[ad_1]
Public voting has opened for the Green Alley Award, Europe’s first start-up award for the circular economy. We scan the short list and reveal which pioneer trash busters made the cut
Public voting has opened for the Green Alley Award, Europe’s first start-up award for the circular economy. We scan the short list and reveal which pioneer trash busters made the cut
Using garbage instead of raw materials to create new products is the cornerstone of the circular economy. This approach twists the linear model, which destroys the planet, takes-produces-waste in a planet-friendly cycle.
Recognizing the pioneering startups that are leading the way in circularity is the annual Green Alley Award. This year, the organizers want the public to vote for their favorite from the list below.
Using dairy waste to make recyclable plastic is broadly the goal of Chemicle, a UK startup that came up with the gouda idea of turning cheese whey into a bio-alternative to oil. It is then used in the production of plastic. chemicle.co.uk
Image: Katrin Leinfellner
Globally, it was reported that 87% of the materials used in clothing end up in landfills or incinerators. Enter Kleiderly, which transforms textile waste into a sustainable plastic alternative for use in furniture and, accordingly, on hangers. kleiderly.com
Image: Duy Hoang
Designing single-use packaging outside of society is the purpose of Cyclic. Their refillable Nepenthes bottles are ideal for shoppers without packaging – they can be filled with shampoo, conditioner, and liquid soap. nepenthes.eco
Image: cyclical
Keeping warming within internationally agreed limits will only be possible if we remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Carbonauten’s charcoal-like biocarbons do just that, offering a climate-negative alternative to traditional building materials. carbonauten.com
Image: Antoine Rault
What gets measured gets managed, or so the saying goes. Subscribing to that theory is Seacirc, which has developed reporting software that can quantify the use of a company’s resources, improving transparency and highlighting areas for improvement. seacirc.com
Image: Noah Buscher
This Polish startup has developed a tracking system that uses QR codes to track packaging. Greenbin app users earn rewards when they scan trash at designated collection points, encouraging more items to be recycled. greenbin.app
Image: Gary Chan
A kind of online exchange for industry, this Dutch platform helps companies funnel excess materials and waste streams to companies that can do something with them. excessomaterialsexchange.com
Image: Bas Emmen
Papair, a sustainable startup based in Germany, had bubble wrap in its sights when it developed this planet-friendly alternative, which is made from 100% recycled paper. papair.de
Image: Papair
By educating decision-makers, AlterLabs hopes to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. The social enterprise offers corporate consulting to help companies embrace sustainability, while also hosting free workshops to inspire new ideas. alterlabs.org
Image: Karsten Wurth
The Pixies team is developing a small army of autonomous garbage collectors, capable of sweeping urban environments collecting garbage. pixiesurbanlab.com
Image: Armin Djuhic
Anyone who uses a milk delivery service will be familiar with the concept behind Lyfa’s e-grocery service. Deliver items to people’s doorsteps in reusable packaging that are then collected during the next delivery. lyfa.ch
Image: Markus Spiske
Traceless, a German startup on a mission to eliminate single-use plastic, has developed a technique to transform waste from the agricultural industry into a biodegradable substitute for cling films and other packaging. traceless.eu
Image: Nazli Mozaffari
Imagine if all packaging biodegraded in six weeks. Well, that circular dream is closer to reality thanks to MarinaTex, which uses fish waste from the fishing industry to make an organic alternative to single-use plastic bags. marinatex.co.uk
Image: Gregor Moser
ReSync encourages companies to reconsider waste. The online B2B platform connects businesses with recycling contractors, offering online price comparisons. resync.de
Image: Sigmund
Promising greater traceability in the fashion industry, TrusTrace is a digital platform that uses artificial intelligence to scrutinize product portfolios to ensure supply chains are aligned with brands’ sustainability goals. trustrace.com
Image: Waldemar Brandt
The rise of electric vehicles (EVs) is creating a potentially massive new waste stream: used batteries. Betteries, a German startup trying to get ahead of this problem, turns old fuel cells in electric vehicles into power packs. betteries.com
Image: Ralph Hutter
Recyda’s software helps packaging producers, brand owners and retailers in the consumer goods sector assess the recyclability of packaging, one of the first steps in reducing waste. recycle.com
Image: Kelly Sikkema
How to know if a product is really circular? Who narrates his journey? Cue Impakt Luxembourg, which has developed a system to create a universal fingerprint for all products to allow for greater transparency. Positiveimpakt.eu
Image: Markus Spiske
What if there was a way to use plastics in a sustainable way? That is the goal of Plastship, a digital platform that allows companies to source recycled plastics according to the specifications they require, instead of using virgin materials. plastship.com
Image: Marc Newberry
The irony of most outerwear is that they are made from materials that are not too environmentally friendly. Dimpora, a Swiss chemical company, aims to address that. Its waterproof membranes are made from biodegradable polymers and can be used to make outdoor clothing. dimpora.com
Image: Kelly Repreza
Readers of Positive News can vote for their favorite circular startup here. Each voter will be entered into a prize drawing to win one of three Trendraider Sustainable Lifestyle Boxes, containing “circular wellness products.” The company with the most votes will win a place in the final, along with five other finalists who will be chosen by the Green Alley Award expert committee. The six startups will present their ideas to an international jury on April 22, and the winner will receive € 25,000 (£ 22,240). Voting closes on February 2.
Main image: Dstudio Bcn
[ad_2]
Original source
