Circular Economy

Why e-waste cannot be ignored any longer?

Bronagh Loughlin — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 14:54:07 +0000

Why e-waste cannot be ignored any longer?

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According to the World Health Organization, e-waste is the fastest-growing solid waste stream in the world. E-waste, or as it is sometimes called electronic waste, refers to technological products that have been discarded.

The EU refers to this type of waste as Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), and according to data from 2020, 12.4 million tonnes of it was put on the market.

Usually, these products are thrown away because they are either near the end of their life, have stopped working, or are no longer wanted. Common examples of e-waste include computers, radios, televisions, and smartphones.

People discard electronic devices for various reasons, but one significant one is due to the arrival of upgraded technology and new devices.

The disposal of e-waste presents a variety of threats to human health and the environment since this kind of waste traditionally contains toxic chemicals.

These chemicals are safe to use and be around above the ground, but they leach from the metals inside when thrown into landfills. Harmful chemicals in electronic waste include lead, mercury, cadmium, and beryllium.

These chemicals can react similarly to plastic when they reach a landfill in that they can break down into microscopic traces. If these chemicals end up in our food, they can have adverse effects.

If e-waste is not disposed of correctly, it can contaminate soil and pollute natural waterways. Image: Freepik.

Electronic waste disposal could potentially harm wildlife and pollute our waterways, too, if the e-waste particles leak through the soil to reach groundwater, making their way into rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes.

Once they reach water sources, acidification and toxification occur in the water, causing the water to become polluted and disrupting biodiversity.

If e-waste is not disposed of correctly, it can also contaminate soil.

The heavy metals and flame retardants found in e-waste can be absorbed into the soil, which could risk crops and plants. The contamination can be so harmful that crops never regrow in the area.

These toxins can also potentially remain in the soil, continuing to harm soil and plant microorganisms.

When electronic waste is exposed to heat, toxic chemicals are released into the atmosphere, polluting the air. A study from 2019 exploring this found e-waste contributes to high levels of air pollution and is responsible for the highest level of heavy metal exposure to citizens.

Given the gravity of the e-waste problem, some tech giants and start-ups are already working to tackle e-waste to drive the circular economy.

Lenovo, for example, has committed that 80% of its devices will be repairable by 2025. They plan to use more modular designs and standard parts in their products to achieve this.

This will make it easier for users to replace faulty parts without replacing the entire device. Lenovo will also provide repair guides and spare parts to users to make it easier for them to repair the devices themselves.

Reboxed, a sustainable tech startup, is also working to tackle the e-waste crisis by rehoming 100 million electronic devices by 2030.

The startup received 1.8 million euros in seed funding and provides out-of-the-box solutions for retailers and businesses to accelerate the move to a circular economy.

They have built a leading brand and re-commerce platform connecting customers and companies with a better and more sustainable way to buy and sell technology.

Besides the environmental and health implications of handling e-waste, there are also many controversial issues related to raw materials used in electronic devices, such as human rights.

E-waste is a growing issue with multiple implications from harming natural ecosystems to endangering human health. Image: Unsplash

Every function of modern phones, from touch screens to sending messages, taking pictures, or simply charging batteries, relies on using minerals and metals such as cobalt, lithium, potassium, silica, and others.

More than 30 elements are needed to assemble a single smartphone brought from a minimum of 8-10 countries worldwide, dominantly from developing nations with no proper regulations or law enforcement in place to ensure human rights and environmental standards.

For instance, Cobalt is used in phone batteries and is also an essential material for the global green energy transition as it is used in other electronics and automotive industries, amongst others.

One of the most prominent cobalt suppliers is the Democratic Republic of Congo, where miners are exposed to dangers and children are still working in hazardous and damaging environments at mine sites, according to the Fair Cobalt Alliance.

Dutch social enterprise Fairphone recognised a growing demand for more sustainably and ethically produced smartphones and created a modular, repairable and on-all-front transparent version, successfully releasing their latest 5th edition in 2023.

The ever-growing problem of electronic waste requires unique and practical solutions. Technology companies need to design better products that can be repaired and reused. In addition, we need to ensure that more convenient recycling methods are available for consumers.

The EU Commission introduced new consumer rights for easy and attractive repairs in 2023 to ensure that more products are repaired within the legal guarantee and that consumers have easier and cheaper options to repair products that are technically repairable when the legal guarantee has expired or when the good is not functional anymore as a result of wear and tear.

The Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional deal on the directive, also known as the right-to-repair, in February 2024, which maintains the consumer's right to choose between repair and replacement when a product is broken or defective.

The EU WEE Directive also aims to tackle this issue by setting rules and targets for the proper collection and treatment of these types of waste while helping European countries fight illegal waste exports more effectively and reducing administrative burdens.

The real smart move in developing the next generation of mobile and electronic devices is to look at their entire life cycle and what would make them more sustainable and ethical besides the tech-magic features.

