Searching for the circular car
Creating a platform for all the players in the automotive supply chain that relies on field knowledge, partnerships, funding and creativity to develop the technologies and business...
Antonella Ilaria Totaro is an expert in circular economy and sustainability, which she has been working with for years between the Netherlands and Italy. She is a researcher in Innovation for the Circular Economy at the University of Turin. She is responsible for the production of the Investing in Regenerative Agriculture and Food podcast. On Renewable Matter she write the Startup section.
Circular Cities: the Rotterdam Strategy
The Netherlands have set themselves rather challenging circular goals where cities play a key role in such transition. Rotterdam, with its port and industries, outlined a pathway u...
Sustainable products for the future with version 4.0 of Cradle to Cradle Certified
Designing and manufacturing sustainable products that will nourish a healthy, equitable and circular tomorrow: that's the goal of Cradle to Cradle Certified, a global standard root...
Remanufacturing: a vast untapped potential for circularity
In recent months, policies and initiatives at the European and global level have emphasised the potential of remanufacturing as the key model for the circular economy, useful in ex...
How can we measure sustainability and circularity?
For several years, companies, organisations, and consultancies have been working to determine standards for measuring the level of circularity of products and activities. While som...
Beyond ownership: Tool Libraries on the rise
Going beyond ownership and borrowing a blender or a ladder for a limited time at a Tool Library: despite the restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 emergency, this has been one ...
Is remote working really better for the environment?
The Future of Jobs 2020, a report drafted by the World Economic Forum, highlights a number of ongoing trends, including the expansion of remote working, the acceleration of digital...
Jocelyn Bleriot: Rethinking Cities as Production Centres for Food
The Covid-19 pandemic has unveiled the dysfunctions in the current global agricultural and food systems, exposing many to insecurity and hunger. At the same time, it has also revea...
Universities and the circular economy: a future-proof combination
Many universities and research institutes throughout Italy and Europe have distinguished themselves in recent years by exploring themes related to the circular economy and sustaina...
The unsustainable prevalence of plexiglass
Strict social distancing requirements and the need for physical barriers have led to an exponential increase in the use of plexiglass over the last few months. This fossil-based ma...
The future of protein
Industrial production of meat from intensive farming is increasingly unsustainable, and faces heavy criticism for the conditions in which animals are raised and slaughtered, for th...
Can face masks be sustainable?
While Covid-19 was spreading across the world, hundreds of companies around the world converted part of their production lines to produce face masks. Similarly, many enterprises st...
Excess Materials Exchange: A Website for Material Dating
Name: Excess Materials Exchange Sector: Digital Platform Pros: Matching supply and demand of materials and offering better reuse opportunities Characteristics: Online marketplace ...
Nairoby: Personalised and Recyclable Snowboard
Name: Nairoby Sector: Sports Equipment Pros: Snowboards made with a thermoplastic composite that at their end of life can be recycled and/or partly reused in new equipment Charact...
Lingrove: From Flax Waste to Ekoa Biomaterial
Name: Lingrove Sector: New materials Pros: CO2 negative biomaterial obtained from flax fibre and vegetable-based resins 10 times more resistant than wood Characteristics: Bio-ther...
Lablaco: A Platform for Transparent, Circular and Digital Fashion
Name: Lablaco Sector: Circular Fashion Pros: Online platform that aims to make fashion more sustainable and accessible through clothes exchange and awareness campaigns Characteris...
Circular Economy Club Launches the Circular Cities Week
LONDON – The Circular Economy Club (CEC) has announced it will celebrate its global “Circular Cities Week” event from October 28th to November 3rd, 2019. The goal of the event: pus...
Laserfood: Making Labels With Lasers
Name: Laserfood Sector: Packaging Pros: Natural Branding with laser technology that reduces the impact of labelling by over 99% Characteristics: Patented laser technology that...
Nature Coatings: Black Pigments From Wood Waste
Name: Nature Coatings Sector: New materials from processing waste Pros: Organic-based black pigments as a by-product of the wood industry Characteristics: These pigments have ...
