Industry Intelligence #1: Unraveling the Circular Economy Landscape in Europe
Rayane Echikr
CI Analyst @EIT Manufacturing | Competitive Intelligence, Green Manufacturing, Industry 4.0, Technology Watch
Greetings everyone,
Welcome to the first edition of Industry Intelligence, your go-to newsletter for staying up-to-date with the latest trends in energy and technology. The main goal is to shed light on ways to achieve industrial sustainability and decarbonisation within European #Manufacturing.
In this edition, we'll be diving into the fascinating realm of the circular economy. By exploring miscellaneous use cases, projects, and policies at a European level, I aim to provide valuable insights and actionable knowledge.
If this topic resonates with you, I invite you to join me in exploring the depths of this subject together! Let's embark on this journey towards a greener and more sustainable future.
Technology use-cases:
[Nuclear] Revolutionising Europe's Energy Future: Recycled Nuclear Waste as a Sustainable Solution for Centuries ??
?? Three months ago, RePlanet, an international environmental campaign group, released a report regarding the recyclability, and repurposability of nuclear?#waste?to be used in advanced nuclear reactors or ′fast reactors′ and bring a millennium of zero-carbon electricity.
[Automotive]?Car2Car project: Advancing end-of-Life recycling through state-supported technological developments ??
?? Using advanced sensor technology to identify different types of metal alloys, a consortium led by BMW Group, the giant German automotive giant – and including representatives from the?#recycling?industry, commodity processors, and science – is exploring the circular economy in automotive manufacturing, BMW says. The “Car2Car” project, which has received €6.4 million in funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in Germany, focuses on improving the quality of secondary raw materials obtained from recycling end-of-life vehicles, with an emphasis on aluminium, steel, glass, copper, and plastic.
[Battery] Audi′s MaterialLoop project to foster end-of-life vehicle recycling ??
?? Circularise, a Dutch digital product passport provider, has joined Audi, a German giant carmaker, for its new ′Materials Loop′ project to foster the traceability of vehicles in a?#circulareconomy?approach. In October 2022, 100 vehicles were dismantled as part of the project and car bodies were shredded and sorted into miscellaneous material groups such as aluminium, glass, plastic, and steel.?
[Battery] Li-Cycle's investment sparks the launch of Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Plants in the EU ??
???Kion, a German giant industrial trucks manufacturer specialising in forklifts, and Li-Cycle, a Canadian startup specialising in materials recovery of Li-ion?batteries?(LiB), partner to process at least 10,000 tonnes of LiB materials annually by 2024, in northern France. Li-Cycle already scheduled two additional plants in Germany, and Norway, slated for completion by 2023 and 2024, correspondingly, with a processing capacity of 30,000 and 10,000 tonnes of LiB materials annually.
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Project
[Wind turbine] Vestas′s breakthrough process to recycle wind turbine blades ??
?? Vestas, the Danish world′s largest wind turbine manufacturer, has a potential solution against the endless piling of wind turbines that is starting to rise in landfills. The main problem to recycle wind turbines stems to separate the inherent mix of materials such as?#composites?that contain glass fibres and polymer matrixes. That′s why the Danish company announced a novel chemical disassembly process to turn aging wind turbines into new ones.?
Policy
[Framework] EU Takes Action to Accelerate Resource-Efficiency and Sustainability Goals Amid Circular Economy Monitoring
Discover the EU's Enhanced Circular Economy Monitoring Framework! ??
In May, the European Commission unveiled its revamped Circular Economy monitoring framework, signaling a pivotal step towards sustainable practices.
The new framework places a strong emphasis on intensifying efforts within the EU to curb material consumption and minimise waste generation. ??
[Financing] EIB financing for the circular economy reached a record level of €1.1B in 2022
?? The European Investment Bank (EIB), one of the largest multilateral providers of climate and environment finance, showcased its financing and advisory solutions for circular economy projects at the World Circular Economy Forum 2023 (WCEF 2023) in Helsinki, Finland.
The EIB noted that it has been increasing its lending to circular economy projects in recent years, reaching a total of €3.4 billion over the past five years, with a record level of €1.1 billion in 2022 alone. Some notable projects include venture debt financing with PackBenefit in Spain for sustainable food packaging technology, a loan to European waste-to-product business Renewi for waste sorting and biogas facilities, and an equity investment in the Circulate Capital Ocean Fund I-B to combat ocean plastic pollution and promote the circular economy in Asia.
There is still a significant financing gap in the circular economy sector, as EIB's study on plastics recycling noted. The study revealed an estimated investment gap of at least €6.7 billion to meet Europe's plastics recycling targets.
To accelerate the transition to a circular economy, the EIB said has established strong partnerships with multilateral development banks and civil society organizations. For example, it collaborates with financial institutions in the International Financial Institutions (IFI) circularity exchange network and supports the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Plastic Initiative, which aims to scale returnable packaging systems.
?? “It is very clear today that there can be no transition to a carbon-neutral economy without a transition to a circular economy, one where we keep resources in use for as long as possible and significantly reduce waste,” said Ambroise Fayolle, EIB Vice-President responsible for financing environment, climate action, and the circular economy. “Financial institutions have an important role to play as one of the drivers of the transition to the circular economy. In the last 5 years, the EIB provided €3.4 billion to co-finance 118 circular economy projects in a variety of sectors and stands ready to do more to help meet the lending needs of its partners in this domain.”
Additional information and links:
Founder of FCPI (French VCT, i.e. venture capital trust )
1 年Excellent Rayane ! Plein d'informations synthétiques, lecture très utile !
Chercheur associé au laboratoire CeReGe (UR 13564) axe Intelligence Stratégique Internationale chez Université de Poitiers
1 年Excellente veille technologique que nous ne faisons pas. ?? Abonnez-vous.