Headline image by Freepik

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Szilvia Szabó ⬤ Author

Journalist, Editor

Responsible Sourcing – Groundwork for a Circular Economy

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 17:17:54 +0000

Responsible Sourcing – Groundwork for a Circular Economy

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Responsible Innovation

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Creating a Circular Economy depends to a large extent on the sustainable sourcing of raw materials in global supply chains.

Resources such as rare earth minerals, copper, lithium and many others are crucial to sustainability, especially in the green energy transition.

The demand for these materials is expected to continue to grow substantially. To address this challenge, extracting these materials with the least possible negative impact on the environment and society is increasingly important before integrating them into circular economy systems.

However, achieving sustainable sourcing in global supply chains is a complex and challenging issue as companies, civil society organisations, governments, and countries have differing opinions on the best approach.

Besides, they must also comply with various specifications and laws, making sustainable sourcing legally binding to varying degrees.

While existing singular approaches and policies to promote the circular economy and responsible sourcing are becoming more established, there is still a need to strengthen collective action that recognises the interdependence between the two concepts and all stakeholders involved.

Harmonising fragmented sustainability approaches

The challenge of sourcing raw materials responsibly could be a bottleneck to mainstreaming circular economy solutions.

For instance, the mobility industry is strongly dependent on lithium-ion batteries in order to power the electric vehicles on the roads and run rails of the future.

Responsible sourcing of raw materials is essential in creating a Circular Economy and embracing clean technology. Image: Getty Images

On the other hand, the renewable energy sector is massively linked to rare earth elements and silicon to produce wind turbines and solar PV modules.

Meanwhile, the future of modern technology is built on the electronics and electronic equipment sector, which is intertwined with mining rare earth minerals.

Responsible Sourcing aims to harmonise existing approaches by promoting shared responsibility among policy, businesses, and civil society stakeholders across the global value chain to further sustainable sourcing of raw materials and promote circular economy practices.

The EU-funded RE-SOURCING project set out to provide a global platform for Responsible Sourcing of mineral resources in global value chains, connecting all key stakeholders in the mobility, renewable energy and electronics sectors.

Led by the Vienna University of Economics and Business and 11 international partners, this project offers a neutral, mediating space for collaborative solutions to advance Responsible Sourcing.

It can also subsequently contribute to global initiatives such as the EU Green Deal and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The project’s main objective is to facilitate the implementation of Responsible Sourcing practices through direct knowledge exchange within its stakeholder network and beyond while advocating these practices in international political forums.

How does the RE-SOURCING Project facilitate action?

The Circular Economy is both an end and a means to achieve Responsible Sourcing.

Project partners developed roadmaps based on existing sustainability approaches, policies, and knowledge from key stakeholders in the three sectors most reliant on global mineral value chains – mobility, renewable energy and electronics.

The three sectoral roadmaps propose targets and milestones towards achieving the targets set in the EU Green Deal by 2050, each tailored to the perspectives, needs and priorities of businesses, civil society organisations or policymakers.

The roadmaps emphasise the reduction of resource consumption through eco-design, the promotion of extended producer responsibility and take-back schemes at all roadmap stages.

What makes the RE-SOURCING Stakeholder Platform unique?

Considering different stakeholder perspectives is essential for any ambition to deliver guidance for responsible sourcing.

At the core of the RE-SOURCING approach is a comprehensive understanding of the interconnections and interdependencies between sectors, stakeholders and sustainability initiatives to create a coherent and integrated picture of sustainability efforts.

The RE-SOURCING project outcomes include real-world examples, demonstrating that proactive and forward-thinking stakeholders can already achieve the proposed goals for the future through practices that already exist today.

How can the RE-SOURCING project help you embrace Responsible Sourcing?

As a policymaker, industry, or civil society representative, you can benefit from the project's many in-depth best practice examples, ranging from technology businesses setting up repair ecosystems to extend the life of their smartphones, to evaluations of the latest EU directives on responsible sourcing, to what to expect from the use of blockchain technology in supply chains.

Learning resources are publicly available in an open-source format, presenting the learnings from global supply chain stakeholders and gathering knowledge from international experts on Responsible Sourcing in various panel discussions

Key learning opportunities for the mobility, renewable energy, and electronics and electronic equipment sectors from the RE-SOURCING project:

Industry representatives

best practices in responsible sourcing
guidance for implementing successful business practices

Policymakers

insight into how international standards and regulations interact
broadening knowledge about opportunities for collaboration

Civil society organisations

ways to bring in unprecedented voices
counter greenwashing
exchange ideas with industry and politicians

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The state of Circular Economy in EU Research and Innovation projects

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 14:47:44 +0000

The state of Circular Economy in EU Research and Innovation projects

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The European Union invests about 10 billion euros annually into more than 4,000 research and innovation projects.

Circular Economy plays an increasingly vital role in these projects, leading to an emerging community of businesses, research organisations, and NGOs collaborating on a broad diversity of topics, such as food, waste, plastics, construction, manufacturing, biotechnology, product innovation and design, and circular business model development.

A recent research project carried out by Anja Grüll and Dr André Martinuzzi at the Vienna University of Economics and Business explored the characteristics of organisations within this community while analysing trends and assessing collaboration patterns.