Reverse Resources: Recovering Waste Fabrics Using Data
Name: Reverse Resources Sector: Digital platforms Pros: Digital supply chain management that maps, measures and gives visibility to waste fabrics Characteristics: Waste from t...
Clean Water and Energy From Wastewater Thanks to Wase
Name: Wase Sector: Energy from waste Pros: The technology functions at up to ten times the speed of others in current use Characteristics: Decentralised wastewater treatment s...
3SIXTY: Plastic Bottles Turned into Linen
Name: 3SIXTY Sector: New products made from recycled plastic Pros: Range of products for the hospitality sector made from recycled plastic Characteristics: 3SIXTY’s products a...
Pià±atex: The Fabric Made from Pineapple Leaves
Name: Piñatex by Ananas Anam Sector: New materials Pros: Designed as an alternative to leather-based and synthetic products, Piñatex allows farmers in the Philippines to have a...
Certifying Recycled Plastic with Flustix
Name: Flustix Sector: New certifications Pros: Flustix is an independent body for those who wish to certify their commitment to reducing plastic use in their products, and to c...
Jewellery From Upcycled Silver, by Floios
Name: Floios Jewelry Sector: Jewels made from recycled materials Pros: The small objects made by Floios Jewelry are unique pieces, whose raw materials are traceable, sourced fr...
Cruz Foam: Making Packaging from Shellfish
Name: Cruz Foam Sector: New materials Pros: Biodegradable and compostable material made from chitin obtained from waste shrimp shells Characteristics: The patented process cre...
Ioniqa: Virgin PET from Non-recyclable Packaging
Name: Ioniqa Sector: Recycling technologies Pros: An intelligent magnetic separation process transforms low-quality plastics into virgin PET Characteristics: Magnetic material...
Yescapa: Private Campervan Hire
Name: Yescapa Sector: Collaborative use service Pros: Campervan, caravan and van rental for private individuals, with insurance and 24-hour assistance included Characteristics...
Subscription Electronics with Grover
Name: Grover Sector: Product as a Service Pros: By signing up to the service, users have access to all the most innovative technology through a pay-as-you-go system Characteri...
IoT and Intelligent Waste Collection with Nordsense
Name: Nordsense Sector: New technologies and platforms Pros: Smart waste-management system based on the IoT Characteristics: A sensor, installed in dumpsters and bins and conn...
Chakr, Capturing Pollution to Make Ink
Name: Chakr Innovation Sector: New technologies and materials Pros: A retrofitted device that captures polluting particles emitted by diesel generators at the source Character...
Subscription Clothing with Le Tote
Name: Le Tote Sector: Circular Business Model Pros: Subscription service for women’s clothing Characteristics: Allows customers to rent women’s clothes and accessories, which,...
Aeropowder: Insulating Materials Made From Feathers
Name: Aeropowder Sector: New materials Pros: Thermally insulating material for packaging and construction, made from poultry-industry waste Characteristics: Making use of kera...
Energiesprong: How to Transform 11,000 Apartments into Net Zero Energy Buildings
Sprong in Dutch means “leap forward.” In fact, a leap forward is exactly what Energiesprong has realised over the last few years in the residential housing construction and energy ...
The Renewal Workshop - Unsold Clothing on Sale
Name: The Renewal Workshop Sector: Refurbishment and sale of clothing items Plus: Sale of renewed clothing obtained from items deemed unsaleable Characteristics: The Renewal W...
RePack, the Packaging with Many Lives
Name: RePack Sector: Reusable packaging service Plus: Reusable and traceable Packaging through the take-back system allowing reuse for at least 20 deliveries Characteristics: ...
Depolymerising Plastic with Gr3n
Name: Gr3n Sector: Technology for PET recycling Plus: Patented technology that uses microwave reactors in order to recycle PET, returning it to its original monomers Character...
Hello Tractor, Apps Enter the World of Agriculture
Name: Hello Tractor Sector: Sharing Economy Plus: An App that maps machinery present on a local level and optimises their use and sharing between farmers Characteristics: App...
Future-Proof Incubators: Between Work and Innovation
According to a recent global study,(1) incubators and accelerators that are connected to universities alone created over 70,000 jobs between 2017 and 2018, generating a revenue of ...
