The First Ever UK Livery Recycling Programme in Partnership…

The First Ever UK Livery Recycling Programme in Partnership…

ByThe Circular Economy Team

In June 2021, Aura implemented the first-ever livery PVC recycling programme in the UK. The brand-new programme involves the recycling of PVC vinyl and waste from livery wraps, saving it from ending up in landfill or incineration. A major milestone in branding!  Aura consistently challenges our suppliers to develop sustainable solutions, so when our suppliers, Metamark, came to us with the first recyclable self-adhesive PVC vinyl, we were delighted! After exploring the idea, we took it to DPD as we knew it would be ideal for our upcoming project.

Thought Leaders: New food recycling law could impact local businesses

Thought Leaders: New food recycling law could impact local businesses

ByThe Circular Economy Team

A state law that went into effect Jan. 1 requires businesses and organizations that generate food waste to donate food and recycle the scraps.  Companies and institutions generating an annual average of two tons of wasted food per week must donate any edible food waste and to recycle the remaining scraps if the facility is within 25 miles of an organics recycler.  Representatives from Tops Friendly Markets and the University at Buffalo, two organizations that will need to comply with the law, were joined by attorneys from Hodgson Russ LLP, during a Jan. 20 virtual Thought Leaders discussion to talk about how the law will affect businesses across the region. The event was sponsored by Hodgson Russ.

Circular Economy in Practice – Curtin Credentials

Circular Economy in Practice – Curtin Credentials

ByThe Circular Economy Team

How do we transition from a linear ‘take-make-dispose’ system to a circular economy that promotes a more sustainable future?  Single-use products that cannot be recycled or reused create vast amounts of waste and endanger the environment.  Explore how to operate sustainably and turn waste into new resources by observing the effects that waste has on the environment, and become familiar with tools used to measure these impacts. Through practical examples you will learn more about the principles of circular economy – ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ – and understand some of the most advanced technologies that support a change towards a circular society.
Read the full article at: creds.curtin.edu.au

Continental shift needed to up electric vehicles in Sub-Saharan Africa

Continental shift needed to up electric vehicles in Sub-Saharan Africa

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Over 6 000 electric vehicles (battery electric and plug-in hybrid EVs) will be shipped to Sub-Saharan Africa this year, up from 4 796 units in 2021.  This is according to the Forecast Analysis: Electric Vehicle Shipments, Worldwide report compiled by research firm Gartner. It provides insights into the global EV market, unpacking opportunities and lingering challenges faced by manufacturers in the market.  Despite a slowdown linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global EV sales market did fairly well in 2021, with 1.63 million shipments, compared to 1.24 million units shipped in 2020.
Read the full article at: www.itweb.co.za

New York Food Waste Recycling Law Goes Into Effect

New York Food Waste Recycling Law Goes Into Effect

ByThe Circular Economy Team

New York has joined California, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts in requiring the biggest sources of food waste to donate excess food or recycle food waste. The hope is to keep food, and its related methane emissions, out of landfills. The new law took affect on January 1, 2021.  The law, called the Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law, first passed in 2019. As of the start of this year, businesses and institutions with an average of two tons of food waste per week now must donate edible foods and recycle any food scraps, given that the business or institution is located within 25 miles of a facility that can process the scraps.

WEBINAR: The Sustainability Revolution : Where sustainability and profitability both thrive | Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors

WEBINAR: The Sustainability Revolution : Where sustainability and profitability both thrive | Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors

ByThe Circular Economy Team

WEBINAR: The Sustainability Revolution : Where sustainability and profitability both thrive – ‘R’ evolution by John Fraser of Hexagon.  Join John Fraser, President of UK, Ireland and Benelux from Hexagon, as he talks about the Fourth Industrial Revolution, fuelled by digitalisation and connectivity, both of which are essential to empower the sustainability revolution.  Please book on-line and a Teams link will be sent prior to the webinar.  All welcome.

Mariam Khalifah Brings To Light Morning People, A Sustainable Skincare Brand | Dieline – Design, Branding & Packaging Inspiration

Mariam Khalifah Brings To Light Morning People, A Sustainable Skincare Brand | Dieline – Design, Branding & Packaging Inspiration

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Not everyone is a morning person, and that’s fine; the problem is that most people have to be up and at ’em before the break of dawn, regardless. Mariam Khalifah designed the sustainable skincare brand dubbed Morning People with packaging that inspires even the biggest of night owls to wake up feeling refreshed and ready to go. The packaging feels invigorating and inspiring through amber-toned bottles and nearly-neon gradients; plus, the typography is undeniably stunning, beautifully mixing typefaces effortlessly.
Read the full article at: www.thedieline.com

Food Sustainability Index

Food Sustainability Index

ByThe Circular Economy Team

The Food Sustainability Index (FSI), developed by Economist Impact with the support of the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Foundation (BCFN), measures the sustainability of food systems in 78 countries around three key issues outlined in the 2015 BCFN Milan Protocol and designed around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): food loss and waste; Sustainable agriculture; and nutritional challenges. The Index looks at policies and outcomes around sustainable food systems and diets through a series of key performance indicators (KPIs) that consider environmental, social and economic sustainability.