One increasingly prominent topic in these funding programs is the Circular Economy due to its potential to mitigate climate change, promote sustainability initiatives and boost economic growth and competitiveness by creating business opportunities, jobs, and technological innovations.

Dr André Martinuzzi, Head of the Institute for Managing Sustainability, Vienna University of Economics and Business

Anja Grül, Researcher and PhD Candidate, Vienna University of Economics and Business

The Circular Economy is now part of all major EU strategies like the European Green Deal and driving transition through numerous policies and regulations, including the Circular Economy Action Plan, Waste Framework Directive, Eco-design Directive or the Bioeconomy Strategy, and Plastics Strategy.

For its last Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, the EU distributed a budget of nearly €80 billion over seven years between 2014- 2021.

This resulted in over 35,000 projects and involved almost 18,000 organisations from 177 countries.

In search of data

The European Union Open Data portal, CORDIS, has been the primary source for this research.

One of the main challenges was to identify Circular Economy projects partly because initially, the term Circular Economy was not widely recognised, though its goals (e.g., waste reduction, resource efficiency) correspond strongly with the concept.

As the concept and term of Circular Economy became more established, the EU created a dedicated Focus Area as an overarching topic across numerous themes in its third funding round.

Who is involved with EU-funded circular economy projects?

In terms of nations, the Circular Economy Network includes 92 countries, of which the following ones received 78% of the project funding budget: Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

The top 20 most prominent players in the Circular Economy Network come from the EU-15 countries, while Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, as non-EU countries, also play an essential role.

The EU invested €4.8 billion into almost 990 Circular Economy projects, involving 13,300 organisations from 92 countries.

Figure 1: Based on research project carried out at the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

Looking at the organisational level, the recipients of almost half of the EU budget for Circular Economy projects have been for-profit businesses, followed by research institutions, then higher education establishments and public bodies, who take the smallest share.

Even though research institutions only make up 10% of all participants in the Circular Economy Network, they are by far the best connected, taking 70% of the Top 20 player positions.

They possess substantial resources and capabilities, participate in numerous projects and are, therefore, dominant in the network, serving as connectors and knowledge disseminators or knowledge hubs.

Meanwhile, the private for-profit businesses show contrasting results since they comprise 66% of all participants but are only represented by one organisation in the Top 20 most prominent organisations.

Due to data privacy issues, intellectual property concerns, and fear of losing a competitive advantage, private for-profit businesses are not as willing to collaborate with other private companies and prefer to work with research or higher education institutions.

Private for-profit businesses generally have a high participation rate and obtain a significant share of EU funds. However, they are not as well-connected and less likely to collaborate with other private for-profit businesses.

Collaboration Networks

By incentivising different organisations to collaborate on projects, the EU supports the emergence of networks around different themes, which is crucial for developing technological innovation and designing socially desirable products and services.

These networks develop dynamically and are shaped by different actors. Participating organisations may form stronger bonds and stay connected for several projects.

The more often actors work together, the stronger their relationship grows alongside the willingness to embark on future collaborative journeys.

Building solid relationships brings mutual support, improved reputation, access to resources, and increased collaboration opportunities.

The more connections an organisation has, the more it obtains a central position in the network, leading to increased visibility, influence, and competitiveness. Organisations that don’t have strong ties or a good relationship with at least one significant player will have a hard time creating successful project proposals.

The emergence of the Circular Economy community

Circular Economy projects in Horizon 2020 steadily increased each year in terms of EU funding, number of active projects and participants, and budget per project – in other words, the projects grew, and more organisations got involved, showing the uptake of the program.

However, there was a downward trend in the number of new players joining.

According to the interim evaluation of Horizon 2020, this may be due to a lack of awareness about the funding program, the application process's complexity besides intellectual property concerns, or a lack of resources or capacity.

In 2021, there were still 474 active projects, and all 9,000 involved organisations were linked to at least one participant in the main component, resulting in one entirely connected network.

Figure 2: Circular Economy Network Development

Network Centralization shows the existence of dominant actors who have a disproportionate number of collaborations compared to others. A small, strong core of highly collaborative organisations tended to expand their network, while the majority participated only in a few projects.

Hot topics in funding circularity

Circular Economy can be found in nine funding call themes, which differ in topic focus, action area, and approaches to circular solutions. Some are focused on forwarding industry-oriented solutions, while others are open to a broader range of diverse activities.

The biggest variety can be found in the EU Call themes CLIMATE and CROSS-CUTTING actions, which include multiple areas of activity:

urban waste management, housing solutions, creation of new technologies, development of circular business models, the establishment of circular supply chains and industrial symbiosis, design and innovation of circular products, promotion of sustainable consumption, stakeholder platforms, and advancement in knowledge and research for a circular economy.

These efforts expand over numerous value chains and industries, including manufacturing, construction, bioeconomy, electronics, water, batteries, packaging, critical raw materials, textiles and food.

