TheCircularEconomy.com

In a recent interview, Mark Dempsey, Senior Consulting Director at GlobalData, discusses key shifts in the spirits industry, including a consumer move towards premiumization and experience-driven consumption. He highlights the growing demand for no and low-alcohol options, driven by health-conscious younger consumers. Dempsey also emphasizes the importance of sustainability and ethical practices, noting that brands demonstrating genuine commitment to these values are more likely to succeed. He advises spirits marketers to focus on younger audiences, align with their values, and invest in creating authentic brand experiences.s future.

Read the full article at: www.dekkersinternational.com

Throughout the year, we’ve shared a ton of small businesses we’re proud to support on our blog and I’ve had the distinct pleasure of interviewing several entrepreneurs whose dedication to their work has been inspiring. In fact, getting to know them has been my favorite part of this job. These brands are doing a myriad of amazing things, from uplifting their communities, ushering in more representation in their respective fields, creating products they’re passionate about, and focusing on sustainability.  As you buy gifts for your loved ones in the coming weeks, we encourage you to support these businesses because, along with doing a lot of good, they also sell some pretty awesome products. That’s why we’ve crafted this gift guide to make your shopping experience a little bit easier this holiday season. We hope you enjoy these brands as much as we do!  The below brands all ship items to the U.S. and may deliver to other countries as well.  For the snack lover - Is it really the holidays if you’re not indulging in delicious foods? These tasty treats are sure to put a smile on anyone’s face.  Cinnamon spice loaf from Rize Up Bakery - Rize Up Bakery's Cinammon loaf - Rize Up Bakery is unlike any other bakery you’ve come across. Not only does the San Francisco business have roots in social justice activism, but they make some pretty unique sourdough flavors, including Ube, Garam Masala, and K-Pop Gochujang loaves.  But this cinnamon spice loaf bread is bursting with holiday flavors and is the ideal gift for the sourdough lover in your life.  Hear Rize Up's founder speak to us about taking a stand with his business in season two, episode seven of Small Business, Big Lessons.  Made in Michigan gift basket from Zingerman’s Community of Businesses - The made in Michigan basket from Zingermans - Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Zingerman’s Community of Businesses has several restaurants throughout the area. The brand deeply values community, which is why they’ve committed to only opening businesses in Ann Arbor. Fortunately, they do ship certain food items so anyone can enjoy their treats.  This made-in-Michigan gift basket contains a wide range of tasty snacks – cherry preserves, peanut butter, chocolate, bread, pasta, and more!

Read the full article at: buffer.com

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and your calendar is probably filling up with holiday parties and festive gatherings. While a time for enjoying food and sharing gifts with loved ones, the holidays are also a disproportionately wasteful time; between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, it’s estimated that Americans produce 25% more waste than any other time of the year.  No matter what the occasion, here’s how to throw a holiday party that’s both festive and better for the planet.  Get Cooking - Instead of buying plasticized snack and dessert trays from the grocery store on unrecyclable platters – or pre-made meals and main dishes from the frozen section – make as much party food as you’re able.  The processing, packaging, and transportation of food all use energy and contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions. Consider a pre-made vegetable platter sold at a grocery store: the vegetables are prepared and assembled, the dish is packaged in plastic, transported by truck or plane, and then kept refrigerated until it’s sold. According to FoodPrint, about two billion pounds of food are wasted during the processing/manufacturing stage alone, usually in the form of edible portions of food being trimmed off and not reused for animal feed or otherwise repurposed. By making the same vegetable platter yourself, you create no extra waste from packaging, have the option to choose local and sustainable ingredients, and can use those ingredients as efficiently as possible. Prepping food at home also gives you liberty to utilize ingredients you might already have on hand, rather than shopping for entirely new things. Not to mention, ultra-processed foods are generally much less nutritious than fresh, homemade dishes.  Of course, you might not be able to make absolutely everything for a party – potato chips, crackers, and bread might not be up your alley – but think about what you can make. Instead of jarred salsa or packaged cookies, try your hand at making them yourself, or ask guests to contribute a homemade dish. Main dishes and appetizers are a good place to focus your energy. 

