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Project Demonstrators about to be launched !

4 February, 2020

The CIRC4Life project is developing three new circular economy business models that aims to engage consumers in the transition towards a circular economy. The new business models are the following:

 

  1. Co-Creation of products and services with end-users

  2. Sustainable Consumption

  3. Collaborative Recycling/Reuse

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These new business models will be demonstrated and piloted in 4 sectors by relevant industrial partners in Spain and the UK:

 

DEMO 1 applies the business models into the sustainable development of domestic and industrial LED lights.

 

With regards to domestic lighting products, the demo will be launched in Spring 2020:

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  1. ONA is co-creating a modular lamp based on the feedback collected via consumer reviews on their website, consumer workshops, and the survey on sustainable lighting products. The lamp will be produced using industrial scrap materials (wood, plastic etc ).

  2. In order to demonstrate the sustainable consumption business model, ONA will provide information to consumers on the environmental impact of each lamp available in the online shop, by showing the eco-points. Using eco-points, ONA will also offer discounts on new products, or incentivise consumers to bring back unused lamps.

  3. The latter also demonstrates the collaborative recycling/reuse approach as ONA will assess the possibility of reusing part of the collected lamps to develop new ones.  

With regards to industrial lighting products, Kosnic will be launching the demo in March 2020 until the end of the year in Berkshire (UK):

 

  1. Kosnic is developing a new modular lamp taking into account industries’ input as it is a product only for businesses. It will be soon presented at the Light and Building Frankfurt trade fair in March.

  2. A life-cycle-assessment was conducted with the support from NTU. Based on the result, the modular luminaire is designed with significantly reduced environmental impact.

  3. Kosnic collected the feedback and preferences from industries on a potential leasing service, via a survey and 2 workshops with companies. Based on the collected feedback, Kosnic is developing a leasing eco-system which describes the new business model and identifies the relevant actors (wholesaler, contractor, maintenance providers, ...)  needed to make this new business model a reality.  This system encourages the ideals of collaborative reuse and recycling that the CIRC4Life project aims to achieve.

DEMO 2 focuses on developing a business model on the recycling and reuse of tablets by incentivising end-users, raising awareness and getting consumer’s preferences on reused/ refurbished WEEE.

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The DEMO will be launched in Getxo (Basque country, Spain) and will run from Spring 2020 until the end of the year in collaboration with the Getxo Local Authority. The objective is to place intelligent bins in several places including schools, to increase the collection of electronic devices for reuse or recycling.

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A survey was conducted on reuse and recycling attitudes which assessed which criteria consumers consider when buying a tablet (durability of the device, price …). For more information on the results, please check the survey results article.

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Consumers will be able to view the eco-points obtained from reuse or recycling activities in the app developed by the CIRC4Life project. This will allow consumers to easily track their environmental footprint.

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Consumers will have the possibility to bring their tablets or other small electronic devices (smartphones, laptops etc) to an intelligent bin in order to be recycled or reused. The intelligent bins will be connected to an ICT Platform with a traceability system for disposed tablets. A classification of collected equipment for recycling or remanufacturing will be then conducted (functioning or not functioning).

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The Demo includes several activities in schools raising awareness on the circular economy and the potential role they can have in it. Three training sessions for environmental awareness and specific training days with practical workshops will take place. Intelligent bins and the traceability system will be used in three primary/secondary schools to collect electronic waste in order to assess the impact of the training on the participants.

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DEMO 3 applies the business models into a micro-farm in the production process of vegetables on the island of St. Martin’s (Isles of Scilly, UK) which will be launched in Spring 2020, running until the end of the year:

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Concerning co-creation, a workshop is planned in the beginning of 2020 with local businesses to discuss new products and how circularity can be better integrated in their businesses.  New products will also be tested during the demo: organic apple juice and cider.

 

On sustainable consumption, the demo will include the ecolabel which won the CIRC4Life Design Challenge that will indicate the environmental impact of the product, as well as trialling new biodegradable packaging. This value will be calculated using the Farm Carbon Calculator tool and the Life-cycle analysis. The objective is to inform end-users and help them make more informed sustainable choices.

On the recycling and reuse approach, Scilly Organics will examine how waste can be further sorted at the micro farm and better recycled, in particular with regards to farm plastics. In addition, support will be provided to a local pub in order to reduce food waste. Concerning the local waste strategy, Scilly Organics participates in the ongoing discussions to install on each island a system for composting to recycle food waste.

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New biodegradable bags will also be tested for a few vegetable products (salads etc) as an alternative to plastics in the St. Martin’s and on the mainland.

DEMO 4 applies the business models into the meat supply chain. The pilot action will take place in Lorca and Abarán villages (Murcia, Spain) and will involve the companies of ALIA’s holding group. It will be launched in Spring 2020 until the end of the year.

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Using living lab techniques, ALIA will incorporate sustainability preferences of consumers in two new meat products and will implement different environmentally- friendly techniques along the whole value chain (from animal feeding to the meat elaborate manufacturing) in order to produce these products. The Life-cycle assessment will be used to test the environmental impact on the final product.

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Sustainable consumption will be encouraged by showing the eco-points and sustainable information of the new products in the retail point, at ALIA’s factory’s store and in a supermarket located in the municipality of Lorca (Region of Murcia), providing valuable information to help consumers on their sustainable purchase decisions. Awareness campaigns will also be conducted in order to foster sustainable consumption and the use of the CIRC4Life eco-account (via de app).

 

With regards to collaborative recycling, incentives will be given to citizens in order to foster bio waste recycling.

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