The theme of Leadership in Enabling and Industrial Technologies (LEIT) includes the parts of Horizon 2020 providing new opportunities for industrial leadership in Key Enabling Technologies (KETs), Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Space.

These are areas of key industrial competencies determining Europe’s global competitiveness and providing key components and systems needed for solutions to Societal Challenges.

This is now split into two areas.

In LEIT ICT, many projects aim to forward digital solutions across different sectors and manufacturing industries, especially platform solutions. Deliverables include dissemination of knowledge, the connection of actors across supply chains, and optimisation of processes.

Additionally, the focus of LEIT NMP* is the advancement of key enabling technologies. Its activities range from (re-)manufacturing and processing to creating sustainable materials and product life cycle enhancement. Included sectors are electronics, intensive industries, nanotechnologies, and biotechnologies.

Waste and waste management are paired with multiple areas like urban waste solutions, food, plastics and packaging, water, and agriculture, as these value chains are closely related.

*Nanotechnologies, Advanced Material and Advanced Manufacturing and Processing

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“Go beyond the frameworks and empower entrepreneurs!”

Szilvia Szabó — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 16:41:18 +0000

“Go beyond the frameworks and empower entrepreneurs!”

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Circular Economy

Innovation

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Circular Economy

Fireside chat with Agnieszka Sznyk, Ph.D. - President of the Board of INNOWO, a non-profit Think Tank based in Poland, working on implementing circular economy practices and systemic transformation.

With about nine years of working on circular economy and related projects, I would say that the concept has become mainstream within the sustainability community and is making its way outside of these circles.

However, one of the cornerstones to making the circular economy mainstream in the business sector is that it must be profitable.

It doesn`t make sense that virgin materials are still cheaper than recycled ones or that design solutions embracing longevity and repairability are significantly more expensive.

Due to my work that includes a lot of analytics, I come across many failure stories and see how little is actually happening beyond the idea or start-up phase.

There are a lot of great innovative circular ideas coming up and more programs to support them, but at present, they are mostly enough to take the initial steps, and when the money stops, the projects die.

There are promising sectors, such as the Bioeconomy, where we can see much interest and innovation focusing on converting biomass to energy, using bacteria in wastewater treatment or algae in carbon management and designing bioplastics.

Agnieszka Sznyk, Ph.D., circularity expert and President of the Board of INNOWO

Based on my experience, we should support start-ups to survive and get into the scale-up phase while helping SMEs embed circularity and grow as a business thanks to these changes.

Although it is a steep uphill battle as long as we are fixated on cheap products costing society instead of companies simply because the hidden externalities are not manifesting in the market price - A fiscal revolution mixed with enhanced producer responsibility could move the needle.

To see clearly what is needed, the best is to have an x-ray of the current economy and see where we stand.

That is what we had in mind when we worked on publishing the first Circular Economy Gap Report for Poland.

To everyone`s surprise, the Polish Circularity scores relatively high, at 10.2 per cent, compared to Norway scoring 2.7 and Sweden at 3.4, while the world average is 7.2.

No one expected that result that clearly shows a massive potential for the Polish Economy to close the loop.

The biggest lesson from creating the report was to measure what we can and be more confident of where we are and are headed – perceptions and appearances are not enough for this kind of transformation.

According to the Circular Economy Gap report, the Polish Circularity scored relatively high compared to world average in 2022.

The other conclusion for me reiterated the importance of cooperation and how much we can still learn from each other.

Most of the time, we don`t need to reinvent the wheel; just listen and adopt tested and proven to be working ideas. Think about, for example, the growing clothes renting trends.

If bigger fashion brands were to introduce these models, they would be inclined to design better-quality products that can be used for longer.

This could have a ripple effect on the whole industry.

Multinational companies have a massive role to play through their supply management, yet still, a circular economy is more about focusing on local communities than globalisation.

We need a mindset change to start thinking about the end of the life of products.

How can it be dismantled, reused, or repurposed, or what happens if it ends up in the landfill?

A good circular project would always start with design.

Getting the public interested and buying into circularity is also a big chunk that needs to be dealt with. We have arrived at a stage where we need less conversation and more action.

I firmly believe that if we can keep it practical and feasible, going circular would solve many pressing climate crisis issues.

Promoting Circular Economy is at the core of INNOWO`s work in Poland.

We are involved with the Polish Circular Hotspot, a public cooperation platform for transitioning into a circular economy.

This is a multistakeholder collaboration where we work with businesses of all sizes to educate them about circularity, support them in developing solutions, and build circular value chains.

Through a collaboration with the Metabolic Foundation, we are also participating in the Circular Cities Programme to develop city-wise strategies and analyse material flows to bring long-lasting system change.

To foster collaboration, we are the main facilitators behind the Circular Week annual international event that brings together leaders from different sectors and allows organisations to join the movement by participating and hosting partner events.

It is an international campaign aiming to promote the idea of a circular economy, support sustainable business models and establish cooperation between interested stakeholders.

The sixth edition will take place on 23-27 October 2023, with the Mazovia Circular Congress held on 25 October as the focal moment of the week.