The Blue Revolution Playground
“To have a real impact and solve the most pressing problems, we need entrepreneurs.” This is the mantra that has been repeated for years by Siemen Cox and Wouter Veer – the creator...
Cupclub, the Startup Providing Cups as a Service
Name: CupClub Sector: Product as a service in the packaging sector Plus: Reusable packaging service for beverages Characteristics: Cupclub helps shops reduce throwaway packagi...
ecoBirdy: New Toys from Recycled Plastic
Name: ecoBirdy Sector: New materials and products from recycled materials Plus: Furniture and designer objects for children made with recycled plastic waste Characteristics: O...
InStock Recovers 500 Tonnes of Food
Name: InStock Sector: Catering Supplies from salvaged food Plus: InStock transforms food surplus into products served in restaurants, catering companies and food trucks Charac...
Evoware, the Algae Based Packaging that Disappears
Name: Evoware Sector: New bioplastic materials Plus: Biodegradable and edible packaging for food and other products made from algae Characteristics: Design and production of ...
Re-designing the Future
According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation “A circular economy is one that is restorative and regenerative by design.” The big challenge for innovators and pioneers is to design p...
Cleaning Our Oceans? No Lack of New Ideas
Over the past few years, a trending environmental issues has been that of marine litter. It is a problem affecting many countries around the world. Contrary to what usually occurs,...
In Singapore the Air-con Runs as a Service
Everything started around eight years ago when Kaer’s CEO, Justin Taylor, sat down with the chairman and senior directors to begin a conversation on how to innovate the company and...
Growing Bricks from Bacteria with bioMASON
Name: bioMASON Plus: Construction materials grown from bacteria at room temperature Sector: New Materials Characteristics: bioMASON employs natural microorganisms for the prod...
W.r.yuma: Spectacles from Plastic Bottles and Dashboards
Name: W.r.yuma Plus: Products from recycled materials Sector: First ever 3D printed sunglasses from plastic waste Characteristics: Old car dashboards, plastic bottles and frid...
Winnow: Saving Food by Analysing Waste
Name: Winnow Plus: Technology for tracing and reducing food waste by monitoring rubbish bins Sector: Technology Characteristics: Winnow identifies different categories of binn...
STRATA, the Modular Furniture System
Name: STRATA Plus: Modular furniture system for landlords Sector: Circular business model – New design Characteristics: A new modular furniture system for landlords and a new ...
The Indian Way towards Zero Waste
The Saahas Zero Waste model comes from Bangalore, India’s technological capital. It concentrates on partnerships with large companies, Extended Producer Responsibility and recyclin...
Upcycling our Buildings
In architecture it is possible to combine aesthetics, sustainability, quality and harmony with the surrounding environment. Out of Denmark emerges the example of Lendager Group, an...
Closing the Circle is Just One Option
Photo by Mirjam Verschoor Two Germans in the kingdom of the Netherlands. A great big slice of the Dutch circular economy is based on the vision of Thomas ...
Jeans for Rent
Swedish label Filippa K has been one of the leading companies in sustainable, circular fashion since 1993. As its founder, Filippa Knutsson, claims “inspired by my needs, I have cr...
Fair Smartphones
Can we build a smartphone that is made to last, without having to choose between quality and production-chain ethics? There is no doubt in the Dutch Fairphone offices: the answer i...
Of This House Nothing Will Go to Waste
Building and refurbishing buildings through a closed-loop marketplace based on surplus and reusable materials, this is the idea behind Enviromate. Created by Reiss Salustro-Pilson ...
Recycling is Better than Mining
Karmenu Vella, the European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, has recently defined Umicore as “great example of a company that has completely reinvented...
Circulating Capital
These are the questions that for over a decade Jamie Butterworth has tried to answer. The former Ellen MacArthur Foundation CEO has become one of the founders and partners of ...
Bottom-up Funding
Funding the circular economy is not easy. Funding a start-up in the circular economy is complicated. Funding a start-up with a circular business model (product-as-a-service) become...