Let’s begin with a shared understanding of what the CE really is. All too many people see the CE as a recycling strategy – it is not; it is a resource optimization strategy. The video below explains it best:
On this page, we have attempted to provide background reading and access to applied examples of eco-innovation, closed-loop practices or circular economy networks. Admittedly, it is a pretty rough presentation but we think if you are new to the field, you will find some interesting links on this page. This is not an endorsement of these products, just something to spark your thinking.
Also please note that the promise of the circular economy is not always rosy from a profitability standpoint. Many promising initiatives fail, but the lessons learned and the strategic gains from thinking in a circular manner suggests that ignoring CE applications in corporate strategy is a mistake!
CE Worldwide
Eco-Innovation and Closed Loop Initiatives Around the World
Adhesives
Corn and shellfish based, Purdue University (video)
Agriculture
Biosolutions at Novozymes, Denmark
Closed Loop Farming in Costa Rica (video)
Closed Loop Dairy Concept, USA
Closed Loop Dairy: Dagenham, UK
Closed Loop Farming: Three Mile Canyon Farms, USA
Chicken Farm: Kipster, NL (video)
Mobile field manager via iPad: John Deere Farm Manager, USA
Pyrolysis of Wood Biomass to Wood Vinegar & Biochar: Biogreen Energy, France
Vertical Farming: Plenty, USA (video)
Web-based Irrigation Management: Lindsay, USA
Automotive
Circular Car: On the Road to the Circular Car
EU End of Life Vehicles Directive
Ink from PM pollution: Kaalink, (video)
Integrated Auto Part Reuse and Recycling: Kaiho Industries, Japan
REALCAR (REcycled ALuminium CAR): Jaguar, Land Rover (video)
Short Loop Recycling: Renault
Tires Circular Economy Strategy: Michelin Tires
Tires to Carbon: Black Bear, Holland (video)
Tires to Shoes: Timberland Tires, USA
Building Materials
Carpet – Bioplastic carpet backing (C2C): Interface, USA
Carpet – Fully Recyclable PET fibre carpets: Ege Carpets, Denmark (video)
Carpet – PCV Free, Recycleable Carpet: Shaw EcoWorx, USA
Carpet – Take back Carpeting (C2C): Interface Carpets, USA
Earth to Building Materials: BC Materials, Belgium (video)
Glass – Thermobel Glass (C2C): AGC Glass
Insulation – Rock-based Insulation: Rockwool, Denmark/Asia
Paint – Airlite Purelight Paint (C2C): AM Technology, Switzerland
Pavement – Roads from Used Print Cartridges: Close the Loop, Australia
Roofing – Clay Shingles (C2C): Komproment, Denmark
Tools – Tool lending libraries (global search): Localtools.org
Turf – Recycleable artificial turf: Re-Match, Denmark
Walls – Recycleable Wallboard (C2C): Gyproc, Belgium
Walls – Lego-like Wood Houses: Brikawood, France
Walls – Re-use Bricks: Gamel Mursden, Denmark (Danish only)
Walls – Self-gripping Bricks: Daas Click Brick, NL
Consumer / Retail
Baby Outerwear – Expandable: Petit Pli, UK (video)
Clothing Renewal: Renewal Workshop, USA
Free Goods Exchange: Freecycle Network, USA
Household Products – Lower Impact: Ifyoucare, USA
Online Consignment / Thrift Store: Thred Up, USA
Packaging Free Products: Tesco, UK
Packaging – Reconceptualed: Carrefour, France
Repurposed Post-consumer Goods: Looptworks, USA
Sanitary Pads – Compostable: Anandipad, India (video)
Shoes – Made from Recycled Textiles: Vaer Sneakers, Denmark (video)
Shoe Soles – From Tires: Timberland Tires, USA
Software & Videos Reborn: Game Stop, USA
Worn Again: Recycled Textile Research
Electronics
Chargers – Foldable Solar Chargers: Engel, Australia
Chargers – Rollout Solar Charger: InfinityPV apps
Computer – Closed Loop: Dell, USA
Computer – Refurbished: Refurb, DK (Danish only)
Computer in a Box (Literally): Recompute, USA
Computer – Reduced Footprint Computer: Iameco, Ireland
Headphones – Circular Headphones: Gerrard Street, NL
Ink Cartridge Re-tasking: Close the Loop, AU (video)
Mobile Phones – Design for Disassembly and Repair: Fairphone, NL
Mobile phone – Upgradeable Component Phone: The Puzzle Phone, Finland
Voice Recorder – Redesign using CE principles: Philips, NL (design for disassembly video)
Water Regulator – Smart Sprinklers: Rachio, USA
Water Regulator – Shower Regulation Device: The Water Pebble, UK
Energy
Biorefinery – Circular Design: Borregaard, Norway (video)
Heat Pumps – Heat Pump Reference Site: Star Pump Alliance, Germany (video)
