"The circular economy concept is much discussed in the European Union (EU), but only limited progress has been accomplished so far regarding its implementation. Most scholarly studies blame this on various technological barriers. Our work rebuts these studies. We present the first large-N-study on circular economy barriers in the EU (208 survey respondents, 47 expert interviews). We find that cultural barriers, particularly a lack of consumer interest and awareness as well as a hesitant company culture, are considered the main circular economy barriers by businesses and policy-makers....

"Hainan Airlines completed China's first commercial flight using biofuel. Waste cooking oil is used as the raw material to mix with normal jet fuel. The Boeing 737-800 flew around 100 pas-sengers from Shanghai to Bejiing. A handful of countries pos-sesses the ability to create its own biofuel. Waste oil is major health problem in China as it is collected from gutters and sold back to restaurants" (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/...

"Europe is on the move to become a ‘circular economy’ which is more competitive and resource efficient. The goal is a more circular flow of materials and energy so that Europeans use and consume in a way that creates minimal waste and puts less pressure on natural resources on this continent and other parts of the world. Sounds like a common sense plan…right? Yes, but one important question arises. Why isn’t the Commission including different types of biomass (biological material) as part of the circular economy equation?" (...

The issues associated with the supply of rare-earth metals are a vivid reminder to all of us that natural resources are limited. Japan's Element Strategy Initiative is a good example of a long-term strategy towards the sustainable use of scarce elements.

Hydrofluoric acid eliminated from silicon salvage process.

Dan Vinton, the CFO of Europe, Middle East, and Africa GE Lighting argues that LEDs and efficient, long-lasting lighting has led the lighting industry to look towards new options of revenue, one of which is selling light as a service. Because LEDs as a product cannot be sold as often as typical bulbs, lighting companies can begin to use Special Purchase Vehicles, where they can couple services with lighting, such as wifi, and smart technology. It also allows the customer tp enjoy energy savings and and increased control without having the burden of installing and maintaining the system....

The iCspec project focuses on the in-line process control of many technically relevant gases such as hydrocarbons (HC). The main purpose of the project is to develop gas analyzers beyond the state-of-the-art for fast in-line multi-component monitoring of gas compositions in a process stream and to replace currently employed analyzers as gas chromatographs (GCs) or Fourier-Transform-Infrared spectrometers (FTIRs)

"Although most bioenergy is produced by burning agricultural and forestry biomass, it is also generated by burning the organic parts of municipal solid waste, biowaste or urban biomass. This includes food waste from restaurants, households, farmers markets, gardens, textiles, clothing, paper and other materials of organic origin. But have you ever tried to fuel a bonfire with a salad? Probably not, so this may not be the most efficient use of urban biowaste." (https://www.zerowasteeurope.eu/...