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The transition to a greener and more circular economy has been a European policy priority for several years. The Circular Economy Action Plan of 2020 underlines the ambition. The following EEA initiatives are meant to support the transition process:
- Bellagio Process on circular economy monitoring principles (EPA network);
- Enhancement of EEA indicators on circular economy (ETC/WMGE);
- Explorative work on novel data streams (FWC);
- Co-creation work - knowledge sharing of monitoring experience (ETC/Eionet).
The scope of the present task was to report on the co-creation process that was undertaken at the end of 2020. The co-creation process was organised to identify:
(i) best practices on monitoring strategies, data sources and target setting; and
(ii) areas of circularity measuring and monitoring that remain challenging and require additional investment.
The co-creation process partially built on the work done during the Bellagio Process/Initiative which was run in parallel. This ETC report presents and documents the evidence gathered throughout the co- creation process as well as providing a retrospective analysis of the links to the Bellagio Principles.
Against the background of the question which role tax based instruments have to play in policy mixes to counteract the unbroken growth trend of global resource use, this chapter initially describes how the insights from a country comparative study on national resource policy frameworks could be linked to instruments for the internalisation of external environmental costs on a European scale. On the basis of a project specific but substantiated resource use vision and potential governance principles for three transition processes to reach the goals, the tax concepts are subsequently connected to simulation scenarios in order to illustrate the resource impacts that could be achieved by those policy reforms. Conclusively, barriers to such fundamental changes of framework conditions are briefly reflected upon and some conclusions are drawn.
Businesses like Airbnb have shown that a successful circular economy (CE) business can operate exclusively online. Although online communication and web appearance attributes have been subject to academic research given accelerated digitization, there is still a lack of knowledge about online attributes and their role in facilitating CE. We close the portrayed knowledge gap by conducting a discrete-choice experiment with best to worst scaling and focusing on the effect of CE experience on the perception of a CE website by ranking nine online attributes, grouped in three subsets. We therefore contribute by identifying online attributes that are perceived as favorable for CE businesses and detect how participation in CE activities affects the perception of these attributes. We find that third-party associated online attributes (e.g., user reviews or third-party guarantees) rank significantly higher throughout CE consumption patterns of the sample, being always amongst the top three attributes. This novel finding on online preferences opens a new direction for further research, as well as allows practitioners to optimize online operations accordingly. Furthermore, we find that users without prior touchpoints with CE have a higher need for information about the business model as compared to CE active users who are more interested in community related attributes.
A large number and variety of activities are being undertaken to introduce Digital Product Passports (DPPs). However, only a few DPPs have made it into practice so far, so there is some uncertainty about which impact DPPs will actually have. With this paper, we aim to provide a structured overview of the current development of DPPs. We provide insights of 76 current corporate, policy, and research activities that exist and their objectives. To allow for a structured assessment and discussion of the diverse approaches we defined 13 criteria for a comparable description, categorization and evaluation. We expect that this overview will not only encourage feedback and contributions from the DPP community, as well as valuable discussions with and among experts. It is also intended to help promote and facilitate the adoption of DPPs for the Circular Economy by facilitating collaborations and suggestions for ongoing activities.
In the coming years, we must set a course that will allow as to protect our climate, reduce resource consumption, and preserve biodiversity. A profound ecological system change is on the horizon in all central areas of action of the economy and society, or transformation arenas.
Digitalisation is a prerequisite for the success in this change and will impact these arenas at multiple levels: Digital technologies and applications will make it possible to improve current procedures, processes, and structures (Improve) and help us take the first steps towards new business models and frameworks (Convert). Despite this, digitalisation itself must be effective enough to facilitate a complete ecological restructuring of our society and lives to achieve more far-reaching economic transformation and value creation (Transform).
The ability to obtain, link, and use data is a basic prerequisite for tapping into the potential of digitisation for sustainability transformation. However, data is not a homogeneous raw material. Data only gains value when we know the context in which it was collected and when we can use it for a specific purpose.
The discussion on what structures and prerequisites are necessary for the system-changing use of data has only just begun. This study was conducted to serve as a starting point for this discussion as it describes the opportunities and prerequisites for a data-based sustainability transformation. This study focuses on environmental data, data from plants, machines, infrastructure, and IoT products. Our task will be to increase the use this data for systemic solutions (system innovation) within transformation arenas where different stakeholders are working together to initiate infrastructure, value chain, and business model transformation.