The next big thing for me is to run practical pilots on the ground, such as a sustainable food hub or urban farming project in one of the Polish cities, while connecting partners to make it happen.

I thoroughly enjoy working with people in this space who are typically highly motivated and enthusiastic as they believe what they do is important, which also keeps me grounded and inspires me to keep going forward.

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Piloting innovative sustainability ideas for increased adaptability, relentlessly

Bronagh Loughlin — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 19:37:26 +0000

Piloting innovative sustainability ideas for increased adaptability, relentlessly

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Circular Economy

Sustainability

Sustainable Development Goals

Topic

Sustainability

Circular Economy

Axfoundation is an independent, non-profit organisation based in Sweden, working concretely and practically toward building a sustainable society.

Together with more than 300 partners across industries and sectors, the Foundation tackles local and global sustainability challenges based on practical issues related to what we buy, the food we consume, and the resources we utilise.

The organisation sees itself more as a ‘do tank’ as opposed to a think tank and innovates and accelerates solutions within Circular Economy, Future Food, Sustainable Production and Consumption. They believe entrepreneurship is a powerful force for change and use business to accelerate long-term transformative change.

Their current projects stretch across 15 industries, including textile, waste, fishing, food, retail, recycling, agriculture, and technology.

The home of many projects they run is the Torsåker Farm, Axfoundation’s test and development centre for sustainable food systems, located 30 kilometres north of Stockholm, Sweden.

The environment at the test farm is ideal for evaluating sustainable farming methods, identifying waste streams for circular solutions, and test growing both new and old crops.

Torsåker Farm - Axfoundation’s test and development centre for sustainable food systems in Sweden. Image: Axfoundation

At the farm, actors across industries and sectors come together to take on complex issues in real-world conditions and explore solutions that would be impossible to test alone. They then bring the results from the fields and the lake for processing in the test kitchens.

The Farm contributes to the increased use of sustainable animal husbandry and agroecological farming methods while also fuelling the efficient and circular use of resources and reducing the use of antibiotics for food-producing animals.

Another interesting project led by Axfoundation with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) was a pilot-scale infrastructure to convert waste from the Swedish food industry into quality raw protein material for animal feed.

The result was Sweden’s first green rainbow trout fed with a circular-based fish feed composed mainly of insects. The project ended in 2022, and the life cycle analysis revealed a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent compared to conventional fish feed. The next step was to take the lessons learnt further by testing circular feed for chickens, pigs, and laying hens.

Embracing an underutilised fish species, the Swedish bream, is part of Axfoundation`s work. Image: Axfoundation

Although sometimes innovation comes from simply realising what is missing.

That was the case with embracing an underutilised fish species, the Swedish bream, to get more recognition.

With a from-lake-to-plate approach, they created the Minced Bream – a versatile product with a neutral, fine taste that has received positive reactions from school students and chefs.

A circular project led by the Foundation is the Swedish Wool Initiative, paving the way to zero waste since 2020.

Sweden imports more than 1,700 tonnes of wool annually; meanwhile, less than 50% of all the wool produced by Swedish farmers is used.

Teaming with 20 partners, they set out to develop a new yarn made from previously discarded wool and enable brands within fashion, outdoor, and home textiles to access qualitative and competitive wool easily.

A circular project led by the Axfoundation is the Swedish Wool Initiative. Image: Axfoundation

Axfoundation took on another challenge in the field of agriculture about using tonnes of residual product generated from oat drink production.

The Over & Oat project was launched to explore how to turn oat drink residues into new food and materials in a sustainable and economically viable way.

Looking at global issues, such as plastic consumption, predicted to quadruple in the coming century, the organisation launched the Plastics Progress Tools initiative to support companies on their journey toward more responsible use of plastics.

They designed a digital tool that will compile and analyse plastic data, which can form a basis for strategic prioritisation and decision-making. Further embracing digital tools, they took the lead on the ProPare project under the Sustainable Production and Consumption branch.

This technology aims to act as a global standard for digital product passports. It is perfectly timed as the EU is expected to implement new legislation requiring nearly all products available on the European market to have a digital product passport.

These passports will offer sustainability data to help drive the adoption of the circular economy. Axfoundation is on the journey to prove that turning great ideas into practical solutions by pivoting can help address large-scale sustainability challenges immensely.

They may not always go as planned, but that is the point and a crucial part of the learning curve. To innovate sustainable solutions and achieve transformative change, failure must not be feared but embraced.

These pilot projects are telling us, clear and loud, that ideas with great potential deserve a fighting chance because they could have a real, genuine impact when scaled up and implemented.

Headline image: Unsplash

This article is an extract from content originally published in the Circular Economy in Action special edition of the Profit with Purpose Magazine - you can read the full article and other features in the magazine.

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In pursuit of changing lives

Szilvia Szabó — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 20:23:56 +0000

In pursuit of changing lives

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Social Entrepreneurship

Topic

Insights from social entrepreneur Lucia Dal Negro, Founder of Kokono, on building a socially and environmentally conscious enterprise in Uganda.

