Intelligent Plastic Designed for Chemical Circularity
The Brett Helms Research Group, part of the California-based Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has synthesised a new type of plastic polymer – poly(diketoenamine)s or PDKs – that ca...
Investing With Little Vision
To begin with, some clarity: what is a multilateral development bank (MDB)? MDBs are financial institutions founded by one or two countries with the goal of aiding economic development in poorer nat...
High-Quality Recycled PlasticÂ
Each year, eight million tonnes of plastic end up in the sea. An amount that is bound to double in the next twenty years and quadruple by 2050. It is as if a lorry load of plastic were dumped in the...
New Life to Plastic and Industry 4.0. A Boost for the Circular Economy
The green revolution has already started: that of the circular economy, innovative recovery of materials and solutions to problems plaguing our planet. This is what Ecomondo has been narrating, show...
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...
Biopolymers: In the Right Place
Plastic. An essential material that for decades has been managed inadequately. An unsustainable cycle from the cradle to the grave. The lack of circularity is disastrous with results speaking for th...
Itelyum: Sustainable Governance for Circular Economy
Itelyum has been circular since before the concept was even defined. Thanks to a series of strategic acquisitions (discussed in issue 27 of Renewable Matter, ed.) the company has expanded its range ...
Circular Economy 3.0
In recent years the concept of Circular Economy has received growing attention, both in the worlds of science and of policy making. Some scholars and practitioners present it as a novelty, but we ha...
Avoid Collapse: Designing an Equitable Circular System That Preserves Humanity
We have the opportunity to change the course of our shared history with the amount of information we have gathered so far. By learning from scientists and experts we can propose new governance and c...
The Europe to Come
It is a fact. The circular economy has been a pillar of the outgoing EU Commission and Parliament. “The political power of this idea is obvious,” explains Frans Timmermans – Vice-P...
The Real Value of Food
As a EESC member, Peter Schmidt, has a first-hand view of how food can take on a leading role in reaching sustainability objectives and how it is affected by regulation, policies and the p...
Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference
Environmental Communication Should be More Emotive Interview with Thierry Libaert, member of the EU Social and Economic Committee by I. N. B. As an expert...
A Reflection on the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform
There is an interesting conversation to be had on stakeholder engagement. It is now common in many processes that aspire to achieve a transformation of one kind or another to incorporate some aspect...
Thailand: A Very Biotech Bioeconomy
Abundant natural resources, highly skilled workforce, important petrochemical industry and a government that sustains the decarbonisation process with conviction and a plan to increase the bioeconom...
Circular Japan
Kamikatsu, a rural municipality with 1,500 inhabitants located on the wooded island of Shikoku in the Japanese archipelago, performs a record household separate waste collection with 45 different ty...
The Mixed State of the European Bio-Based Economy
Looking at the current state of the bio-based economy in Europe, one has to draw a mixed conclusion. Research and technology development continue to advance and some fields, like fine chemicals and ...
Italy Has a New Bioeconomy Strategy
Sustainable and increasingly circular. That’s how the Italian bioeconomy should be, according to the updated version of the national strategy presented on 14th May at the Presidency of the Cou...
Itelyum: Circular Economy, Systemic Vision
A few years ago, in his book Corporation 2020, economist Pavan Sukhdev explained how companies going forward would have to behave differently to those in the so-called “brown economy&rdqu...
Urban Mining: India's Billion Dollar E-Waste Market
The Brand Equity Foundation estimates that India’s electronics market will reach $400 billion by 2022. According to the telecom giant Ericsson, smart phones will lead the boom in India from 90...
Plastics: Recycling in Hospital Wards
It is possible, through simple actions and small changes in our daily routines, to make a real difference in reducing the environmental impact of plastic. This same outcome, however, is much more di...