Community Learning and Development & Learning for Sustainability | Events | News and events | Education Scotland

Community Learning and Development & Learning for Sustainability | Events | News and events | Education Scotland

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Come along to this webinar discussion to explore the connections between Community Learning and Development and Learning for Sustainability.
There are many aspects of CLD practice which align with Learning for Sustainability in terms of building a socially-just, sustainable and equitable society. This session will provide the opportunity to share practice and explore these links in more detail with practitioners from across Scotland.
The session will share footage from the 2021 Learning for Sustainability Awards and presenters will include colleagues from Education Scotland, Youthlink and Learning for Sustainability Scotland.

Sustainability as a transformation catalyst

Sustainability as a transformation catalyst

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Sustainability has roared to the forefront of corporate priorities, with 73% of surveyed executives saying their organizations have set a net-zero carbon emissions goal. Customers, employees, investors, business partners, and governments are pressuring corporate management and boards to place sustainability at the top of their corporate agendas.
In fact, recent IBV consumer research revealed that more than 2 in 3 global respondents consider environmental issues to be significantly important to them personally—and they say they’re willing to change their consumer behavior accordingly.
Companies are taking notice. 53% of surveyed organizations view environmental sustainability as one of their top priorities within 3 years, up from 39% that consider it a top priority today.

Sustainability-Linked Finance—Mobilizing Capital for Sustainability in Emerging Markets

Sustainability-Linked Finance—Mobilizing Capital for Sustainability in Emerging Markets

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Sustainability-linked finance is designed to incentivize the borrower’s achievement of environmental, social, or governance targets through pricing incentives. Launched in 2017, it has now become the fastest-growing sustainable finance instrument, with over $809 billion issued to date in sustainability-linked loans and bonds. Yet these instruments are still nascent in emerging markets, which represent only 5 percent of total issuance to date. This note shares examples of recent sustainability-linked financing, including several involving IFC in various roles, to highlight how investors can utilize these new instruments in emerging markets and mitigate greenwashing risks.
Read the full article at: www.ifc.org

Supporting Sustainability with Industrial Biotechnology Market

Supporting Sustainability with Industrial Biotechnology Market

ByThe Circular Economy Team

ndustrial biotechnology involves the use of enzymes and microorganisms for manufacturing products through renewable and ecological means. The various produces range from energy, chemical and pharmaceutical, paper and textiles to consumer goods. The idea is to create industrial goods while working with nature and modern technology. The Industrial biotechnology sector is one of the potential markets worldwide with high growth prospects over the forecast period. A large number of opportunities are identified across Industrial biotechnology market segments in the market study.
According to the latest study under the Chemicals and Materials market offered on Bharatbook, the Global Industrial biotechnology market outlook report presents an in-depth analysis of the market size forecasts, potential growth opportunities, market share analysis, key trends, drivers, and challenges facing companies in the industry, along with market developments and post-COVID pandemic analysis.

Pharmactive Reveals Sustainability Program

Pharmactive Reveals Sustainability Program

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Pharmactive Bioactive has unveiled its long-term sustainability program emphasizing fair-trade, boosting local women’s workforces, reducing energy consumption and waste through upcycling, and promoting crops that support biodiversity, and has certified its Environmental Management System according to ISO 14001:2015, according to a press release.  “Spain is scattered with rural areas dubbed ‘empty Spain’ due to populations abandoning these towns to seek better employment opportunities within the larger metropolises,” explains Julia Diaz, Head of Marketing for Pharmactive. “Castille is considered an important ancient agrarian cultural heritage site of Spain, yet it has been suffering from this ghost town syndrome. As a result, the government is pushing incentives to attract people to the region, and we have deployed our initiatives to try and help our government reverse the trend.”
Read the full article at: wholefoodsmagazine.com

Fashion: The Anti-sustainability Black Friday Sales: Where Are India’s Patagonias?

Fashion: The Anti-sustainability Black Friday Sales: Where Are India’s Patagonias?