Kokono is a project started by De-LAB, an Italian social enterprise, designed to address the challenge of keeping infants safe in their first year after birth in Africa.

We produce unique cradles from biodegradable materials to protect children from 0 to 12 months from major health and safety risks, including the malaria mosquito.

From the very beginning, I have worked with a team, and we did not only want to work in the health sector and 'settle' for helping people. We also wanted to do it in an environmentally responsible way. Besides, we thought about logistics and optimised the shape of the cradle in a way that saves a lot of space and makes it easy to stack them up.

Kokono produces unique cradles from biodegradable materials to protect babies from major health and safety risks. Image: Kokono

Moreover, the product is sold without packaging to avoid polluting a country with no actual plastic and waste disposal system.

The next edition of Kokono will also be produced with 50 per cent recovered plastic, which will help decrease its environmental footprint while giving us a chance to raise awareness about the circular economy. It has been a bumpy road since the first design came to life to make this a reality.

The Covid pandemic obviously resulted in a major setback, and there was a grasshopper invasion in East Africa in January 2020, which did not help. We had to adapt not just our business plans but the product’s design. Kokono was originally supposed to be made from banana fibres, but then the grasshopper invasion destroyed all the plantations, so there was no way to use that material.

After rethinking the project, Covid forced us to stop for almost a year because Uganda had the longest lockdown in Africa, and nothing could be done. But luckily, there were also some exceptional positive moments, including the first sale to a private hospital of 40 cradles.

One of the most inspiring moments was when we got the result of the Social Impact Assessment on the first user group of Kokono.

I remember the amazement and pride I felt as I saw that not one of the first 20 children had caught malaria in the six months of using the cradle.

There I realised that we had a future, and it was worth fighting for. It took countless hours of work, patience and dedication to get where we are now.

There was a time when if I had given up, people would have still applauded me anyway because everything was so terribly difficult.

Instead, perseverance won, and thanks to the collaboration with Italian and local partners and the encouragement of the Ugandans, while seeing this idea manifesting and helping people, I did not give up.

To the many social innovators out there trying to make a difference, I would say never to let difficulties get you down: no one ever told us it would be easy.

We are currently looking for equity investors to expand our project, which has succeeded in the proof of concept and market testing phase. Uganda is a huge country, and the demand is massive here and elsewhere as well. With the capital investment, we could support the distribution network and start selling the product on a large scale.

Another thing that impressed me was getting to know the single mothers of the Kawempe slum in Kampala. After the pandemic, their numbers have increased dramatically.

Here you would meet 14-15 years old girls who need to be educated about childcare.

They welcomed the product as if it were a solution 'dropped from the sky'.

It was touching, especially since I expected more resistance towards something new and unknown.

Instead, they were overjoyed. Sometimes understanding each other is much easier than we think and happens profoundly. This experience gave me much strength to go on.

Kokono was first introduced in Uganda, and looking to expand in the next years. Image: Kokono

Having the opportunity to work in the field and interact with people using our solution really keeps me grounded and more determined to raise funds and expand our operations.

In addition to having funds, I would like to have a network of companies that see this as a project for the future and would support us with expertise and vision in other African countries.

Ugandan birth and infant mortality rates are no different from those of other countries on the continent, and the potential to make a significant impact is enormous.

Lucia Dal Negro Founder of Kokono in the middle

I enjoy spending about a month twice a year in Kampala supervising the operations and working with the team. I extricate myself entirely from European and Italian problems and finally connect to the local set-up, feeling the atmosphere.

This society is made up of a young population full of vitality, which dares to dream big even if it does not have the means....and, above all, never complains.

What gives me the energy to keep going is the fact that Kokono really works, saves the lives of children and gives hope to mothers struggling to juggle work and bringing up their kids.

Working with local partners who believe in it and look to us for guidance on moving forward is another factor in making this work.

Finally, I think that if we, as a very small organisation, have made it this far, who knows what larger and more structured companies could do.

There are too many opportunities offered by circular models that must be exploited....it is no longer the time to stand by, and we at De-LAB are ready to build partnerships with those who think like us!

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Bringing a four-day celebration of the Circular Economy to Ireland

Bronagh Loughlin — Thu, 18 May 2023 11:26:16 +0000

Bringing a four-day celebration of the Circular Economy to Ireland

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Circular Economy

Ireland

Topic

Circular Economy

For the first time, Dublin is hosting the Circular Economy Hotspot on 29th May-1st June, placing Ireland’s capital in the epicentre of European Circularity.

The application for Dublin to host this prestigious international event is a result of the close collaboration of strategic partners led by The Rediscovery Centre with the Department of the Environment, Dublin City Council, the Eastern & Midlands Regional Waste Management Planning Office (EMRWMP), and CIRCULÉIRE.

“The Circular Economy Hotspot is an opportunity to bring together some of the best minds, thinkers and activists around circular economy and social economy,”

says Mary Mac Sweeney, Executive Manager Acting of Culture, Recreation and Economic Services, Dublin City Council.