The earth as we know it can only continue to exist if humanity finds a way to switch to a sustainable use of energy and resources. This work contributes to the research carried out to achieve this goal by improving the coating of adsorptive materials. These are used in heat transformation and drying processes that allow for efficient temperature and humidity control in buildings. A central component of these adsorptive coatings is the binder that acts as "glue" in the manufacturing of the coating. In this work the methods to evaluate binder performance regarding their thermal stability under the process conditions, their mechanical stability and their influence on the adsorptive properties of the coating were established. The coatings have to meet special requirements due to the thermal stresses and low pressure atmosphere they experience in these applications. A selection of silicone binders was then characterized with the established tests according to these requirements. Additionally a selection of inorganic binders was investigated because they allow for the use of high desorption temperatures and thus a high energy efficiency of the process. Out of these binders Silres® MP50E emerged as the most promising one due to very good adsorptive properties of the coating, its good temperature stability and ease of use. While some of the inorganic binders showed very good adsorptive properties and temperature stability the mechanical stability of all inorganic binders was not sufficient for their use in adsorption heat transformation technology. This is the first time that a broad selection of binders was evaluated with regards to adsorptive coatings and the results published in literature. With a suitable binder identified, the next step was to optimize the coating of the heat exchangers in order to work out how to manufacture the most efficient and powerful heat exchangers. Samples with different coating thicknesses were manufactured in small scale and full scale and their adsorption behavior was characterized. It could be shown for the first time that it is possible to increase energy efficiency by improving the mass ration of adsorber to coating and increase the delivered power at the same time. This was shown for small and full scale samples. It was shown that under the corresponding conditions the heat transfer from the coating layer to the adsorber metal substrate is the limiting step in the process. These results can now be used for the planning and construction of adsorbers. With knowledge of a suitable binder and how to coat efficient, powerful adsorbers, the coating process itself was improved to allow for industrial scale manufacturing. A central point here is the ability to control slurry rheology. Out of many rheology additives those that are suited for the application in adsorption heat transformation were identified and their influence on the slurry rheology thoroughly characterized. Additionally the process of slurry preparation could be simplified for several different adsorbents. Here it was shown that the supersonic deagglomeration step is not necessary to prepare a slurry. Extending the possible coating techniques and in addition to the dip coating process used so far, the spray coating of adsorptive coatings was established for the first time in literature. This process is widely used in the industry and allows for easier plugin into existing coating processes. For the coating of high resolution patterns a proof of concept of the screen printing process was carried out.
To minimize the impact of end-of life vehicles on the environment they have to be managed in accordance with the legal requirements. Against this background it is important to comprehend the whereabouts of permanently decommissioned passenger cars. From the available statistical sources it was only possible to account for the whereabouts in parts for the last years. The subject-matter of the research project was the closure of this "statistical gap" to the maximum extent possible. The objectives of the project were the identification of the possible reasons underlying the "statistical gap", the determination, itemisation and, to the maximum extent possible, quantification of information on the actual whereabouts of permanently decommissioned vehicles and the development of measures and instruments that can be used to permanently improve the data situation.
Digital platforms may yield a host of advantages in putting circular economy into effect. This paper analyses the related chances and discusses requirements of digital platforms for the realization of a circular economy. It specifically points to potential solutions offered by digital platforms for existing barriers. From there it identifies issues that need specific attendance to create economically and ecologically functional platforms. Three economically relevant perspectives are discussed for this: a management perspective, a legislative perspective and a social/systems perspective.
Digital product passport : the ticket to achieving a climate neutral and circular European economy?
(2022)
The introduction of a Digital Product Passport (DPP) is an opportunity to create a system that can store and share all relevant information throughout a product's life cycle. This would provide industry stakeholders, businesses, public authorities and consumers with a better understanding of the materials used in the product as well as their embodied environmental impact.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis, now is a critical moment to transform our economic and business models, while also addressing the huge scale of material emissions. DPPs can be a pivotal policy instrument in this goal. Furthermore, DPPs can accelerate the twin green and digital transitions as part of EU efforts to deliver positive climate action and sustainable economies.
In 2020, the European Commission (EC) adopted a new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), which emphasised the need for circular economy initiatives to consider the entire life cycle of products, from the production of basic materials to end-of-life disposal. The Circular Economy Package published in March 2022 includes a proposal for an Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), which builds upon the Ecodesign Directive that covers energy-related products.
A DPP will form a key regulatory element of the ESPR by enhancing the traceability of products and their components. This will provide consumers and manufacturers with the information needed to make better informed choices by taking their environmental impact into consideration.
As discussed in the report, there is widespread agreement amongst business leaders that a well-designed DPP could have both short- and longer-term benefits, improving access to reliable and comparable product sustainability information for businesses, consumers and policymakers.
A well-designed DPP can unify information, making it more readily accessible to all actors in the supply chain. This will support businesses to ensure an effective transformation towards a decarbonised industry. It could also create incentives for companies to make their products more sustainable, as improving access to reliable and consistent information across supply chains will make it easier for customers to make comparisons.
Digitalisation is taking place at a fast pace in all European countries and it is transforming the economies, societies, communication, jobs and the necessary skills for the workplace and everyday life. The Covid-19 pandemic is also accelerating digitalisation at many levels.
To address the great challenges resulting from this, the European Commission has launched the Green Deal, a long-term transformation strategy towards an innovative and sustainable society. Three important initiatives under the Green Deal are the New Circular Economy Action Plan, the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Zero Pollution Action Plan. The various strategies and action plans draw up a large portfolio of measures, instruments and milestones that are always linked to digital technologies. Ideally, these are eco-innovative and sustainable and contribute to improving living conditions in Europe.
The EIO Biennial Report 2020, which looks at a different topic every two years, considers digitalisation a major opportunity to accelerate the transition to a circular Europe. In the current report, the authors provide an overview of eco-innovation trends, illustrated by digital technology and policy practices that can further drive the circular economy.