Green Week 2014: Chemical Innovation and the Circular Economy

SusChem will be taking an active role in Europe’s biggest annual conference on environmental policy that launches today (3 June). The Green Week 2014 conference takes place from 3 to 5 June in Brussels. And its themes for 2014 – the circular economy and resource efficiency – are topics where SusChem is already taking a lead.

The Green Week 2014 programme is full of SusChem relevant sessions and SusChem will be present throughout the week.

In particular session 6.3 on ‘Business and Resource Efficiency’ on Thursday morning from 11:30 addresses how businesses can improve resource efficiency, enhance competitiveness, reduce costs and contribute to better resource management. The session will showcase good practice and the potential for scale-up from companies participating in initiatives including the SPIRE (Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency) PPP.

During the session Pádraig Naughton, Innovation Manager - Resource and Energy Efficiency at Cefic (right), will talk about SPIRE and resource efficiency initiatives at the Dow Chemical company.

In his contribution Pádraig will be emphasising the underlying principle of the circular economy: that it cannot be achieved without wide-scale collaboration and cooperation. “There is a need to extend beyond company boundaries to regions, national and European levels,” says Pádraig. “We need to work with partners along the value chain, within and across sectors.”

SPIRE initiative
This is, of course, where initiatives like the SPIRE PPP, which is bringing together eight industry sectors to tackle resource and energy efficiency issues in a major pan-European cross-sectorial effort, are so important.

“An understanding and close cooperation with adjacent industries is required to maximize the benefits from waste and by-products, which could enable increased process efficiency in chemical processes,” says Pádraig.

Pádraig will also talk about other ongoing initiatives in the chemical industry and related sectors including developments at Dow’s Terneuzen complex in south-west Netherlands and a number of Cefic-SusChem FP7 funded projects including Chemical Regions for Resource Efficiency (R4R) and BIO-TIC.

A value chain approach is essential for success to ensure that the supply circle is closed and suppliers and all value chain partners, including consumers, enable the recycle and reuse of waste as a production resource. This means that cross-sectorial partnerships, such as SPIRE, must ensure that innovation is enabled and implemented across all elements of society. The innovation chain must connect research to customers to consumers to government and regulatory policymakers.

Technological and business solutions are being developed in local and EU-wide initiatives that can enable a circular economy, but there are policy, trade and image barriers that need to be addressed. “For example, cross-border transfer of waste remains a challenge which needs to tackled at EU level,” explains Pádraig.

Industrial symbiosis
The concept of industrial symbiosis will be an important part of the circular economy and will be included in the priorities in the new SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) to be launched for wider consultation at the SusChem Stakeholder event on 11 – 12 June.

Industrial symbiosis occurs where waste and side streams are used in an integrated concept for complete resource management at, for example, an industrial park, site or region. The strategic challenge of industrial symbiosis is to increase resource efficiency and turn waste, including chemical sector by-products and carbon dioxide (CO2), into resources. This will address issues including resource flows (materials and energy) to identify opportunities to reuse these resources, resource efficiency (i.e. new tools to optimize resource efficiency in manufacturing) and CO2 reuse (new products from reusing CO2).

#useCO2
Following the session on ‘Business and Resource Efficiency’ on the afternoon of 5 June these is also a session that directly addresses the use of CO2 as a potential raw material for industry.

Session 7.1 ‘Carbon dioxide – today’s waste, tomorrow’s raw material?’ will look at a range of emerging processes that are looking to use CO2 to produce chemicals, materials and fuels. This is an area where SusChem and SPIRE are already heavily engaged in the European Commission’s new research and innovation programme Horizon 2020.

The SusChem SIRA will further outline our thinking in this and other areas and the practical research and innovation activities that are required to turn the concepts of a circular society and radically improved resource efficiency into a reality.

Green Week 2014 will be taking place with events throughout Europe and Brussels. The venue for the main Green Week conference will be the Egg Conference Centre, Rue Bara, in Brussels. Visit the Green Week website for more details.

