Circular Economy Archives

Data-sharing for a greener future: How can JIDEP contribute?

Written by

As the global push toward sustainability moves beyond a trend to becoming necessary, we must address the inertia and challenges in securing a circular economy. JIDEP – a joint project by manufacturers, technology companies, and leading research organisations – proposes an ambitious but technically astute way to encourage companies to share valuable data. Industrial progress has long been defined by […]

Circular economy for a sustainable planet: Quantifying the effects of circularity

Written by

Managing our planet’s resources carefully is becoming an emergency. A committed focus on environmental management and sustainability is urgent, as is our pressing obligation to address climate change. Dr Simone Bastianoni from the University of Siena, Italy, along with his colleagues, is working to improve data-driven approaches to underpin key decisions and strategies for moving to a circular economy (CE). […]

The life of a lithium-ion battery

Written by

A review of lithium-ion batteries for Research Outreach issue 133

If you’re reading this on a laptop or mobile phone, it’s likely powered by a lithium-ion battery – a huge amount of our everyday technology, from computers to medical devices and electric vehicles, relies on them. With so much demand, it’s no surprise that there is a significant amount of research into maximising the efficiency of lithium-ion batteries and working […]

World Cleanup Day 2022: Help #cleanup our planet

Written by

World Cleanup Day 2022 - a globe is wrapped in a plastic bag

Put on your rubber gloves and help #cleanup the planet on World Cleanup Day 2022. This 17th of September, millions of international volunteers will join forces to pick up trash and remove waste that pollutes the Earth. Let’s Do It World leads the collective effort to rid the world of pollution, mobilised into action by the horrific truth that only […]

Waste management and transition to a circular economy

Written by

Dr Pekka Peura reviews the evolution of a waste-management system which has been in place since 1984 in Finland, driving the move to a circular economy

As opposition to society’s ‘throwaway culture’ grows, so does the realisation that recycling and waste management are not only needed but desired by the public. Dr Pekka Peura at VEBIC, University of Vaasa, Finland, in collaboration with Dr Olli Voutilainen of the Natural Resources Institute Finland and Professor Jussi Kantola of the University of Turku, review the evolution of a […]

Sustainable construction for a circular economy

Written by

CO2 emissions are a result of the lifecycle of buildings.

Prof Dr-Ing Danièle Waldmann and Dr Gelen Gael Chewe Ngapeya from the Institute of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Luxembourg are developing sustainable solutions for the construction industry in the form of modular building components that can be reused, reconditioned and recycled. Rather than standardising buildings, the research team have developed standardised building components including new masonry […]

Cradle-to-Cradle principles change how products are designed

Written by

Industry from the very beginning has treated natural resources as essentially infinite, and the world’s capacity to accommodate waste with the same regard. As the economy becomes global, we now understand this is not true – so the way we make products also should change. EPEA Switzerland has developed ‘Reference Model Cradle-to-Cradle Design Innovations’. Their reference model works for every product […]