| Posted March 17, 2022

“Enabling Circular Electronics: Skills for Cities, Businesses and Consumers” – Watch the Discussion Now!

Each year, more electronic internet-connected devices are produced than there are humans on Earth*. Resource-wise this is a dead end. In March 2022, we discussed with stakeholders from businesses, civil society organisations (CSOs) and the research community at the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference how we can make circular electronics a reality. Digital networking is a great advantage, but the large number of electronic devices also poses serious ecological risks, especially in terms of resource consumption. This is why as part of the New Circular Economy Action Plan, the European Commission has announced a Circular Electronics Initiative, calling for longer […]

| Posted March 16, 2022

Environmental Sustainability and Digitalisation in SMEs – Status quo Vadis?

On the way to a sustainable society and economy, digitalisation is one of the most important means. But are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) leveraging the synergies between a digital and sustainable transformation and what kind of incentives do they need to do so? Our latest study with the Öko-Institut outlines recommendations for policy approaches that would promote a twin sustainable-digital transformation. The need for a sustainable and digital transformation is rising on the political agenda both nationally and on a European level. Policymakers face the challenge that digitalisation is ecologically ambivalent, especially its indirect effects. Reliable empirical data and […]

| Posted March 15, 2022

“Healthy Working and Digital Leadership” – Don’t Miss Our CSR.digital Event on 1 April 2022!

Following the Coronavirus outbreak, working from home has become a new norm for many. Advantages counted, home office has also caused a blur in boundaries between work and private life, impacting mental health and wellbeing. This is why leaders across organisations are faced with the challenge of implementing digital leadership strategies that ensure the overall wellbeing of employees in the era of remote work. Our upcoming event, organised by CSR.digital and the NRW Digital Health Industry Network, “Healthy working and digital leadership – How we can feel good in the new world of work“, looks into challenges but also solutions. […]

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Pathways to Circular Textiles and Less Microplastic Pollution: Read the Latest ETC/CE Reports!

Textiles and plastics represent key value chains in the EU Circular Economy Action Plan. On average, textiles have the fourth highest negative life cycle impact on the environment, after food, housing and mobility. Textile washing is also responsible for the release of microplastics into our seas, land and air. A shift to a circular textile production and consumption system could reduce these negative impacts considerably. Did you know that the average textile consumption per person in Europe in 2020 amounted to over 15 kg, including clothing, home textiles, and shoes? Data from the same year suggests that textile consumption was […]

| Posted March 8, 2022

Transforming Tourism: Our Project Circular Tourism Vietnam Launches Stakeholder Meetings

With its picturesque landscapes, white sandy beaches, and impressive terrace rice fields, Vietnam has become a leading tourist destination. Yet, the same landscapes that enabled the tourism boom in the first place are facing the most challenges caused by this rapid growth. As one of the countries with the fastest growing tourism sector in the world, Vietnam is also a major contributor to marine plastic litter with approximately 730,000 tons of plastic waste going to the sea every year.* The outbreak of COVID-19 has reduced international tourist traffic to Vietnam leading to a decline in income of many tourism-related businesses […]

| Posted March 3, 2022

Engaging Employees Toward Becoming a Sustainable Enterprise: Why it Works

The way companies approach the integration of sustainability principles into their culture and working practices is as varied as the companies themselves. Top management responsibility and commitments are often regarded as the most important means and indicators for formal sustainability integration. But do they also need to be the starting point? Putting employees in the driver seat from the beginning may offer significant advantages. Some organisations do not start with a sustainability strategy at the top, but rather as a cross-cutting cultural process. This was the case with Stadtwerke Wuppertal (WSW), a German municipal utility whose human resources (HR) team […]

| Posted February 24, 2022

Join Our Workshop “Enabling Circular Electronics: Skills for Cities, Businesses, and Consumers” on 2 March 2022!

Each year, more electronic internet-connected devices are produced than there are humans*, resource-wise a dead end. Join us on 2 March 2022 at the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference to discuss how we can make circular electronics a reality! Digitalisation surrounds us everywhere. This is accompanied by an immense increase in reliance on devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops and more. In Europe and other world regions, electronic devices and digital services are gaining more and more importance. For example, an average of 78% of people in Europe have a smart phone**. While digital networking is on the one […]

| Posted February 23, 2022

Our weiter_wirken Capacity Building Programme Launches Its Second Round: Apply Now!

Sustainability is one of the most important topics of our time – but how can it be communicated successfully? In its second round, our capacity building programme, weiter_wirken will support representatives of civil society organisations (CSO) to integrate behavioural know-how into their work and increase positive impact. Sometimes, it takes more than just good intentions to make a true shift toward more sustainability. In fact, the intention-action gap is what many CSOs working in the field of sustainability identify as a major challenge. Behavioral science offers valuable knowledge as to what motivates people’s choices, thus presenting cues how to deal […]

| Posted February 22, 2022

The “Pro-long Electronics“ Campaign Inspires Consumers to Give Devices Longer Lives

Electronic devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. With increasingly shorter innovation cycles, replacements to such devices can be a quick first choice. The “Pro-long Electronics” campaign informed consumers on the financial and ecological benefits of giving older devices a second or pro-longed life and gathered far-reaching traction. Going through your home (physically or mentally), how many electronic devices can you count? More importantly, how many such devices do you have that you deemed outdated and are not using anymore? Updates, upgrades, and short innovation cycles spur ever shorter replacement cycles and as a result it happens […]

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How the Sugar REET Project Supported Pakistan Towards Clean Energy

A large population coupled with ongoing economic development have led to increased energy consumption in Pakistan. Faced with growing demand, the country needs to explore and tap cost-effective, clean, and alternative energy sources to bridge the electricity demand-supply gap. While Pakistan’s energy generation is mainly dependent on fossil fuels, the utilisation of biomass energy from the sugar industry not only holds great potential to reduce carbon emissions, environmental pollution and waste, but it can also increase industrial efficiency, create green jobs, and bring economic benefits to farmers. Since its launch in 2018, the Sugar REET project promoted sustainable bio-energy production […]

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