The Circular Economy Hotspot Dublin 2023 event will take place on 29th May- 1st June 2023.

The event provides a great chance to learn from, network with, and be inspired by the very best actors working in this field.

Attendees can learn about the practical steps and resources to take home and implement through conference talks, tours, workshops, and topic deep-dives.

The event brings together policymakers, entrepreneurs, pioneers, researchers, students, industry, and citizens from Ireland and further afield.

It is a time to highlight ground-breaking circular economic initiatives, best practices, and innovation, with each host country putting together a programme showcasing how their country or region contributes to the transition towards a circular economy.

This year the Hotspot will establish a global dimension as two other global regions are also participating as hosts: Lagos, Nigeria and Santiago, Chile.

Speaking on the areas that will be explored, Dr Sarah Miller, CEO at the Rediscovery Centre, shares: “Dublin is home to some of the world’s greatest circular economy leaders and innovations.

As a host of Circular Economy Hotspot Dublin 2023, the city will showcase circular economy progress made in design and manufacturing, food systems and the bioeconomy alongside social enterprise activity.”

Dr Sarah Miller, CEO at the Rediscovery Centre

She adds: “Tackling Dublin’s housing crisis through circular solutions will also be explored, going beyond green building materials to look into additional benefits that can be designed into our city to improve well-being and encourage carbon-positive lifestyles.

The Circular Economy Hotspot Dublin is a cross-sectoral and public engagement event, providing the perfect platform to present the circular economy as a positive framework for the city to demonstrate adaptation and growth within planetary boundaries.”

Dublin will not only represent Irish circular economic innovation in 2023 but become a focal point of circularity across Europe while building on the momentum of recent developments, harnessing the cultural influences that are unique to the city.

Dr Joanne Rourke, Resource Efficiency Officer, EMRWMP, shares: “What we’re hoping to do is to build on the momentum of earlier Hotspots in other capital cities, but also to build on the momentum that is happening now in Ireland.

We envision the Hotspot will act as a spark to start the circular economy fire.”

Now in its seventh year, the Circular Economy Hotspot initiative has become a flagship event on the calendar for many leaders and experts across industries and policy.

The Netherlands first organised it in 2016, and the event has spread much further since to Catalonia, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, and Scotland.

Dublin city balances a local village feel with the buzz of a vibrant and modern capital city at the heart of European life. Since 2020, Ireland and its capital have witnessed a significant drive to share knowledge, invest, and foster the circular economy.

Irish support for European initiatives also remains amongst the highest in the EU.

As a capital city, Dublin can showcase the impact of these recent flagship circular economy policy funds and measures led by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC).

Dr Geraldine Brennan, CIRCULÉIRE’s Lead and Head of Circular Economy at Irish Manufacturing Research, remarks:

“Ireland is ripe for innovation, and a lot of circular economy excitement is bubbling up.

What is genuinely exciting about this year to Dublin is the fact that over the last number of years, Ireland has pivoted towards embracing the circular economy as an economic development model.”

Dr Geraldine Brennan, CIRCULÉIRE’s Lead and Head of Circular Economy at Irish Manufacturing Research

The opportunity to host the Circular Economy Hotspot is a value-based partnership as Dublin has a lot to offer as a host, and equally, the event has a great deal to bring Ireland in turn.

The event will bring global visibility to circular economic initiatives here in Ireland and establish global opportunities for Dublin.

It will also pay homage to the strengths Ireland has to offer the circular economic community.

Ultimately, the Hotspot will bring the circular economy to life, making it part of the day-to-day lives of citizens and event attendees from the public sector, policymakers, industry, and start-ups alike.

This content is originally published in the Circular Economy in Action special edition of the Profit with Purpose Magazine.

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Circular Economy Hotspot Dublin 2023

Celebrating social and circular enterprises in Dublin

Business Spirit News reporting — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 12:15:49 +0000

Celebrating social and circular enterprises in Dublin

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A new initiative led by Dublin City Council aims to shine a light on social enterprises and circular economy players.

The SoCircular event will take place in Dublin on 5th October to bring together social and circular enterprises and other stakeholders to connect, learn and build connections.

This new initiative is driven by Dublin City Council in collaboration with strategic partners from various sectors and will be hosted at a prime venue, The Mansion House.

The event aims to facilitate the transformation of Dublin's economic ecosystem to become more resilient and competitive by better integrating enterprises and innovators with strong sustainability and social values.

Organisers will provide a forum for discussions, exchanging ideas and gaining insights while showcasing exhibitors and cultural programs.

Besides networking and learning, the goal is to encourage businesses, organisations and government departments to buy from these organisations to empower this sector's growth.

“This event will raise awareness of these innovative enterprises.

Buying from them will bring about many benefits, such as shorter supply chains, creating resilient local employment, improving social and environmental impacts, and supporting fairer, greener and thriving communities,”

says Mary MacSweeney, Deputy Head of Economic Development and Enterprise.

Mary MacSweeney, Deputy Head of Economic Development and Enterprise highlights the importance of integrating social and circular enterprises into supply chains.