Home Energy Storage System: Toyota, Japan (video－Japanese)
Home Energy Storage System: Tesla, USA (video)
Pyrolysis – Mobile Pyrolysis System for Plastics and Tires to Oil: Circular Energy, Czech
Food
Beer – Bread Waste to Beer: Bute Brew Co, Scotland
Beer – Potato Beer: In Stock, NL
Beer Waste – Value from Beer Brewery Waste: N17, Ireland
Coffee Waste- Coffee Grounds to Biofuel and Biochemicals: Bio-Bean, UK
Food Waste – CE and Food waste: Ellen MacArthur Foundations, UK
Food Waste – Organic Waste to Fiber: Agraloop
Food Waste – Redistribution of Surplus Food: Food Shift, USA (Video)
Food Waste – Rescued Food to Restaurant Cuisine: In Stock, NL
Insects – Insect Protein for Farming: Protix, NL (video)
Jams – End of Day Jams and Soups: Potverdorie, NL (Dutch site)
Meatless Beef: Beyond Foods, USA (video recipe)
Meatless Meat: Prime Roots, USA
Meatless Meat: Impossible Foods, USA (video on Heme)
Meatless Meat: The Vegetarian Butcher, NL (video)
Meatless Meat: (cultured): Air Protein, USA (video)
Mushrooms- Coffee Grounds to Oyster Mushrooms: Rotterzwam, NL
Snacks – Beer Yeast to Grain Snacks: Regrained, USA
Vegetables – Wonky Fruits and Vegetables: Kromkommer, NL
Furnishings
Tutorial: 6 Strategies for Circular Furniture Design, Design Wanted, Italy
DfD Recycled Plastic Chair: Javier Mariscal
DfD Office Chair: Steelcase, USA
Ethically Sourced in Developing Nations: One Village, UK
Furniture Sharing: Kaiyo, USA
Kitchen Cabinets (Kungsbacka): IKEA, Sweden
Reclaimed Wood Furniture: Thors Designs, Denmark
Reclaimed Wood Furniture: Real Wood Studios, Scotland
Sofa for Kids – Flip Up Recycled Material: Upparel, AU (video)
Toward Zero Waste at IKEA
Household
10 ways to use orange peels in the home (video)
Kitchen Cleansers (C2C): Greenspeed, EU
Kitchen Cleansers: Replenish, USA
Kitchen Composting: Bokashi, Australia
Kitchen Composting: Urban Composter, Australia
Rental of Belongings: Fat Llama, UK
Toilet, Glass, Floor Cleaners (C2C): Werner and Mertz Professional, Germany
Tool Sharing: Toronto Tool Library, Canada
Plastics and Packaging
Tutorial: Bioplastic vs Biodegradable Plastic vs Biodegradable Material, Precious Plastic, NL
Circular Polymers: SABIC, Saudi Arabia
Compostable Dog Waste Disposal Bags: Onya, AU
Marine Litter Remover: Asco Harvester
Autonomous Water Drone: Waste Shark, Rotterdam
PLAiR foamed PLA: Ricoh, Japan (video)
Plastic from Milk Protein: Lactips, France
Plastic Waste to Fabric: Thread, USA
Polymers from Milk Protein: QMilk, Germany
Modular plastic recycling systems: Precious Plastic, NL (video)Rethinking Plastics: Belgium
Products as Services
Car Sharing: Greenwheels, NL
Car Sharing: Mywheels, NL
Cup Re-use: Globelet, NZ/AU (video)
Designer Clothing Rental: Rent The Runway, USA
Lease a Jeans: MUD Jeans, NL
Luxury Consignment Goods: The RealReal, USA
Multi-modal Trip Planning: BMW/Daimler’s Urban Mobility Now
Neighbourhood Car rentals: Snappcar, NL
Pay to Ride Elevators: Biguituan Residential Complex, China
Ride sharing: Blablacar, France (French site)
Tool Lending libraries (global search): Localtools.org
Women’s Clothing Rental: Gwynnie Bee, USA
Public Sector
Energy and Water from Hospital Waste: Pharmafilter, NL (video)
Recovering Phosphorous and Nitrogen from Waste Water: Ostara Wastewater Technology, Canada (video)
Recovering Phosphorous from Waterless Urinals: Fos Vaatje, NL
Textiles
Reused Baby Clothes: Vigga, Denmark
Bags from Recycled airplane seats: Looptworks, USA
Biodegradable Sewing Yarns: Natura Sewing Thread, Germany
Citrus Juice Waste to Fabrics: Orange Fiber, Italy
C2C Dyes: Dystar, Singapore
C2C Hosiery and Lingerie: Wolford, Austria
C2C T-Shirts: C&A, NL
C2C Wool Yarn: Stella McCartney, UK
Closed Loop Textile Recycling: Relooping Fashion, Finland
Department Store CE: Marks and Spencer, UK
Department Store – Toward 100% Reused/Recycled: H&M, Sweden
Fashion and the Circular Economy: Fashion Positive, NL
H&M Clothing Recycling: H&M, Sweden
Lyocell Fabric (Tensel): Lenzing, Austria
Microfiber Pollution Reduction: Coraball, USA
Microfiber Pollution Reduction Bag: Guppy Friend
Natural Dyes from Organic Waste: Archroma’s Earthcolours, CH
PET Bottles to Yarn: Polygenta, India
PET Bottles to Fiber: Repreve, USA
Plant Fibers (Eco Circle): Teijin, Japan
Orange residue to Fiber: Orange Fiber, Italy (video)
Recycled Cotton: Circulose, Sweden (video)