Read the full article at: www.ecowatch.com

In an attempt to deal with the growing plastic waste problem in the UK and the planet, the UK government is set to ban additional single-use plastic items like plates and cutlery in England, after banning straws, stirrers and cotton swabs there in 2020.  From November of last year to February of 2022, a public consultation regarding a plan to prohibit the supply of single-use plastic items and polystyrene food and drink containers was held by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), reported The Independent.  “We are determined to go further and faster to reduce, reuse, and recycle more of our resources in order to transform our waste industry and deliver on our commitments in the ambitious 25-year environment plan. Cutting our reliance on single-use plastics is crucial,” said a spokesperson for DEFRA, as The Guardian reported.  Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Thérèse Coffey will announce plans to replace the single-use plastic items with biodegradable alternatives, reported the Financial Times.  Scotland imposed a similar ban earlier this year, and last week Wales approved a ban on single-use plastic products beginning in 2023.  Every year, 4.25 billion single-use cutlery items and 1.1 billion plates are used in England, which is equal to 75 pieces of cutlery and 20 plates per person, the government said, but only 10 percent of it gets recycled, CNN reported.  Most plastics are made from fossil fuels and produce greenhouse gas emissions, which speed up the rate of climate change.  All of the single-use plastic products have reusable or non-plastic alternatives, Welsh Minister for Climate Change Julie James told the Financial Times.  “It’s not a lot more expensive at all, and as people realise how harmful these products are, more alternatives will come on stream at a cheaper price,” James said, as reported by the Financial Times.  DEFRA is also looking at how to deal with other single-use plastic items like tobacco filters and wet wipes.

Read the full article at: www.ecowatch.com

What's the killer app for the circular economy? GreenBiz co-founder Joel Makower wanted to know. The quick answer is that no single magic button exists yet, if ever. As with so much of sustainability, however, the ideal endgame for circular principles is to become baked into every point of the product's lifecycle along the line of design, supply chain, manufacture and beyond. "The killer app is that which is invisible," said Nike's VP of Business Innovation Cyrus Wadia, onstage Tuesday at VERGE 18 in Oakland. "We need to be embedding these attributes into high-performance products." That's the end goal, but where does business stand now? Take a step back. The term "circular economy" refers to three dimensions of a new economic model: ending waste and pollution; keeping products, materials and nutrients at the highest possible value for the longest possible time; and regenerating the natural resources and capital upon which economic systems depend. That's according to Del Hudson, the Ellen MacArthur Fund's head of U.S. and North America Operations. The British organization, which is accelerating the concept, advocates for next-level innovations and systemic shifts that most corporations have yet to follow (or lead, for that matter). Conversations are less about what it looks like to move away from the old "take, make, waste" linear model and more about how to partner to drive new, circular models forward, Hudson said. "It’s less about, 'how do I apply this to my organization,' and more about, 'who do I collaborate with as I move to this transition.'" So what does that look like to Nike and Amazon? 

Read the full article at: www.greenbiz.com

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, the three “Rs” in sustainability, are also at the heart of the Circular Economy. It’s no secret that reuse is a practice that has been around for many years. Our ancestors already practiced it in agriculture. Reuse of organic matter, such as animal manure, was a practice used even longer ago. Organic matter is an essential component of fertile soils, affecting their physical, chemical and biological characteristics, and being an essential requirement for a healthy environment. Soils on its way to infertility. Without organic matter, there would be no soil. This basic principle for recycling and reuse is one of the paradigms of modern-day agriculture, which must meet two requirements which are not necessarily at odds with each other: Balancing the need to feed an increasingly larger number of people with quality food and at low cost. Doing this in an environmentally friendly way.
In recent years, soil fertility has been decreasing, due to a decline in the reuse of organic matter, and there are as yet no known policies or measures in place to revert this trend. If we consider that, according the to FAO, soils should have a minimum content of 2% organic matter, we find that around 50% of all soils (in Portugal at least) would not even be able to be considered as such. Added to this, our soils are at a high or very high risk of desertification.

Read the full article at: blog.ferrovial.com

The report states that of the 92.8 billion tonnes of exploited resources in 2015 (which equates to 34.4kg of raw materials per person per day, excluding water), only 8.4 billion tonnes was recycled. This equates to just 9.1% of all resources. The Dutch think-tank Circle Economy made the most of the annual meeting of world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos to publish its first report on the circular economy, titled the Circularity Gap Report. If 21.5 billion tonnes of raw material are put into long-term stock, notably in construction, the remaining 51.9 billion tonnes are transformed into short-lived products and are assumed to be scattered in the environment. Of the 19.4 billion tonnes of materials turned into waste only 46% is recycled, according to the report, whose main objective is to develop a method and indicative references to measure the world economy’s progress towards a more circular economic model. Pressure on natural resources decreased by 28%. This waste completely goes against the environmental commitments discussed by governments and corporation at the COP21. The extraction of natural resources multiplied by twelve between 1900 and 2015 and should double once again by 2050. But a fully circular economy would decrease pressure on natural resources by 28%, the report calculated. Indeed, 67% of greenhouse gases are emitted by the exploitation of natural resources. A fully circular economy would enable us to cut these emissions by 72%, according to the report. A crucial contribution if you take into account the UN’s last Emissions Gap Report published in October, which served as a reference to the Circularity Gap Report. According to the UN report, even if all participating states of the Paris Agreement were to keep to their commitments, the global temperature would most likely rise by 3-3,2°C before 2100. Therefore the agreement’s goal of keeping the global temperature rising above 2°C would not be reached. On 22 January France’s Environment Minister Nicholas Hulot revealed that France had failed to meet its 2016 carbon emission targets by 3.6%.