Pointing out the role of businesses and government in strengthening social and circular enterprises is one of the core messages of the event.

Buying from these companies could add to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and department strategies while helping them raise their profile by walking the talk and filling slogans with actions.

At the event, participants can meet with innovative entrepreneurs embracing sustainability and circular economy in their business model and join panel discussions to learn more insights about available supports and key players.

Attendees can find the detailed program and register online free of charge.

Cultural performances and a trade expo with more than 50 local social and circular enterprises will allow people to connect and network.

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Caroline Conroy, expressed how much social and circular enterprises can help counteract the impact of environmental and economic crises.

Another element of the program is to raise awareness about how socially driven businesses can address environmental challenges and, the other way around, how environmentally focused projects can easily solve social problems.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Caroline Conroy, emphasised the importance of this sector in helping the city fight upcoming challenges associated with the impacts of climate change and economic crises.

The event is being hosted as part Dublin's involvement in the European Social Economy Regions project of the European Commission.

Various stakeholders and organisations have rallied behind this initiative, including the Department of Rural and Community Development, CRNI, EMWR, Dublin Place Brand, Social Enterprise Dublin, and Dublin Regional Skills Forum, among others.

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Call for entrepreneurs driving circular city transformations

Business Spirit News reporting — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 12:47:33 +0000

Call for entrepreneurs driving circular city transformations

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Start-up teams with innovative circular economy solutions in urban areas are invited to apply to the Circular Cities accelerator program.

The Circular Cities ClimAccelerator public-private initiative offers an extensive programme and funding for entrepreneurs driving the transformation of cities to become more sustainable and climate-resilient.

Start-ups are invited to submit their projects focusing on a circular solution in the textile, food, tourism, mobility, construction sectors and other relevant areas.

“The Circular Cities ClimAccelerator helped us not only to connect to other leaders in this area, but also to connect to relevant stakeholders such as cities to create valuable partnerships,”

says Dominik Campanella, Co-Founder of Concular, and participant of the previous Circular Cities program.

Proposed business solutions need to be scalable in urban areas, particularly to the markets of the partner cities of the program, which includes Dublin, Berlin and potentially other large cities.

Selected teams will go through three stages: working on their business strategy, market validation, and investment readiness.

At the first stage, 25 teams will be supported with €3.000 per team, then 15 teams will continue the next phase when they will each receive up to €15.000 grant.

The final module will be an invite-only option for the best ten projects to present their ideas to investors.

Application is open until 10 April to enterprises with an advanced business model and minimum viable product with a legal entity registered no longer than five years in Europe.

The duration of the program is eight months, starting on 25 April and closing with a demo day on 02 December 2022.

The Circular Cities ClimAccelerator program is managed by Climate-KIC, Luvent Consulting GmbH, DTU - Technical University of Denmark, UPS, Trinity College Dublin, Trinity's Ideas Workspace, Veolia and primeCROWD investment group.

Headline image: CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

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Innovative circular program to scale up under new leadership

Business Spirit News reporting — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 08:18:25 +0000

Innovative circular program to scale up under new leadership

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System change specialist appointed to lead game-changing circular economy initiative in the UK.

The trial program of the re-use model ‘Re’ that already saved over 4 million plastic bottles from landfills, has brought Doug Morwood system change specialist, to take the initiative to the next level as MD.

The UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging (SSPP) Challenge has recently announced £3 million in funding to further develop ‘Re’ across the UK and save over 100 million bottles from landfills within the next three years.

Doug Morwood system change specialist, new MD for the 'Re' circular economy program.

Newly appointed MD Morwood aims higher than expected and wants to ‘reduce single-use plastic on a grand scale.'

“I am honoured to join the Re team and look forward to delivering a truly circular economy system for the UK.

We must move beyond the linear system that results in so much waste, both in terms of materials and energy,” said Morwood on his appointment as Managing Director for the ‘Re’ program.

The new MD aims to lead a data-driven change and engage various stakeholders in a ‘re-use revolution’ within and beyond the border of the UK.

He believes that engaging small and big brands alongside retailers is critical in changing the current wasteful practices, and with 'Re' they ‘have to offer a compelling alternative to the current linear system that damages our environment so much.”

Morwood adds:

“Bringing businesses together to tackle the climate and waste crises is the only way we can solve the problem; collaboration is crucial."

Customers can also easily join the movement by using the Refill App, managed by the City to Sea project, showing users the nearest refill station and places to eat, drink, and shop using less plastic.

Advanced Refill Stations – interactive stations where customers can fill a ‘Re Smart Bottle’ with a product of their choice; Image: 'Re' program

Co-Founder of Beauty Kitchen and the ‘Re’ program, Jo-Anne Chidley, is excited about expanding the impact of this project and seeing the build-up of a team under the visionary leadership of Morwood.

She emphasises that ‘this is an open initiative for all brands in the cosmetics, beauty and personal care industries’ and that they will support implementing the ‘Re’ system and help partners deliver change and ‘enter this ecosystem.’

HeadlineImage: 'Re' program

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