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Key reports and studies

Eu - Resource Efficiency

Socks from the sea
11/06/2013
Socks from the sea
Humanity faces many thorny environmental challenges, but one of the most difficult is how to clean up the seas, which have long been used as a dumping ground for waste. A pioneering initiative involving organisations in the Netherlands, Italy and Slovenia is showing how one type of waste –...
Eu
Washing whiter without water
28/01/2013
Washing whiter without water
The future of laundry could be cleaning with plastic beads, rather than with water, according to Xeros, a small company based in the northern English town of Rotherham. Their bead cleaning technology was developed at Leeds University and Xeros is currently working to commercialise it. According...
Eu
Towards resource efficiency via business model innovation
26/11/2012
Towards resource efficiency via business model innovation
The modern consumer economy has a fundamental flaw that promotes unsustainable consumption: the more companies sell, the more they earn. Turntoo, a Dutch company, has been building its business model based on an alternative system in which products are not sold by the producer to the consumer, but...
Netherlands
Incentivised recycling
13/11/2012
Incentivised recycling
A small British company is developing an innovative business model that will encourage the recycling and reuse of domestic appliances, such as fridges and washing machines, in exchange for loyalty points that can be used with up to 300 online retailers. EEESafe, based in Swansea, Wales, is...
United Kingdom
Let the train take the strain
14/09/2012
Let the train take the strain
The Dutch railway operator is retrofitting its intercity train fleet to make it more efficient. Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), the railway operator in the Netherlands, is improving the environmental performance of 50 of its intercity trains through a retrofitting programme that will be completed...
Netherlands
One eco-innovation enables another
14/04/2012
One eco-innovation enables another
The scaling-up of sustainable, high-tech dyeing technology is the focus of an ongoing European Commission funded project aimed at strengthening SMEs in the colour textile industry. A consortium of universities, small companies and large players in the energy and transport sectors from five...
Eu
Biodegradable inks enable eco-friendly printing
24/11/2011
Biodegradable inks enable eco-friendly printing
A Delhi-based company is at the forefront of eco-innovation in ink production. Its biodegradable inks allow for eco-friendly printing and high-efficiency recycling of printed paper. When university graduates Sidhartha Bhimania and Krishna Gopal Singh set up EnNatura in 2007, their ambition was...
Eu
Cutting-edge technology puts glass-recycling company ahead of industry
12/11/2011
Cutting-edge technology puts glass-recycling company ahead of industry
An innovative dry cleaning process offers advantages to glass recyclers - and, by extension, glass producers - through waste reduction, energy savings and increased product quality. G.R.L.-Glasrecycling in Lummen, Belgium processes glass like no one else. At the heart of its operation is a...
Eu
Reducing surplus sludge in wastewater treatment
19/09/2011
Reducing surplus sludge in wastewater treatment
The EU-funded WASTEred project has facilitated the successful market launch of an eco-innovative product to reduce sludge generated during wastewater treatment in the food sector. Over 25 million tonnes of sludge is generated during wastewater treatment in the meat and dairy sectors in the EU...
Eu
End-of-life aircraft recycling offers high grade materials
24/06/2011
End-of-life aircraft recycling offers high grade materials
TARMAC Aerosave is exploiting an innovative system for the smart dismantling and recycling of end-of-life aircraft. It targets the 6,000 aircraft due to retire over the next 15 years. The launch of the Airbus A300 in the early 1970s revolutionised aircraft manufacturing, demonstrating cost and...
Eu

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