Read the full article at: www.euractiv.com

The winner of the 2018 Green Alley Award has been chosen: Aeropowder from the UK beat off five competitors to pick up the European circular economy award. Aeropowder’s solution is pluumo, an insulating material for packaging based on waste feathers. The decision was made on the evening of October 18 at Haus Ungarn in Berlin. In mentoring sessions, the finalists worked with experts on their business model. Afterwards, all six startups presented their project to the audience and the jury in live pitches.
Aeropowder’s seemingly unique idea is to use waste feathers from the poultry industry to produce sustainable thermal packaging. After cleaning and treatment, the feathers are covered in a certified, compostable food grade liner. This textile is called pluumo and serves as an environmental-friendly alternative to conventional polystyrene packaging, PE-foams or thermal foil. “Once again, this year’s decision was not easy, and our finalists presented six strong and well-designed concepts,” said Jan Patrick Schulz, CEO of Landbell Group. “Aeropowder convinced us with their product pluumo, as they are repurposing materials which would otherwise be disposed of. We want to give the Green Alley Award to those innovative approaches that directly feed into the idea of a Circular Economy.” Elena Dieckmann, co-founder of Aeropowder, is delighted about winning the award. “With pluumo we had the idea of putting a valuable resource back into the material cycle. Winning the Green Alley Award shows us that we are going in the right direction. Feathers have incredible properties, as they are light-weight and robust, and insulate against heat and cold. We have requests from Spain, Germany, France; not only from customers but also from feather suppliers.” The Green Alley Award has been running since 2014 and was initiated by the environmental services supplier Landbell Group from Mainz, Germany. “With their unconventional approach and their enthusiasm, startups fuel an innovation-driven industry such as the circular economy. We are delighted that Aeropowder is once again a strong Green Alley Award winner this year. With pluumo, Aeropowder can really help to reduce waste and make our economy more sustainable,” says Schulz.

Read the full article at: envirotecmagazine.com

Container homes are revolutionizing housing. Projected to hit $117.49 billion by 2032, this market's explosive growth stems from eco-consciousness and affordability demands. As industry leaders, we're witnessing unprecedented innovation in design and construction, expanding appeal beyond niche markets. This sector's potential is immense – are you positioned to capitalize?

Read the full article at: beyondmarketinsights.com

Seismic Therapeutic has completed a $121-million Series B financing, with proceeds set to fund development of its two lead programs through Phase I proof-of-mechanism trials.

Read the full article at: www.genengnews.com

One of the main dangers of plastics is the harm that their production and incineration can do to the health of the people who live nearby. Plastics plants are one of the main factors polluting the air of Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, for example.  Now, a group of U.S. lawmakers are seeking to address this environmental justice issue through the newly introduced Protecting Communities from Plastics Act.  “Plastic pollution isn’t just a problem for our oceans and climate — it’s a massive environmental injustice, directly impacting frontline and fenceline communities throughout the plastics lifecycle,” U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA), who introduced the bill, said in a statement emailed to EcoWatch. “My bill will protect the health of our communities, reduce greenhouse gas emissions fueling the climate crisis, and stop the fossil fuel industry’s petro-dictatorship as it eyes plastics as a safety net. The clock is ticking, and we will keep working on this next Congress — but we are sending a message here and now to put oil and gas companies on notice. Our communities must come first.”  Huffman introduced the bill Thursday alongside Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representative Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), who are the legislative team behind the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act. The bill would both tighten health and environmental regulations for plastics makers and set national targets for reducing the production of certain single-use plastics and for encouraging reusable materials in food and other packaging.  The bill’s sponsors also emphasized the contribution that the production and use of plastics — which are set to double over the next 10 years — make to the climate crisis.  “As we transition to clean and renewable energy, fossil-based plastic production threatens to derail our efforts to address the climate crisis,” Booker said in a statement emailed to EcoWatch. “In fenceline communities that are near plastic production plants, residents suffer from the release of harmful pollutants and increased rates of debilitating health conditions such as cancer and heart disease. To address these environmental injustices, I am proud to introduce this legislation that will create nationwide targets for plastic source reduction and put a pause on the permitting of new and expanded plastic facilities while the EPA updates regulations for plastic facilities.”

