ECIV Matchmaking

Areas of interest in circular economy for ECIV regions

🥕 1. Food and Agro-Food Systems

• Redesign food production and consumption systems to minimize food loss and waste across the entire value chain.
• Promote short supply chains
• By-product valorization: Transform agro-industrial by-products and residues into valuable resources such as animal feed, biofertilizers, bioplastics, or energy.
• Encourage the development of new, sustainable food products using upcycled ingredients or alternative proteins.

👗 2. Textiles and Fashion

• Reduce waste and pollution from textile production through process efficiency, closed-loop manufacturing, and circular design.
• Invest in the development of innovative, sustainable fibers such as bio-based, recycled, or biodegradable textiles.
• Encourage repair, resale, rental, and recycling business models in the fashion industry.

🏭 3. Industrial Symbiosis

• Foster industrial symbiosis networks, where waste or by-products from one industry become inputs for another.
• Support the mapping of local industrial ecosystems to identify symbiotic opportunities.
• Develop new tools, platforms, and incentives to enhance resource sharing, collaboration, and innovation across sectors.

🔄 4. Circular Business Models

• Encourage the shift from linear to circular business models, focusing on reuse, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing, and recycling.
• Promote Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) approaches where customers access services (e.g., lighting, transportation, appliances) without owning the physical products.
• Increase revenues from circular value creation, emphasizing long-term customer relationships and product longevity.

🌿 5. Bioeconomy

• Strengthen the bio-based economy by using renewable biological resources for the production of materials, chemicals, and energy
• Promote the development of bio-based products (Bioplastics, bio-composites, bio-based textiles, green chemicals).

🔌 6. Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE)

• Innovate in e-waste management by enhancing processes for reuse, refurbishment, repair, recycling, and remanufacturing.
• Promote modular and repairable design in electronic products to extend their lifespan.
• Create models that are locally replicable and scalable, especially in developing or urban regions.

📦 7. Packaging

• Support the industrialization of sustainable packaging solutions using recyclable, compostable, or reusable materials.
• Drive the transition to circular packaging in food systems, including innovations in shelf-life extension, waste reduction, and material recovery.

👥 8. Consumers and Behavior Change

• Empower consumers through education, digital tools, and incentives to make sustainable choices.
• Encourage repair culture, sharing economy participation, and waste separation at the household level.
• Promote eco-labeling, transparency, and traceability to inform and influence purchasing decisions.

⚡ 9. Energy Systems

• Integrate circular principles in energy systems through the reuse of components (e.g., batteries, solar panels) and materials.
• Enhance the energy efficiency of industrial processes and buildings.
• Support the development of renewable energy sources tied to circular resource loops.

🏗️ 10. Construction and Built Environment

• Increase the use of bio-based and recycled materials in building construction and infrastructure.
• Implement design-for-disassembly and material recovery strategies in architecture and urban planning.
• Reduce construction and demolition waste through adaptive reuse, modular building systems, and material passports.

🔩 11. Steel, Metals, and Mining

• Promote the valorization of industrial by-products from steel, aluminum, and other metal production (e.g., slag for cement).
• Encourage urban mining—recovering metals from discarded products and infrastructure.
• Increase the use of secondary raw materials in manufacturing.

💧 12. Water and Wastewater Management

• Reduce freshwater use in industry through water-efficient technologies and behavioral practices.
• Implement water recirculation and closed-loop systems in manufacturing, agriculture, and urban environments.
• Encourage wastewater treatment and nutrient recovery for use in agriculture or industrial applications.

➕ Other Circular Economy Challenges