Want to join the
Circular Economy?
Is your business in need of a circular boost? Out of hundreds of applications we selected these 13 European solutions. They can help you to minimise your waste, recycle and upcycle, or simply share and reuse what you already have. Join forces with them for a more circular world!
Selected Circular Solutions

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What this platform is about
We believe that a more circular world, in which the value of products, part and materials is retained through reuse, sharing, refurbishment and recycling, is good for everyone. On this platform, we showcase 13 promising solutions that might help your business to become more circular. They have all been selected out of hundreds of applicants and are looking for ways to improve their impact and spread their solutions across Europe. Find out more on our solutions page.
Is one of these solutions a match to the needs
of your own business, small or large? We actively support matchmaking in multiple ways. Get into direct contact with the solution, or opt to meet them and others on our offline event in September.
We will offer support to both you and the circular solutions to set up effective collaborations across Europe. The program behind this website, run by the European Commission, can support you on everything from your circular business case to international deal support. Get in touch with one of the solutions, and we will help you further.
A real world example of our solution
FLOOW2
FLOOW2 created an internal sharing marketplace for an organisation to facilitate all locations to lend, rent out and sell unused equipment. This organisation is using the platform mainly for advertising offers and requests for machines and other equipment. With the internal sharing marketplace, the organisation is able to connect locations and avoid the purchase of equipment at location A because it is already available and unused at location C. More efficient use of assets is stimulated, costs are saved radically and expensive investments are avoided.
Results after 1 year: 120 users, 62 locations, 50 heavy machines shared.
Go to solutionA real world example of our solution
Fit Things
One of our clients sells biological nutritional additives. Their employees used to pick from the products warehouse and put them in standard boxes. Since most orders contain products of different sizes, they used boxes that are too large and filled them up with plastic, which was terrible for their image.
Therefore, we designed a specially shaped box that could fit all their products without the use of extra space. By connecting their web-shop to our software, they were able to cut the right sized box for the order automatically. The only thing they have to do now is put the products in the same order in the box as they appear on their screen.
Go to solutionA real world example of our solution
Searious Business
By setting up a small-scale production line for a number of companies, Searious Business proved that companies can keep plastic materials "in their own loop". Local businesses actively use this "Living Laboratory" to test and redesign products made of recycled plastics from their own industrial areas.
A number of major companies have joined this innovative initiative. Waste collectors, plastic recycling companies, machine builders, designers, engineers, and the (Dutch) Technical University of Delft collaborated with us to obtain, use, and assess the recycled plastics coming out of this exciting process.
Mid-December 2016, we finished the first prototype: a design sofa for Gispen. Where the first 200 products already sold out before we could start production on industrial scale in 2018.
Go to solutionA real world example of our solution
BIOAZUL S.L.
RichWater is in its pilot phase. At this stage, we have a commercial prototype running in the municipality of Algarrobo in South Spain.
Jointly to the treatment plant there is an experimental site with mangos, avocados and tomatoes. A research centre is carrying out agronomic studies to verify safety, quality and productivity of the crops irrigated with treated wastewater.
There has been a strong interest among farmers.
Go to solutionA real world example of our solution
Circular IQ
Circular IQ has produced multiple product circularity breakdowns for the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure & the environment.
“Circular procurement is a key goal of the Dutch authorities and our biggest challenge in tenders is to compare circular characteristics of different products. Circular IQ has supported us in a tender for office furniture. They simplified this process, have helped us with their profound expertise to define the right criteria and using their application for the data collection made it easier to compare the tenders of the different suppliers."
Go to solutionA real world example of our solution
Act & Sorb
Act&Sorb recently demonstrated its unique recycling solution for Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) at industrial scale. MDF is a natural product made from wood which has countless applications like kitchen cabinets, laminate flooring, doors, etc. Every year, over 70 million tons of new MDF is produced worldwide with an average lifespan of only 10 to 15 years, end-of-life MDF is usually incinerated or dumped in a landfill. Thanks to Act&Sorbs technology, MDF waste will be given a new life as activating the carbon which can be used in wastewater treatment or food and beverage processing for example. Furthermore, the process of manufacturing this end product is completely self-sustaining with an excess of syngas which can be used for the production of renewable energy or chemicals.
