EU Right to Repair resolution heads to plenary vote

EU Right to Repair resolution heads to plenary vote

ByThe Circular Economy Team

European lawmakers are voting in plenary on a Right to Repair resolution today amid calls for the initiative to go even further.  The draft motion for resolution [PDF] cited a survey that found 79 percent of EU citizens thought that manufacturers should make repairs easier, with 77 percent saying a repair would be preferable to replacement, and called for access to parts, repair information, and standardization among devices.  To that end, the motion emphasizes labels to indicate repairability and expected lifetime for products, access to parts and repair facilities, an extension to liability for defective goods beyond two years, and calls on the European Commission to “always take into account the highest possible level of consumer protection and consumer welfare.”

Raise a glass to sustainable winemakers with these picks | Metro News

Raise a glass to sustainable winemakers with these picks | Metro News

ByThe Circular Economy Team

From paper bottles to biodiversity methods employed at vineyards, many winemakers are making efforts to try to minimise the environmental impact of their industry.  Here we’ve selected six wines with some serious sustainability credentials for you to enjoy.  When In Rome Wine Paper Bottle Pecorino – When In Rome’s bottle is made from 94 per cent recycled paper.  Single-use glass bottles make up 39 per cent of the wine industry’s overall carbon emissions, which partly explains the recent popularity of boxed wine. When In Rome has taken it one step further with its paper bottle wine (think bag in a bottle, rather than box), which is made from 94 per cent recycled paper…

Inside Sabai Design’s Sustainability Approach to Building a Business

Inside Sabai Design’s Sustainability Approach to Building a Business

ByThe Circular Economy Team

It’s hard to overstate the importance of furniture in our lives.  We literally live our life on furniture, yet often don’t realize the impact our chosen furnishings have on the planet in terms of chemicals, greenhouse gasses, and material waste.  Phantila Phataraprasit learned about sustainability early in life and wanted to build the kind of sustainable brand she’d be proud to shop at, so she decided to do something about it and co-founded Sabai Design, a sustainable furniture company.  Featuring insights from Buffer’s Small Business, Big Lessons podcast episode seven, and the accompanying unpublished interview, Phantila shared how Sabai got started, what she and her team do to embed sustainability into every business practice, and how she builds trust with the Sabai community.

Working Smarter: Leveraging Machine Learning to Optimize CO2 Adsorption

Working Smarter: Leveraging Machine Learning to Optimize CO2 Adsorption

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Scientists employ artificial intelligence to guide the design of biomass waste-derived novel materials for CO2 capture
Biomass waste can be used to produce porous carbons capable of sequestering CO2 gas emitted from large point sources (e.g., power plants, cement industries). However, there are no general guidelines on how such high-quality porous carbons should be synthesized or their optimal operational conditions. In a recent study, scientists employed machine learning-based method to determine which core factors should be prioritized in biomass waste-derived porous carbons to achieve the best CO2 adsorption performance, paving the way to a circular economy. 

Alibaba makes 9 datacenter green energy patents available

Alibaba makes 9 datacenter green energy patents available

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Chinese tech giant Alibaba is joining a coalition pledging to freely distribute energy efficient and green technologies, and has made nine patents available as part of the deal.  The patents Alibaba is giving to the Low Carbon Patent Pledge (LCPP) mostly involve parts of its own in-house “soaking server” liquid immersion cooling system developed in 2015 that Alibaba claims reduced its datacenter energy expenditure by 70 percent.  Two of the nine patents were unrelated: one limits hard drive power consumption, and another was designed to improve hardware utilization rates.  Founded on Earth Day last year by HPE, Microsoft, and Meta, the LCPP promotes low-carbon technologies. A total of 544 patents have been pledged from 10 companies, including Lenovo, UPS, and the three founding organizations. “We believe technology innovation is a key driver in transitioning to the low-carbon circular economy of the future. As a pioneer and global technology leader, we are committed to taking broader social responsibility,” Alibaba Group VP and chair of the Sustainability Steering Committee Dr. Chen Long said. 

Why are you hoarding your old smartphones?

Why are you hoarding your old smartphones?