ByThe Circular Economy Team

With every passing season, the global fashion industry propagates a frenzied pace of change in trends, feeding on consumers’ insecurities, deliberately making them feel off-trend and out of fashion. The fashion cycle has now shifted from the traditional spring/summer and autumn/winter collections to over 50 new micro seasons. Global clothing production doubled between 2000-2015, while the number of times an item was worn before being disposed of declined by 36 percent.  In India, customer spending on clothing rose by a whopping 181 percent between 2010-2018. The expansion of the middle-class population and growing purchasing power is likely to influence a shift from need-based purchasing to aspiration-based purchasing. This problem of overconsumption is further amplified by lucrative deals offered during shopping events such as the ‘Black Friday and Cyber Monday’ (BFCM) sales, leading to mindless consumerism.

Smart Plastic Technologies and Munchkin® announce exclusive joint development partnership

Smart Plastic Technologies and Munchkin® announce exclusive joint development partnership

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Aligned on the growing importance of environmentally responsible products in the baby and toddler market, Smart Plastic Technologies and Munchkin, Inc. announced today that they have signed an exclusive joint development agreement to create baby lifestyle products using Smart Plastic’s patent-pending ECLIPSE™ technology. This partnership will introduce revolutionary consumer goods to the baby and toddler market, which is estimated to be worth USD 25 billion by 2028.
Read the full article at: ca.finance.yahoo.com

Sustainability | Thorlux Lighting

Sustainability | Thorlux Lighting

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Thorlux has been officially recognised as being carbon neutral, with systems of reduction, measurement and certified offsetting in place, since 2012. This decade long status has been independently assessed by a third party in accordance with ISO 14064, an international standard for the quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals. Meeting this standard provides independent assurance of the Thorlux’s long-standing commitment to sustainability across all of its operations worldwide.

Not-so-fast fashion? Captured carbon incorporated in fabric of Zara dress range | Envirotec

Not-so-fast fashion? Captured carbon incorporated in fabric of Zara dress range | Envirotec

ByThe Circular Economy Team

A collaboration between biotech firm LanzaTech and Spanish clothing retailer Inditex has led to the design of a capsule collection for the latter’s largest brand Zara, incorporating fabric seemingly made from waste carbon emissions.  LanzaTech’s biological process captures and converts steel mill emissions that would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. It recycles the emissions into Lanzanol (ethanol) through a fermentation process. The Lanzanol is then converted into low carbon monoethylene glycol by the company India Glycols, and this is then converted into low carbon polyester yarn by Far Eastern New Century (FENC). This yarn has been used to make fabric for a Zara capsule collection of party dresses.

Brill Power’s new innovation radically increases battery life and storage capacity

Brill Power’s new innovation radically increases battery life and storage capacity

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Brill Power, supported by EIT Climate-KIC, has launched the first in a new class of battery management systems (BMS), increasing battery life and storage capacity to help mitigate climate change, pollution and the extraction of raw materials.  According to a study on energy storage systems: “A large amount and wide range of raw materials, including metals and non-metals, are used to produce batteries. And, the battery industry can generate considerable amounts of environmental pollutants (e.g. hazardous waste, greenhouse gas emissions and toxic gases) during different processes such as mining, manufacturing, use, transportation, collection, storage, treatment, disposal and recycling. Battery use at a large scale or grid-scale (>50 MW), which is widely anticipated, will therefore have significant social and environmental impacts.”

Govt should consider categorising EVs in priority lending sector: Omega Seiki Mobility | Business

Govt should consider categorising EVs in priority lending sector: Omega Seiki Mobility | Business

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Electric vehicle maker Omega Seiki Mobility OSM has said the government should consider categorising EVs in the priority lending sector to further strengthen the segment, besides export concessions, to help the manufacturers tap new markets.In its pre-Budget expectations, OSM also expressed hope that the Union Budget includes announcements related to lowering of GST rates on raw materials, especially for the electric vehicle EV players.This played a key role in the progress of electrification of the domestic automotive sector.

Offshore wind farms could help capture carbon from air and store it long-term, saving money – a geophysicist explains how

Offshore wind farms could help capture carbon from air and store it long-term, saving money – a geophysicist explains how

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Off the Massachusetts and New York coasts, developers are preparing to build the United States’ first federally approved utility-scale offshore wind farms – 74 turbines in all that could power 470,000 homes. More than a dozen other offshore wind projects are awaiting approval along the Eastern Seaboard.  By 2030, the Biden administration’s goal is to have 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy flowing, enough to power more than 10 million homes.  Replacing fossil fuel-based energy with clean energy like wind power is essential to holding off the worsening effects of climate change. But that transition isn’t happening fast enough to stop global warming. Human activities have pumped so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that we will also have to remove carbon dioxide from the air and lock it away permanently.