Horizon Europe - Hubs for Circularity (H4C)

Are you an expert or practitioner in #IndustrialSymbiosis, industrial-urban symbiosis, or circular economy? Would you like to learn more and connect with peers from all over Europe?

#HorizonEurope projects #Hubs4Circularity ECoP & H4C Europe monitored  by #HaDEA launched their Knowledge Platform!

Hubs for Circularity (H4C) is a key instrument to advance the research and innovation agenda of European industries towards the Green Deal’s objectives.

On the Knowledge Platform, you can:

📃Get access to up-to-date resources to support your carbon reduction goals;

🤝Interact with peers and innovators and work together to tackle #CircularEconomy challenges;

📢Discover events, opportunities and funding for your R&D and innovation projects.

Sign up here! 👉 https://lnkd.in/da9wJfxj

Safe and Sustainable by Design Chemicals and Materials (SSbD)

The European Commission has published a framework for SSbD chemicals and materials. The Commission invites Member States, industry, academia and research and technology organizations to use the framework in their R&I activities’ so that the development of safer and more sustainable substances will speed up in the EU and globally. You can find more detailed info under the following link: 

https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/research-area/industrial-research-and-innovation/key-enabling-technologies/advanced-materials-and-chemicals_en#documents

International SSbD Network (IRISS)

https://www.ivl.se/english/ivl/project/iriss.html

Search for available translations of the preceding lin first announced in the 2020 Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, provides companies, authorities and scientists guidance on the design and assessment of chemicals and materials throughout the innovation process taking account the needed functionality and end use. It considers safety and sustainability throughout the whole lifecycle of chemicals and materials with the aim is to ensure the lowest possible impact on our environment, health and biodiversity. The framework can be applied to develop new chemicals and materials or to redesign existing one

 

EU Taxonomy - TEG final report 

What is the EU Taxonomy 

The EU Taxonomy is a tool to help investors, companies, issuers and project promoters navigate the transition to a low-carbon, resilient and resource-efficient economy. The Taxonomy sets performance thresholds (referred to as ‘technical screening criteria’) for economic activities which: 

• make a substantive contribution to one of six environmental objectives (Figure 1); 

• do no significant harm (DNSH) to the other five, where relevant; 

• meet minimum safeguards (e.g., OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding    Principles on Business and Human Rights)

The performance thresholds will help companies, project promoters and issuers access green financing to improve their environmental performance, as well as helping to identify which activities are already environmentally friendly. In doing so, it will help to grow low-carbon sectors and decarbonise high-carbon ones. The EU Taxonomy is one of the most significant developments in sustainable finance and will have wide ranging implications for investors and issuers working in the EU, and beyond. 

Link to the report 

https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/business_economy_euro/banking_and_finance/documents/200309-sustainable-finance-teg-final-report-taxonomy_en.pdf

 

Platform on sustainable finance

The EC has created a platform to exchange on EU Taxonomy, especially on objectives 3-6 and for defining technical screening criteria for these objectives  

In response to a call for applications on 18 June 2020, the Commission selected 50 members and 10 special observers on the basis of their environmental, sustainable finance or social/human rights expertise.

For more information see https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/sustainable-finance-platform_en

Sustainable Finance - European Commission 

Sustainable finance generally refers to the process of taking due account of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations when making investment decisions in the financial sector, leading to increased longer-term investments into sustainable economic activities and projects. More specifically, environmental considerations may refer to climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as the environment more broadly, such as the preservation of biodiversity, pollution prevention and circular economy. Social considerations may refer to issues of inequality, inclusiveness, labour relations, investment in human capital and communities, as well as human rights issues.

The governance of public and private institutions, including management structures, employee relations and executive remuneration, plays a fundamental role in ensuring the inclusion of social and environmental considerations in the decision-making process.

In the EU's policy context, sustainable finance is understood as finance to support economic growth while reducing pressures on the environment and taking into account social and governance aspects. Sustainable finance also encompasses transparency on risks related to ESG factors that may impact the financial system, and the mitigation of such risks through the appropriate governance of financial and corporate actors.

Sustainable finance at EU level aims at supporting the delivery on the objectives of the European Green Deal by channelling private investment into the transition to a climate-neutral, climate-resilient, resource-efficient and just economy, as a complement to public money.

European Commission - Circular Economy Action plan

The European Commission has adopted a new Circular Economy Action Plan - one of the main blocks of the European Green Deal, Europe’s new agenda for sustainable growth.

The new Action Plan announces initiatives along the entire life cycle of products, targeting for example their design, promoting circular economy processes, fostering sustainable consumption, and aiming to ensure that the resources used are kept in the EU economy for as long as possible.

Economic sustainability of food supply chains: life cycle costs and value added in the confectionary and frozen desserts sectors

Science of the Total Environment 
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.274

Abstract  

The confectionary and frozen desserts sectors are important parts of the food industry but have received relatively little attention from a life cycle cost perspective. Thus, the purpose of the current study is to evaluate the life cycle costs (LCC) and value added (VA) in these sectors in the UK, focusing on four major product categories: biscuits, cakes (ambient and frozen), chocolates and ice cream. In total, 18 products are considered along their life cycles, including the raw materials, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, retail, consumption and waste management stages. The results suggest that cakes have the highest LCC (£1.52–2.64/kg) and the biscuits the lowest (£0.72–0.91/kg). The LCC of chocolates and ice cream fall within a similar range to each other (£1.16–1.46/kg and £1.03–1.30/kg, respectively). Divergent trends are noted between LCC and VA: for instance, ‘premium’ ice creams have only 18% higher costs than their ‘regular’ counterparts, but a four-fold higher VA. For all the products, raw materials contribute most to the costs (43%–95%), followed by packaging (1%–29%) and manufacturing (1%–14%). The annual LCC at the sectoral level are estimated at £3.455 billion, to which biscuits contribute 42%. The share of chocolates and cakes is 24% and 19%, respectively, with ice cream contributing the remaining 15%. By contrast, chocolates contribute more than 50% of the total sectoral VA, which is five-fold higher than that of ice cream. The study also demonstrates how LCC can be used to evaluate the eco-efficiency of products and sectors. With respect to global warming potential, whole cakes are the most eco-efficient and vanilla regular ice cream the least efficient products. Overall, the confectionary sector is nearly 70% more eco-efficient than the frozen desserts sector. These results can be used for benchmarking and to drive innovation towards more economically-sustainable and eco-efficient confectionary and frozen desserts supply chains.

Keywords: Life cycle costing, economic sustainability, eco-efficiency, value added, global warming potential

Linking Circular Economy to the Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 - Applicability to circular economy 

A very interesting approach is seeking to explore the connection between Industry 4.0, big data management and their application towards circular economy. Although little is done to explore possible synergies, the future seems promising. The Industry 4.0 concept will contribute enormously towards resource and energy efficiency. 

A way of bridging both approaches and creating positive interactions is demonstrated in Finland. Digitalisation and big data management drive towards unlocking the circular economy potential and implementing the concept into every day life.

"Christoph Roser at AllAboutLean.com"

The UN also speaks about the use of big data to improve sustainability globally and address major challenges humanity faces.