This topic emerged through a screening of emerging issues in science, technology and society in the context of the FET CSA OBSERVE.

http://www.horizon-observatory.eu/radar-en/index.php

The big picture

Approaches towards a sustainable circular economy feature prominently in the debate among scientists, innovators and actors from civil society and policy. The following topics emerged in the analysis of recent discourses:

Circular material flows

Circular economy approaches are on the rise. More and more designers adopt “upcy-cling” approaches and use more second-hand materials. Waste materials will become increasingly valuable as new technologies offer better ways to extract reusable sub-stances like rare metals from discarded products (waste mining). Several examples for circular economy products emerge. At the same time, Europe only correctly recycles 35 percent of its E-Waste - a radical change is needed here. Also, the global plastic production increases rapidly. Plastics and microplastics in the ocean are causing severe problems. Its removal and re-use is targeted by several art projects. Source: Aggregated from several;

Wooden material on the rise

Wood as a renewable resource becomes a more and more popular material to build things and houses. Source: Aggregated from several;

Carbon nanofibres made from CO2 in the air

Scientists in the US have found a way to take carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and make carbon nanofibres. The team says it can be "scaled up" and could have an im-pact on CO2 emissions but other researchers are critical. Source:  Motherboard/ American Chemical Society (ACS);

The work to be done

In order to secure a future for coming generations a substantial reduction of environmental footprint of production and consumption is required. Circular economy approaches could play a major role in this. Even though the idea is far from new and concepts like cradle to cradle and industrial symbiosis are well established in theory there is yet only little progress toward closing material cycles on a high level of value added. Thus there seems ample room for disruptive novel approaches in a number of sectors. The topic is also pertinent in the context of responsible research and innovation (RRI) as both mining of raw materials and dumping of waste raises substantial ethical concerns. The research required is spanning across a number of disciplines such as material science, chemical engineering, process engineering but also design, social sciences, cultural studies and art. Most likely diverse localised solutions will have to be developed in experimental settings.