Read the full article at: www.ecowatch.com

Just a few weeks ago Gartner analysts said that sustainability and issues around it  would transcend all of the strategic technology trends for 2023.  This week at its IT Infrastructure, Operations & Cloud Strategies Conference Gartner described how corporate data centers might make sustainability a practical reality.  “IT leaders must avoid wasting value through the premature replacement of IT infrastructure,” said Philip Dawson, vice president and analyst at Gartner, at the conference. “They can do that by using real-time health analytics to maximize the useful life of data-center assets.”  “On-premises data centers and cloud providers are extending infrastructure lifecycles from three to five years and from five to seven years to help maximize OPEX cycles and reduce CAPEX investments tied to refresh,” Dawson stated.  Above all, the most-effective way that sustainability can reduce costs is through greater energy efficiency and optimized power consumption. It is paramount that infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders identify where and how data-center infrastructure can be optimized to consume less power, without hindering necessary business operations, Dawson stated.  Organizations need a sustainable-technology framework that increases the energy and material efficiency of IT services, and it must enable enterprise sustainability through traceability, analytics, renewable energy, and AI. The framework should also call for the deployment of IT solutions that help organizations achieve their own sustainability goals, distinguished vice president and analyst at Gartner Frances Karamouzis said earlier at the research firm’s IT Symposium/Xpo 2022.  “Targeting areas such as data-center power consumption is low-hanging fruit because it’s easy to measure,” Karamouzis said. “What enterprises need to look at is what to deploy as they get more and more data. Are they looking at buying more storage the same old way or are they looking at optimizing that system by looking at things like DNA storage and looking at the level of redundancy they need and implementing technology with a sustainable mindset.”  Environmental sustainability on CEOs' radar, with 9% of them putting it among their top three business priorities, Gartner stated. Nearly 70% of them who Garnter surveyed plan to invest in new sustainable products and in make existing products more sustainable, the analysts stated.

Read the full article at: www.networkworld.com

Brexit offers fresh opportunities for the UK and its manufacturers to secure their raw material supplies, such as recycled plastics, from a stable domestic market and stimulate a circular flow of materials, according to Axion Polymers. The North West-based plastics recycler suggests that potential difficulties in transporting material across borders after March 29 2019 should become a driver for growth in the domestic market as purchasers seek to reduce inward material supply chain risk. Axion Director Roger Morton asserts that freedom from regulatory controls and external policies, coupled with the ability to set our own rules, could encourage greater investment and enable the UK to ‘get ahead of the rest of Europe’ in material recovery and resource security, provided there is strong Government leadership. Axion produces its high-grade recycled Axpoly polymers derived from UK end-of-life vehicles at two sites in Manchester. Plastics are extracted from end-of-life cars and other metal scrap at its SWAPP facility in Trafford Park and further refined at Salford, where recent laboratory equipment investment is further enhancing the products’ properties and quality. Mark Keenan, Axion Polymers Business Development Manager comments: “With 31.5 million cars currently on UK roads, our future end-of-life vehicle feedstock for our recycled polymers is assured. And that can only be good news for UK companies seeking to use locally-sourced plastic raw materials that can go back into a range of products, from new cars and electrical equipment to construction products,” adds Mark. Roger says: “Brexit is inevitable now. Although complications could arise, we are taking a positive approach. British companies should focus on the opportunity that leaving the EU offers and how we can make the most of our resource sustainable position.” A good example here, he points out, is steel. With annual consumption (12 Mt) versus annual arisings (11.5 Mt), this market could be much more ‘circular’ than the existing export of scrap/import of finished products model. Similarly, demand creation for the use of recycled polymers in new automotive, electrical and building products could encourage further investment in more processing plants like Axion’s.

Read the full article at: envirotecmagazine.com

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published its report on the circular economy and the bioeconomy. The circular economy and the bioeconomy — Partners in sustainability shows that the two policy agendas have similar objectives and areas of intervention, including food waste, biomass and bio-based products, and that they would benefit from stronger links, particularly in product and infrastructure design, and collaboration throughout the value chain. According to the report, the increasing demand for food, feed, biomaterials and bioenergy resources could worsen the over-exploitation of natural resources. By extending the lifetime of products and recycling materials, a circular, bio-economy approach can help retain material value and functionality for longer time as well as avoid unrecycled biowaste. Promising innovations and strategies for circular biomass use include biorefinery, 3D printing with bioplastics, multi-purpose crops, better use of residues and food waste, and biowaste treatment. Consumers can also contribute to bioeconomy’s sustainability, for example, by eating less animal-based protein, preventing food waste and separating biowaste from other waste streams, the report says. The report argues that biobased approaches should be tailored to the specific use context in order to maximise the benefits of biobased and biodegradable products. The technological innovation, covering product and infrastructure design, should be embedded in a wider system innovation that also tackles consumer behaviour, product use and waste management. The circular economy and the bioeconomy — Partners in sustainability is the third EEA report on the circular economy that aims to support the framing, implementation and evaluation of European circular economy policy from an environmental perspective. The two previous reports were: Circular economy in Europe – Developing the knowledge base; and Circular by design – Products in the circular economy.

Read the full article at: ilbioeconomista.com