Go to solutionA real world example of our solution
Dust Shelter
Dust Shelter’s modular sheltering walls have been used at many sites already, like in the swimming pool construction site to the right. One module can be installed and changing place many times at the same job site, which brings significant savings compared to traditional plastic and tape options. With using DS-walls the internal construction work on this project site was fastened significantly. This what our client told us:
"Our experiences from installing the walls and their protective properties were very positive: temperatures and draft of air can be kept within permitted boundaries, which is very important during the moulding stage. The product installation was quick, with 5 m2 of walls installed by 2 persons within 3-5 minutes. With traditional methods, using plastic and wood, the same would have taken 1 or 2 hours."
Go to solutionA real world example of our solution
Global Material and Asset Fund
We are working on a case with a customer who will replace about 1,000 single use wooden pallets by the DDPP cycle. Annually, around 360,000 wooden pallets –equivalent to 6,480 metric tons of pine tree wood – will be substituted by DDPPs. As the DDPPs replace the pine tree wood, the emittance of 788 kg CO2 and 5,106 metric tons of CO2 is being prevented annually.
Go to solutionA real world example of our solution
HydroScan
In June 2014 HydroScan was contacted by Farys, the second largest water company in Flanders, to help them solve their significant losses of non-revenue water. HydroScan developed a software-driven solution that is based on real-time data collection and modelling based algorithm for calendar specific benchmarking.
Today Hydroscan’s solution is installed on more than 100 DMA’s at Farys and operationally used in daily practice. HydroScan has trained the Farys personnel on the background and usage of the leak management tool. The system allows a 24/24 7/7 automatic detection of large and small leaks. Furthermore, LeakRedux® can decrease the leak search zone substantially and it supports a pro-active leak search planning. The estimated water saving costs are 4 million euros per year.
Go to solutionA real world example of our solution
The Catalonia Institute of Construction Technology, ITeC
One of the city councils that is using ITeC’s Database for urban projects to contract maintenance works for its roads and its urban spaces has detected that the theoretical technical difficulty and economic costs in their database do not match with their current projects. ITeC has gathered information from contractors to add new database items that reflect real-world conditions observed in recent years.
A second project is a large-scale urban reform operation where the developer wants to ensure that the project is projected and executed following sustainability standards. We are drafting an environmental brief for the contractor where it specifies a valid method for calculating CO2, energy, waste impact, and waste management.
Go to solutionA real world example of our solution
Plastic Repair System
On the right an example of one Plastic Repair Systems reparations. The original price of one of these boxes is around €100, whereas a repair might be between €20 - €30.
Around 4.16 gram of plastic is used per kilogram to repair the plastic. In this particular case the box is 26 kilos, thus we used 102 gram of plastic for repairing the box.
Manufacturing a new one would need more than 26 kilos of plastic, much more energy, and along with the plastic waste, this would also have a significant amount of economic and environmental costs.
Go to solutionA real world example of our solution
MyFoody
We already work together with two large supermarket chains, COOP and UNES. Our system for managing the food close to the expiry date allows them to track the flow of products that are about to be wasted from their identification to the sale. Their cash registers recognise the new barcode and the promotions are automatically redeemed. The sales data of the offers is made available in real time to users. We provide the data about our client's store performance to detect inefficient situations to be solved.
MyFoody aims to involve its users in sustainable grocery shopping. Food products about to be wasted and food products that are produced following sustainable criteria are both visible on the MyFoody app, which makes it easy for customers to find and buy these products. The user who purchases these products will be awarded with points that can be converted into prizes, such as cash or sustainable prizes. On top of that, producers are provided with data about customers in order to improve efficiency.
Go to solutionA real world example of our solution
iPoint‐systems
iPoint supports companies like NIBE on their path to making the world more sustainable.
The iPoint Compliance Agent (iPCA) assists NIBE in efficiently identifying hazardous materials and managing material approvals – thus supporting the Swedish multinational in realising their vision to create world-class solutions in sustainable energy. iPCA accesses a central hazardous materials database in which all information of relevance to the materials is stored, including the safety data sheets. Among other things, this software solution takes account of the stipulations laid down in the EU regulation REACH. Together with the module SAM-M it automatically monitors substances, mixtures, and articles, while complying with all statutory provisions and amendments. More information: https://tinyurl.com/iPoint-NIBE-Example
Get in contact
Do you want to be in contact with one of the solutions? Please go to their separate solution page to find a direct link to the team behind it.
We are happy to answer any of your questions or inquiries.