In occasione dell’evento Re-think Circular Economy Forum organizzato a Taranto il 28 e 29 Settembre 2021, abbiamo deciso di organizzare ed ospitare anche un Innovation Call focalizzata su tre macro temi: gestione ambientale, porti circolari e transizione energetica e mobilità sostenibile. L’Innovation Call era indirizzata a startup del territorio nazionale che promuovessero e proponessero soluzioni innovative e circolari nei tre settori sopra citati. Diverse sono state le realtà che sono state selezionate, ma solo una è risultata vincitrice assoluta: Bi-rex dall’ambito di gestione ambientale. Bi-rex è una startup fondata da Greta Colombo Dugoni, CEO e R&D Manager, e Monica Ferro, Project Manager, con l’obiettivo di creare un nuovo modello economico che sia in grado di recuperare prodotti ad alto valore da biomasse che derivano da lavorazioni agro-industriali. In particolare, la loro ricerca e il loro prodotto si focalizza sulla creazione e produzione di cellulosa proveniente da fonti alternative, questo perché come la cellulosa è un naturale biopolimero lo è anche, ad esempio, la chitina che è uno dei principali componenti dell’esoscheletro dei gamberetti e non solo. L’idea è quindi che non siano solo le piante, ca 200 milioni di tonnellate annualmente nel mondo, a fornire la cellulosa, ma anche gli scarti, in cui in molti casi è presente e che solitamente sono considerati senza valore e dimenticabili in impianti di compostaggio o, peggio, in discariche. Bi-rex si concentra in particolare sulla chitina derivante dai gamberi e dai granchi, in quanto sono ca 6-8 milioni di tonnellate i crostacei allevati annualmente nel mondo e da cui si può recuperare valore. Attraverso i loro test, le ricercatrici hanno riconosciuto il valore dei rifiuti delle biomasse dal settore agri-food, che possono avere molti svantaggi se mantenuti in un sistema economico lineare: viene sprecata la risorsa di cellulosa presente in essi, le industrie del settore deve pagare...
Month: December 2021
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23 December 2021By Sara Salerno, Circular Economy Analyst at Tondo Lab It is time for the long-awaited Christmas and New Year’s holidays to take a break, spend time with loved ones and get some rest. The festive season will be even more peaceful if we keep a careful eye on the dangerous environmental impact that all periods of high consumption can generate. What is now certain is that this impact can be greatly reduced by taking simple daily measures. 10 tips for greener festivities: BUY only the amount of food you need and what’s in season, reusing the numerous leftovers for new and delicious meals. Or, freeze leftovers for another occasion or donate your surplus, if possible, to local associations and social cooperatives that locally deal with distribution. In fact, according to a study carried out at Ener2Crowd, in Italy at this time of the year people throw away around 500 thousand tonnes of food and we know that every tonne of waste can generate around 4.2 tonnes of CO2. Furthermore, it has been calculated that on average, during the Christmas period, a person can produce around 26kg of CO2 due to the food choices they make. However, there are eco-friendly alternatives: a vegetarian meal can save about 3kg of CO2 per person, a meal with at least 50% of organic food can save about 2kg of CO2 per person and finally, a low-waste meal can save up to 7kg of CO2 per person. AVOID using single use plates, cutlery and glasses which would generate a voluminous quantity of plastic or other material which is not always correctly disposed of. COLLECT the used cooking oil and dispose of it in the municipal collection centres designated for this activity, as they can be highly polluting for the environment. GIVE only useful or desired...
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16 December 2021Circularity and decarbonisation of urban systems: an innovative and systemic approach On October 2020 during our event Re-think Circular Economy Forum held in Milan we had as one of our guests Paolo Cresci, Head of Sustainable Development at Arup Italy who explained us what is Arup and what it does. Paolo Cresci introduced Arup, a worldwide company working across every aspect of today’s-built environment. Starting from recent projects and case studies, he illustrated the approach adopted and the results obtained by setting up an integrated approach to Circularity and Decarbonisation. The intervention highlighted the significant elements, relationships and advantages of a synergistic approach for urban transformation. Considering city as a system, the scientist Howard T. Odum created, in 1973, the concept of EMERGY, a model of natural and human ecosystems. In this concept embodied energy is associated to any kind of human action on the planet. Arup, in partnership with C40, in the last two reports, Deadline 2020 and The future of urban consumption in 1.5 °C world investigated and outlined strategies to set up decarbonisation roadmaps and best practices for our cities. Over the last three years, Arup has also been a strategic partner to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and contributed to develop the ‘circular economy’ thinking and practices in built environment. The transition to a circular economy will require the application of systems thinking and new approaches to the way we design, operate and maintain built environment assets. In 2018, Arup Milan, supported by C40’s Reinventing Cities competition, started L’INNESTO, a carbon-neutral social housing project in Milan. By then, they have been involved in some of the major developments in Milan, looking into decarbonization from a quantitative perspective, which considers six main components (energy, materials, mobility, water, waste, land remediation and green infrastructure) and how they can offset the remaining CO2. In a large-scale development it is possible to find the majority of the carbon components as well as challenges that we face in our urban systems. The analysis shows how the embodied carbon is a relevant component and without considering mobility, it counts 50% at least. This percentage is related to the life...
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9 December 2021By Giovanna Matrone, Tondo associates Over the last years, Circular Economy has placed itself at the center of the international debate as a real transformative solution to overcome the prevailing linear model, with a potential boost in solving both economic, environmental and social challenges. However, issues related to social sustainability, well-being and equity, almost always remain peripheral in the contemporary debate, questioning the ability of the Circular Economy – as understood by many of the involved actors – to undertake a path towards progress that is truly sustainable. There are many reasons why this happens. On the one hand, the consumption patterns we are used to put only the economic aspects at the center of well-being, forgetting the resulting inequalities; on the other hand, the social dimension is particularly complex to implement and make operational; finally, there are practical aspects that are not easy to solve, first of all the issue of impact measurement. In fact, it is much easier to agree on easily measurable environmental and economic metrics, such as reducing emissions or increasing turnover, instead of developing complex methodologies for social impact assessment. However, we cannot and must not forget that a truly sustainable future implies a significant participation of all the members of a community with the aim of enhancing its diversity and offering well-being and equity to individuals and the community. This idea of conceiving the involvement of a growing plurality of people can be realized through inclusion, that is the ability to build an environment where – in the multiplicity of points of view, experiences, beliefs – everyone is and feels welcome, respected, supported in his/her uniqueness as well as empowered for full participation in common activities. Inclusion is the mean through which diversity expresses all its best potential. This tool, whose practical declination takes on various nuances, is very...