#SusChem10: Video shoot

Registration for the SusChem Stakeholder event is now closed. But preparations for our 10th anniversary event are in full swing. Today (2 June) the weather in Brussels was sunny and bright so we took advantage of the conditions and  recorded some video interviews for the event outside in the sunshine.

First up was Frank Agterberg (above) who was the first SusChem coordinator at Cefic and a main motivator in getting the idea for a European technology platform on sustainable chemistry off the ground from 2002 to 2005.

Rodney Townsend, past chairman of the SusChem board and long-term supporter of the technology platform, was also taped on Monday.

And our final outdoors shoot was with EuropaBio's Director of Industrial Biotechnology Joanna Dupont-Inglis (above, right) who talked about industrial biotechnology's contribution to SusChem and the new Biobased Industries JTI that will officially launch on 9 July.

Cefic Research and Innovation Communication Manager Esther Agyeman-Budu (left) was asking the questions for all of the interviews.

Looking forward to seeing the final edit at the SusChem 10-year Anniversary. See you there!

SusChem Stakeholder Event 2014 – Registration open now!

This year SusChem will be celebrating its tenth anniversary. And to mark a decade of sustainable chemistry research and innovation leadership in Europe the twelfth SusChem Stakeholder Event will be extra special! Our 10 year anniversary celebration will take place over two days in Brussels - on 11 and 12 June 2014 – and registration is now open!

The theme of the 10-year celebration is: 'Sustainable Chemistry: At the Forefront of Innovation.' At the event SusChem stakeholders will be able to contribute to defining our new Strategic Research Innovation Agenda (SIRA) for the next decade and we will be celebrating SusChem successes stories from the past ten years.

This special SusChem Stakeholder event takes place on 11 -12 June at the Renaissance Hotel in Brussels. Join us in celebrating this important occasion for SusChem and sustainable chemistry in Europe, and help to pave the way forward for future SusChem success!

The draft agenda for the event is now available and includes updates on SusChem activities and the opportunity to help shape important new developments for the SusChem community, including:

• Presentations and discussion on the new SIRA which will cover SusChem's priorities, as well as the new opportunities for funding schemes for SusChem projects over the next decade!
• A showcase of the role and the impact of SusChem’s National Technology Platforms  and the many ways they contribute to SusChem's mission and activities now and into the future.
• Presentations on Future and Emerging Technologies in Horizon 2020 and the 'why, how and when' of Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs).
• A celebration of ten years of achievements in sustainable chemistry and a forward look to another decade of breakthrough innovation in sustainable chemistry!

SusChem history
The SusChem European Technology Platform was officially launched in Brussels on 6 July, 2004 by the European Commission, together with Cefic and EuropaBio, with the aim to "increase the attractiveness of investments in chemical R&D and innovation in Europe."

SusChem was launched as a multi-stakeholder forum to develop a European strategic research agenda in three prioritised technology areas: industrial biotechnology, materials and process. It was also designed to address non-technological barriers to chemical innovation. A launch document highlighting the rationale, scope and organisation of the Technology Platform (see below) acted as a thought starter for the development of the initial Strategic Research Agenda and action plan.

“Research is the primary source of innovation in the knowledge-intensive chemical industry and is driving the sector forward,” says European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin at the 2004 launch event. “The European chemical industry has an impressive track record of developing new products and manufacturing processes, but the challenge is to improve the transformation of laboratory ideas into new sustainable products and services to boost EU competitiveness.”

“The Platform offers a great opportunity to merge industry’s and the EU’s ambitions by focusing and aligning collaborative research in support of a more competitive and more sustainable industry,” says Jan Dopper of DSM’s Managing Board and the chair of Cefic’s Research and Science Board in 2004. “Engagement with all stakeholders will be key to stimulate and focus the innovation process”.

The launch document was developed by Cefic and EuropaBio in consultation with the European Commission and showed that the Platform was (as now) a timely concept based on the Cefic study “Horizon 2015” that outlined the risk to the competitiveness of the European chemical industry and highlighted innovation as a main driver for the sector’s future competitiveness.

World Water Day 2014 on 21 - 22 March!