Regenerated Nylon: Econyl, Italy
Tensel Fabric Clothing (Lyocell): Reformation, USA
Textiles from Recycled Materials: Recover, USA (video)
Textile Waste to New Fiber: EVRNU, USA
Textiles – Milk Proteins to Polymers: QMilk, Germany
Upcycled Cotton: Recover from Hilaturas Ferre, Spain
Worn Again: Recycled Textile Research
Yarn from PET Bottles: Karen Klarbaek, Denmark
Zara Clothing Recycling: Zara, Spain
Transportation
GHG Emission Tracking: Zilchforwarding, Australia
CE Initiatives
Circular Economy Initiatives Around the World
Projects
Australia’s Circular Advantage – Scott Valentine and KPMG
Case Studies from Ellen MacArthur Foundation
C2C Biz – Cradle to Cradle Initiatives for Business
C40 Circular Economy Cases Studies – City Level
Circular Design Speed Dating in Vienna
FLOOW2 – Platform for Sharing Business Assets, Luxembourg
Kalundborg Symbiosis, Denmark
Nike’s Closed Loop Project, The Nike Grind
Planning a CE Campus at the University of Delft
Samsoe, Denmark – 10% Renewable Energy Island
The Circular Economy – And Three Companies Doing It Right
Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Program, South Africa (Video)
Zero Waste Scotland, UK (Video)
Circular Economy Networks
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is one of the world’s foremost organisations working on circular economy issues. Through its website, researchers can access a large number of reports that investigate different aspects of the circular economy. When someone wishes to learn more about the circular economy, I often point them to this site.
The Circular Economy Club (CEC) is an international network of over 3,100 circular economy professionals and organizations from over 100 countries. Non-for-profit, global and open to anyone to join the club for free. The site includes a directory of events, job offers, funding opportunities, and all things circular.
The gateway for Cradle to Cradle knowledge, expertise and professionals
A listing of over 30 organizations or websites that are serving coordination roles in the circular economy.
CE Education
CE Education
CE Institutes
Product-Life Institute, Geneva
The main focus of the Product-Life Institute is on practical strategies and approaches to produce higher real wealth and economic growth with considerably lower resource consumption. Create more manual and skilled jobs with greatly reduced resource consumption. Promote the business concepts of the Functional Service Economy that focuses on the performance of goods and services, the utilization value as its central notion of economic value and private-sector initiatives to finance public works.
Borderstep, Germany
An independent not-for-profit research institution, Borderstep carries out publicly funded research projects in the areas of the green economy, green innovation, and sustainable entrepreneurship.
CE Higher Ed Programs
MSc in Circular Economy: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
MSc in Industrial Ecology: Leiden University, NL
MSc Integrated Product Design: Delft University of Technology, NL
Short Courses and Workshops
Circular Tayside Learning Resource page – global courses
KPMG`s Circular Advantage – 18-module (5 month) online program
McMaster University – CE Certificate Course 3 day; 20 hour
Free Courses and Workshops
Coursera – CE Sustainable Materials Management (Lund University)
Coursera – Business Sustainability in the Circular Economy (University of London)
Coursera – A Circular Economy of Metals (Leiden University)
CE Education Materials
ecoCEO is an interactive and engaging educational game for the classroom! It increases awareness and transfers knowledge about circular economy strategies and circular business models in a hands-on and fun way. Age target 15-18.
EMF Teaching Resources
This is a great first stop when looking for teaching resources and CE education programs on the web. Scroll down on the linked page and you will find some useful short exercises and curriculum ideas for higher education.
CE Events
CE Events
Conferences (Past and Upcoming)
- Circularity 2022, November 24-25, Sydney Australia
- Global Sustainability Development and Circular Economy Innovation Summit, 2019, 18-19 September, Melbourne
- Powering the Change, November 2019, 12-14 November, Adelaide
- World Circular Economy Forum, Toronto, Canada, Summer 2020, TBC