This blog post shows why the EU Renovation Wave should link environmental and social issues. EU member states are currently facing three crises: the climate crisis, an energy security crisis and a social crisis. The EU Renovation Wave has a key role in responding to all three crises. However, it can only fulfill this key role if the implementation of the renovation wave is socially fair.

Almost one third of all packaging in Germany is so-called transport packaging, which becomes waste after its single use. Despite the factual relevance of this packaging group, it is strongly underrepresented in the public perception as well as in the political discourse. During the online expert dialogue "Reusable Transport Packaging" on 27 February 2023, good examples from practice were presented and potentials, challenges and necessary elements for the expansion of reusable transport packaging were discussed together with experts from trade, logistics industry, civil society and politics. The summary is available for download.

To tackle the "plastic crisis", the concept of circular economy has attracted considerable attention over the past years, both by practitioners and scholars alike. Against this background, Linda Mederake, Ecologic Institute, reflects in this opinion paper from a political scientist's point of view on key issues currently under discussion regarding the implementation of a circular plastics economy.

In December 2022, the 6th European Resources Forum – "Transformative approaches for sustainable resource use and a circular economy" took place. Aaron Best of Ecologic Institute supported the German Environment Agency in content-related issues surrounding the Forum, including the preparation of this background paper.

The transition to sustainable resource use and a circular economy is broadly recognised as an important lever in dealing with the various current crises. Debates in various international organisations suggest that such a transition will require profound systemic changes and the increased integration of previously separated policy fields in order to deliver the expected benefits. Moreover, current efforts are largely focused on entire product value chains.

There is a clear need for sustainable resource use to confront the multiple environmental crises while allowing societies to thrive. Governments around the world seek to establish systematic policies towards the implementation of sustainable resource use and a circular economy. In the session "Sustainable Resource Use and Circular Economy – the Social Dimension" we take a closer look at how these developments affect the social aspects of sustainability. What implications can changing resource use patterns in Europe have for well-being, development, prosperity and health, especially in the global South? How can an inter- and intragenerational just resource use be achieved and what are the stumbling blocks? In December 2022, the 6th European Resources Forum – "Transformative approaches for sustainable resource use and a circular economy" took place. Dr. Aissa Rechlin of Ecologic Institute supported the German Environment Agency in content-related issues surrounding the Forum, including the preparation of this background paper.

In light of current experiences in energy markets, Western democracies, and the EU in particular, are exploring new supply chains and strategies to reduce their raw material dependence on China. The findings presented here by the authors of this study provide an overview of the main options that the EU can currently use to counter the pressures of growing dependencies. This study discusses some positive examples of feasible circular approaches that aim to achieve savings in the use of rare earths.

A democratic dialogue with a broad spectrum of stakeholders and the society is considered necessary for the transformation to a sustainable bio-based economy. As such, several dedicated bioeconomy strategies across Europe and beyond outline objectives towards broader stakeholder and public engagement. In this book chapter Zoritza Kiresiewa, Laurens Duin and Holger Gerdes address the degree of participation and the role of the individual actor groups and society in strategy development processes and recommend concrete actions for more inclusive and effective stakeholder and public engagement.

This study presents innovative processes and technologies of the circular economy. The case studies come from a range of industries that are of particular importance to Hesse and demonstrate the broad applicability of the technologies presented. The case studies are split into five main groups, each containing a few innovative and sustainable projects by various institutions and firms. They also offer insights into the economic and ecological advantages of the projects and provide the readers with a thorough understanding of the processes.

This report provides the context and justification for the development of BE-Rural's Sustainability Screening, a description of its methodological procedure, and the syntheses of results from the two experimental implementations of the approach in the Stara Zagora and Vidzeme regions, which are included in full as annexes to this report. The last chapters present the main lessons learned from these two pilots and the overall conclusions of the task.

For the project, "Green Deal – Big Deal? Discussing Europe's Green Future", Ecologic Institute designed a postcard series. The postcard series promotes the podcast itself and on two cards in particular the third episode Sustainability in Style: Circular fashion in the European Green Deal. The postcards are designed according to the project's style guidelines and also include a QR code to the podcast (episode).

In March 2022, at the resumed fifth meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly, UN Member States adopted the historic decision to start negotiating a global treaty to combat plastic pollution. As national delegations and relevant stakeholders in Asia start preparing for the upcoming negotiations, this report by Linda Mederake and Doris Knoblauch (both Ecologic Institute), aims to provide an analysis of the region’s opportunities to end single-use plastics (SUPs) pollution through the development of this new global treaty.

This brochure summarizes the most important key messages from 20 joint research projects and seven cross-cutting topics of the German research focus "Plastics in the Environment". The brochure is structured along the life cycle of plastics and includes five sections: Green Economy, Consumption, Recycling, Fresh-water Ecosystems, and Saltwater Ecosystems.

Together with our interview guests Arianna Nicoletti (Circular Textiles Lead at Circular Berlin) and Mandy Hinzmann (Fellow at Ecologic Institute) we explore the concepts of circular and sustainable fashion and discuss the potential impact of the recently published European Union Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles. We also get philosophical and ask: is the constant change and quick consumption an inherent characteristic of fashion?

The publication summarizes the key messages from all 20 joint research projects and the seven cross-cutting topics of the German research focus "Plastics in the Environment". Structured by main topics, the central results are presented in order to derive recommendations for various addressees. More than 70 researchers and practitioners from across the research focus have jointly co-authored the key messages.

On 6 May 2022, Ecologic Institute organized the "Theme Day Plastic in the Environment" to present to the public the research findings achieved since 2017 from 20 research projects with more than 100 participating institutions from science, industry and practice. Ecologic Institute produced a reel to contribute to the visibility of the event.

On 6 May 2022, Ecologic Institute organized the "Theme Day Plastic in the Environment" to present to the public the research findings achieved since 2017 from 20 research projects with more than 100 participating institutions from science, industry and practice. Ecologic Institute developed a trailer for passenger television in Berlin's subways (Berliner Fenster) for Berlin-wide visibility of the event.

Plastic waste is a global environmental problem, the consequences of our increasing plastic use are visible worldwide. Therefore, water pollution (oceans, rivers, lakes, groundwater) and plastics in the environment are among the top environmental issues of concern to many people. However, many myths, misconceptions, and ambiguities circulate in the plastics debate. This 20-part poster series sets out to clarify some of these issues. Join us for a fact check – would you have known?