Denmark's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published at the end of March 2016 the results of a study to define a methodology for identifying whether hazardous chemicals in products make it difficult to recycle those products (Kemiske stoffer i forbrugerprodukter, der kan hindre genanvendelse...
Two new initiatives, from the European Commission and the Dutch government respectively, aim to eliminate legal barriers that hold up the cross-border trade in raw materials obtained from waste, and illustrate the benefits for the circular economy of cooperation between regulators. This is in line...
Buildings have a huge environmental footprint. Their construction and use consumes about half of the extracted materials and energy used in the European Union, and is responsible for about a third of EU water consumption. Construction and demolition of buildings also generates about a third of the...
The environmental costs arising from the production and use of plastic currently outweigh the plastic industry's global profits, but a “new plastics economy” based on circular principles is possible, according to a new report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the World Economic Forum.
The...
A European initiative involving municipalities, companies and citizens' groups is encouraging its members to commit to the elimination of residual waste, thereby ending landfill and incineration as waste management practices.
Zero Waste Europe...
The European Union's construction sector faces a testing target. Under the EU Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC), it must, by 2020, reuse or recycle at least 70% by weight of non-hazardous construction and demolition waste.
In some countries, such as Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands,...
A major cross-sectoral partnership is planning to channel €1.4 billion in private sector research spending to resource and energy efficiency in Europe's process industries – those sectors, such as steel and cement, that transform bulk resources into products that underpin modern economies.
The...
Anaerobic digestion of food waste could double Sweden’s biogas production and reduce environmental damage by cutting methane emissions from landfill suggests a government strategy.
Swedish government agencies representing energy, agriculture and the environment have made a strong case for large...
