News and events published on the Eco-innovation Community Platform

• News - "New Verification Body in Poland: IETU"
• News - "Call for applications OPEN for EMAS Awards 2017!"
• New topic on the forum on Standards - "Circular Economy: Commission expands Ecolabel criteria to computers, furniture and footwear"
• New topic on the forum on Funding and SME support - "Green public procurement to drive the circular economy"

Frido Kraanen is Principal Director Societal Impact for Dutch pensions service provider PGGM. He was a speaker at the 20th European Forum on Eco-innovation, which took place in Tallinn, Estonia on 26-28 October 2016. Here, he discusses lessons learned by PGGM in redirecting investment towards more circular and resource-efficient business models.

The 20th European Forum on Eco-Innovation, which took place in Tallinn, Estonia, from 26-28 October 2016, showed that small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) are taking a pioneering role in developing circular economy business models, which could in time be scaled up to have an economy-wide impact. The European Business Awards for the Environment (EBAE) 2016-2017, given out during the forum, recognised some of these pioneering companies, which are working in areas as diverse as crop protection, baby food, smartphones and tourism.

German sportswear giant Adidas has set itself the goal of producing 1 million pairs of UltraBOOST Uncaged sports shoes by the end of 2017. It might not sound unusual that Adidas is producing large numbers of sports shoes, but these shoes are different – they are made from plastic recovered from the oceans.