ByThe Circular Economy Team

When will electronics recycling become a priority for consumers, government, and business?  It needs to happen soon, given that if you piled the 5.3 billion old mobile devices currently in people’s homes on top of each other, you’d have a 31,000-mile-high tower — one eighth of the distance to the Moon.  (Don’t) take me to the Moon – The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Forum, an nternational nonprofit, estimates 5.3 billion of the 16 billion mobile devices in use today will become e-waste this year. Assuming each phone is 9mm thick (iPhone 14 is 7.8mm), if you piled them together the pillar would be higher than the International Space Station’s orbit.

Corporate execs confident on sustainability goals, admit more work needed

Corporate execs confident on sustainability goals, admit more work needed

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Most companies have hit their near-term goals for greenhouse gas reduction, and some have advanced circular-economy projects. But to get to net-zero emissions, suppliers, customers, and dedicated corporate teams will all be needed.  About six in 10 executives believe they can achieve their corporate sustainability goals over the next year, according to a recent global survey commissioned by Honeywell International. But only about 16% think they’ll do so primarily through technology-driven changes, such as upgrading or replacing existing systems with newer, more efficient or more sustainable technologies.  The vast majority of the 600 business leaders surveyed — 62% — expect to hit their short-term goals mainly by modifying or eliminating operational processes or business behaviors.

October 2022 Brief TreeAndHumanKnot | SDG13 Climate Action | Sustainability

October 2022 Brief TreeAndHumanKnot | SDG13 Climate Action | Sustainability

ByThe Circular Economy Team

October 2022 brief extended to cover more local communities to contribute towards Sustainability.  Climate change causes changes in forests, their ecological functions and ecosystem services.  SDG 13 aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change and drive adaptation actions.  Hope COP27 of the year will recognise the necessity of the simple solutions and inclusion of everyone in climatic problems just like you can start this journey by a simple step – planting a tree around us.  The effect that would have on global warming is unimaginably positive.

ESG can help save budget for infrastructure development: minister – ANTARA News

ESG can help save budget for infrastructure development: minister – ANTARA News

ByThe Circular Economy Team

The implementation of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework in infrastructure projects would help save the state budget, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said here on Saturday.  “By implementing ESG, we may draw more investment for project funding, which would make the state budget usage not as large as needed,” she explained.  ESG is a global standard practice that prioritizes sustainability, specifically eco-friendliness, social benefits, and sound governance, including in investing and structure development, she informed.  The development of an infrastructure project using ESG will make the project eco-friendly, beneficial, and well-managed, the minister said at the launch of the ESG framework and manual during the Joint Finance and Health Ministers’ Meeting (JFHMM).

“Gatishakti Master Plan improved connectivity to remotest areas…” PM Modi in Telangana | Headlines

“Gatishakti Master Plan improved connectivity to remotest areas…” PM Modi in Telangana | Headlines

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Highlighting the developmental initiatives of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the ‘PM Gatishakti National Master Plan’ has improved connectivity to even the remotest areas within the country.  Highlighting the developmental initiatives of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the ‘PM Gatishakti National Master Plan’ has improved connectivity to even the remotest areas within the country. During the second day of his two-day visit to the southern states, while dedicating various developmental projects to the nation. Prime Minister addressed the people of Ramagundam. “The PM Gatishakti National Master Plan has improved and developed connectivity to even the remotest areas within the country. India has developed the latest technology for Nano Urea which is cost-effective and efficient,” Modi said.

The Countries Leading the Way on Quitting Coal

The Countries Leading the Way on Quitting Coal

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Nations can quit coal in a rapid, just and orderly manner, but they need a coordinated mix of policies, writes John Wiseman. Coal-dependent countries around the world face two wickedly interlinked challenges: accelerating the phase-out of coal to prevent catastrophic global warming, while sustaining economic prosperity and political support. As UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres recently said, keeping global warming close to 1.5C requires all new coal investments to stop now with coal phased out in OECD economies by 2030 and everywhere else by 2040. Energy supply and economic impacts of the war in Ukraine have clearly made these tasks even tougher. But the war has also provided a powerful reminder of the huge strategic and environmental risks of fossil fuel addiction. Quitting coal need not end in economic crisis, nor energy shortages. Not quitting coal will certainly end in climate – and therefore economic – disaster. Researchers have systematically reviewed the policies of nations well down the path of transitioning away from coal, providing guidance on what works.