Water and Energy for a more efficient and sustainable management of our water resources is the theme for the 2014 World Water Day. On March 21 and 22 the United Nations Organisation – working closely with its Member States and other relevant stakeholders – will highlight the issues around the water-energy nexus: a topic of major interest to SusChem, the chemical and other process industries. Water and energy are closely interlinked and interdependent.

Energy generation and transmission requires utilisation of water resources, particularly for hydroelectric, nuclear, and thermal energy sources. And innovation in water usage is essential for us to achieve a more efficient use of water and energy: saving energy is saving water and saving water is saving energy. Choices concerning the supply, distribution, price, and use of water and energy impact one another. The water- energy nexus is one of the major societal challenges facing Europe and the World.

The chemical industry as one of the biggest water consumers can lead the development of integrated water strategies through technologies that reduce water consumption, reduce use of fresh water resources (through cascade use of urban, industrial and rural areas), and optimise waste water management.

The industry is also one of the biggest providers of water treatment materials and technologies. Our experience will allow us to develop new approaches to improve other sectors’ water management and public sector water requirements.

WWD 2014
World Water Day 2014 aims to facilitate the development of policies and cross-cutting frameworks that bridge ministries and sectors, leading the way to energy security and sustainable water use in a green economy.

The main celebrations of World Water Day will be organised by United Nations University (UNU) and United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) on behalf of UN-Water on 20 and 21 March and will take place at the UNU Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan.

Boosting innovation in water management will contribute to overcoming these challenges by achieving sustainable use and treatment of water and developing future water policy. The chemical industry participates in projects for the development of integrated water strategies through technologies that reduce water consumption and the related energy, reduce use of fresh water resources and optimise waste water management. For example, the FP7 project E4Water that is building on state-of-the-art and new fundamental R&D concepts with the aim of achieving an expected reduction of 20-40% in water use, 30-70% in wastewater production, 15-40% in energy use and up to 60% direct economic benefits at its case study sites throughout the European chemical industry.

Water EIP Newsletter
SusChem and Cefic are heavily involved in the European Innovation Partnership on Water (EIP Water) and the UN World Water Day is one of many articles in the latest EIP Water Newsletter.

Water and Energy is one of EIP Water’s priority areas and in the newsletter you can get updates on the activities the  EIP Water Action Groups that are working in this field: Water4Energy Framework , Renewable Energy Desalination and Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor. You can subscribe to the newsletter via the EIP water website.

Final call for Sustainable Energy Awards 2014!

Is your company investing in energy efficiency, renewable energy or clean transport? Are you keen to gain EU recognition and visibility for your company’s sustainable energy investments? If so, the European Commission invites you to participate in the Sustainable Energy Europe Awards 2014. But you'll need to be quick: the deadline for entries is 28 March!

Every action counts; whether it’s a freshly refurbished energy efficient office, a clean mobility project, an energy efficiency campaign, or your energy saving software for customers. For 2014 the Sustainable Energy Europe Awards include five categories:

• COMMUNICATING: rising awareness actions
• LEARNING: educational and capacity building programmes
• LIVING: exemplary buildings
• CONSUMING: energy saving and renewables in consumption and production processes
• TRAVELLING: clean mobility projects

Winning projects will receive recognition and communication support, press promotion and a free audio-visual production featuring the project’s results. In addition, short-listed (five projects per category) and final winners will be invited to Brussels to present their project in a special conference and networking event to take place during the upcoming EU Sustainable Energy Week (23-27 June 2014). Travelling and accommodation costs for one representative will be covered. SusChem, of course, will be supporting #EUSEW 2014 as we did in 2013.

The winners will be announced during the EU Sustainable Energy Week 2014 in the presence of Energy Commissioner Günther H. Oettinger.

Why not share your company’s contribution to the EU 2020 energy targets and bring home the EU’s most important sustainable energy award?

More information
For more information visit the ManagEnergy and Sustainable Energy Europe Awards websites. Check out the competition’s eligibility and assessment criteria or click here to complete the short application form. You will need to register with the website before you can complete the form.

Don't forget the deadline for the competition is 28 March 2014. For queries or specific issues contact David Crous at the EUSEW organisers.