denmark.

It is clear that Denmark is quite centralised when it comes to environmental initiatives. However, a new proposal presented by the government gave local authorities the ability to designate zero-emissions zones in cities. The zones would only allow access to vehicles without combustion engines, such as electric cars.[36]              Examples make it clear on the other hand, that committed municipalities start their own initiatives for introducing circular economy inside their borders.

The City of Aalborg in Denmark is home to around 207,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in Denmark. Aalborg has been committed to improving the sustainability of their municipality for over two decades, and for the past three years (2018-2021), Aalborg has been developing its use of procurement as a tool for developing innovative circular solutions which meet the city’s needs.

Two pilot public procurements conducted by the City of Aalborg have each challenged current working practices, and led to new understandings of how to meet workers’ and citizens’ needs, in ways which are both cost effective and sustainable in the long-term. The first explored options to create a service for buying back used ICT equipment from the Municipality (including, for example, mobiles, tablets, computers, laptops, wires, storage and servers). The ultimate goal is to prolong the lifetime of ICT equipment. The second pilot tender conducted in Circular Public Procurement was for a playground / outdoor learning area, which places emphasis on greater use of landscaping to achieve both circular and creative play goals.[37] 

A very peculiar case in Denmark, a country that is an combination a peninsula that is part of the European continent, and islands, is the aspiration of one of the smaller islands to become fully circular. In 1997, the island of Samsø set the goal to be 100% self-sufficient in energy within 10 years and reached this ahead of time in 2004. After achieving full self-sufficiency in energy early on, the island is now aspiring to have not just circular energy flows, but be a ‘Bio-circular island’ including other natural material flows.[38]

The next goal is for the island to be free of fossil fuels and in balance on broader parameters than ‘just’ energy by 2030, i.e. towards a circular island economy. Although this is regarded as more complicated, it’s deemed highly relevant for inspiring the next generation of progress. An Island bio-resource plan will be prepared and politically discussed, defining the next steps towards circular agriculture, peak-shaving of power (smart energy systems, batteries), water consumption and production, waste recycling etc.

Finland

Finland is divided into 19 counties (Finnish: maakunta). The counties are governed by county councils, which serve as forums of cooperation for the municipalities of a region. The main tasks of the counties are regional planning and development of enterprise and education. In addition, the public health services are usually organized on the basis of counties.

The capital region of Helsinki is growing rapidly and expected to house an additional 490,000 people in the next 35 years. To boost new sustainable urban solutions, in 2013 Helsinki City Council decided to make one of the new neighbourhoods under construction, Kalasatama, a model of smart city development. A former harbour and industrial zone on the waterfront east of the city centre, will be home to 25,000 people, and the site of 10,000 jobs by 2035. Smart Kalasatama project is coordinated by Forum Virium Helsinki, the City of Helsinki innovation unit. It develops new digital services and urban innovations in cooperation with companies, universities, other public sector organizations and Helsinki residents.[39]

The Smart Kalasatama pilot procures prototype technologies for rapid testing in an urban environment, many of which adopt circular principles. Through the process of co-creation, solutions to urban challenges are trialled for up to 6 months in the Kalasatama development district, to learn by doing and help accelerate innovation.

Austria

Austria is a federal republic made up of nine states (mostly referred to as : Bundesländer)..Austrian states can pass laws that stay within the limits of the constitution, and each state has representatives in the main Austrian parliament. The states have authority about the following matters: planning and zoning codes, nature protection, hunting, fishing, farming, youth protection, certain issues of public health and welfare and the right to levy certain taxes. In the Republic of Austria, the municipality is the administrative division encompassing a single village, town, or city. Austria is currently (January 1, 2020) partitioned into 2,095 municipalities. Municipalities are in charge of public water supply, sewage disposal, garbage disposal, development planning, fire prevention, and general building code enforcement as well as public lighting, cemetery construction and maintenance.

In the circular economy context, Austria ranks as an international trailblazer. Austrian households generate approx. 4.3 million tons of waste each year, of which 90% is recycled. The Austrian Waste Consulting Association (VABÖ) has worked together with its 365 municipal environmental and waste consultants to raise awareness of the need for resource-saving consumption. The company Altstoff Recycling Austria AG (ARA) also makes an important contribution, serving as a driving force in the Austrian circular economy. But the country has to expand its efforts towards a sustainable industrial production.

Greece

Greece is a unitary parliamentary republic. It consists since shortly (2011) of 13 regions subdivided into a total of 232 municipalities. Seven decentralised administrations group one to three regions for administrative purposes on a regional basis.

The small percentages of recycling and waste recovery in Greece indicate the limited use of the principles of the circular economy in waste treatment. Indicative of the critical situation is that in Greece, waste disposal represents 85% of their total management and recovery, part of which is recycling, backfilling and energy recovery, only 15%. Recycling, although increased after 2016, represents only 11% of waste treatment, well behind the EU-27 average (38%). There are still more than 50 illegal landfills operating in the country, produced by mines and quarries (56%), manufacturing (12%) and households (10%), for which an annual fine is imposed by the EU. Greece has the highest rate of food waste (142 kg / inhabitant) among 21 European countries, with food waste being associated with 5.3% of greenhouse gas emissions. Greece recently introduced the New Action Plan for the Circular Economy 2021-2025, adopting other relevant regulations, such as the Life - Circular Economy Program, but also policies to reduce waste through the National Waste Management Plan. [40] Despite these poor results, interesting examples can be presented. The Mayor of Astypalea participated in the UN World Conference on Climate Change (COP26) in Glasgow, where he presented the vision of the municipality for the green and sustainable development of the island of Astypalea.

This is vision for the balanced development of island areas, such as Astypalea, effectively connecting tourism with the local agricultural economy. It is based upon regional planning of the municipality for the implementation of modernisation projects in energy infrastructure, waste, water and transport, based on the principles of sustainability and the circular economy.[41]

Closing remarks

Countries do not have the same needs everywhere. Rural and urban areas require different types of organizations to meet different needs. Cities and urban environments have a much higher density of population that purchases in a much more concentrated way in shops and via e-commerce and therefore collects much more packaging that will necessarily have to be recycled in the future. The countryside, especially in larger countries such as France, Germany and Italy, has many more economic activities related to agriculture. Due to extensive agriculture they are confronted less with packaging but more with CO2 emissions of animal origin and because of large-scale transport. On the other hand, they see their agricultural population becoming scarcer because of the unequal distribution of agricultural income between producers and distributors and therefore also need to attract employment. With all the resulting consequences for increased emissions from transport, energy and also from residents who do their purchases in department stores.

There are privileged regions and cities because of their location and/or because of their status. Port cities often attract investment and employment. If they have a dynamic political and administrative environment with considerable financial resources and that strives for cooperation between all stakeholders of the region, they can be a major attraction for employment, also for rural areas in the wider area. When they also encourage their companies to think and work with future-oriented perspectives, they can be much more efficient and influential than central governments.

Capital areas often gather both central administrations and headquarters of large companies who want to be present in the country. In centralized countries they then form a hydrocephalus, such as Paris, London, Randstad Holland (the Hague-Amsterdam axis) or Athens, where too large a part of the population is concentrated. With all the resulting consequences for waste mountains, CO2 emissions, crime and too much attention from national governments that do not know enough about their country’s behaviour.

It is therefore clear that economy and ecology go hand in hand best and achieve the most far-reaching results in countries with highly decentralized governance, such as the German-speaking countries of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, but also the Netherlands and Sweden.

Louis Delcart, member of the board European Academy of the Regions, www.ear-aer.eu

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