35d992f8-fb6d-4ebc-9ef3-af3bc7170bfe Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Copy link COMPANY: CELTIC RENEWABLES WEBSITE: CELTIC-RENEWABLES.COM SECTOR : CHEMICALS / BIOECONOMY PUBLISHED: 16TH JUNE 2026 TAGS: GREENCHEMICALS, WASTEVALORISATION, FERMENTATION, INDUSTRIALBIOTECHNOLOGY, ABEFERMENTATION, BIOECONOMY, GREENSOLVENTS, CIRCULARMATERIALS, BIOBASED In the second week of September 2025, a delegation of CIRCULÉIRE members and staff were invited to Glasgow, Scotland, by Zero Waste Scotland to meet Circular Economy Industry Pioneers and Stakeholders from the Scottish Ecosystem. On 10 September, the delegation visited Celtic Renewables' plant in Grangemouth, where the company is using fermentation to transform waste materials into high-value green chemicals. This case study is part of a special series transferring knowledge and learnings from the Scottish circular economy ecosystem to circular economy pioneers in Ireland. The Challenge Fossil fuels are primarily associated with being an energy source, but less widely recognised is their role as the foundation of the modern chemicals industry. Around 13% of fossil fuels are used not for combustion, but as raw materials for making products such as plastics, fertilisers, and solvents ( Zanon-Zotin et al., 2024 ). Solvents are all around us. Ethanol is used in perfumes, acetone in nail polish remover, and butanol in acrylic paint. These carbon-based chemicals are vital to many everyday products, but they come with a cost. To produce a kilogram of butanol, 2.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide are released, while producing a kilogram of acetone releases 1.9 kilograms of carbon dioxide ( ESIG, 2021 ). Most of this impact comes from the fossil fuels used as raw materials to make them. The global demand for these chemicals continues to rise. By 2050, global production of the seven major base chemicals - the building blocks of plastics, fertilisers, solvents, and pharmaceuticals - could grow by nearly 70% from 2020 levels, requiring 81% more energy to produce them ( PwC, 2024 ). Today, 95% of the raw materials to make these precursors still come directly from fossil fuels ( PwC, 2024 ). The industry needs to completely change how it makes chemicals - from the feedstocks to the processes to the energy sources - if it wishes to meet its carbon reduction targets. PwC estimates this shift will require between $1.5 and $3.3 trillion in investment by 2050 to reach net zero ( PwC, 2024 ). There is huge potential in the market for a greener, more circular solution to disrupt this legacy approach. Whiskey is core to Scotland's identity and is embedded in its history, culture, and economy. Yet it produces a significant amount of waste. Producing a single litre of whiskey creates between 10 and 18 litres of residue waste ( Edwards et al., 2022 ). This adds up to approximately 7.5 million tonnes of residue being produced across Scotland per year. Much of this is used as animal feed or fertiliser, though a small number of distilleries have permission to discharge co-product to sea under Scottish Environment Protection Agency regulation ( Edwards et al., 2022 ). Yet this waste is full of valuable resources that should be captured and circulated within the economy. What if it could be used to make green chemicals? Circular Solution Celtic Renewables was founded by Professor Martin Tangney, who originated the research at Edinburgh Napier University that would become the basis for the company. Beginning at test tube scale, his team worked to revive a century-old fermentation process and reimagine it for the circular economy. The company was established in 2012 as a university spinout and has since raised over £90 million in public and private funding, building Scotland's first biorefinery - a commercial demonstrator plant on a 2.5 acre site in Grangemouth, operational since 2023 ( Celtic Renewables, 2026 ). The CIRCULÉIRE team visits Celtic Renewables in Grangemouth, Scotland, to see how whiskey and agricultural waste is being transformed into high-value green chemicals. ABE fermentation - known historically as the Weizmann process - is at the heart of Celtic Renewables' approach: clostridia bacteria convert sugars and starches into acetone, butanol, and ethanol solvents. Originally developed at the beginning of the twentieth century, it formed the backbone of smokeless gunpowder (cordite) manufacturing in the UK and the US during the First World War. By the early 1960s, it had been displaced by cheaper, fossil-fuel-derived alternatives as petrochemical process economics proved superior ( Nguyen et al., 2018 ). With growing demand for green chemicals, several companies have tried to revive the process. Celtic Renewables has succeeded where others failed by putting circularity at the core of its business model. Competitors like Green Biologics - which shut down in 2019 - relied on conventional feedstocks such as corn starch and sugar, where high raw material costs made it impossible to compete with fossil-fuel derived alternatives on price ( Bomgardner, 2019 ). Instead, Celtic Renewables uses waste streams such as whiskey residue and rejected potatoes as the food source for the bacteria. This cuts feedstock costs to just 10–20% while also solving a waste disposal challenge for food and drink producers. Professor Martin Tangney on why the chemicals our economy needs should come from above the ground, not below it. As Professor Tangney explains in the video above: "Anywhere we can find the raw material that has been generated by another industry, we can potentially process that biological material into our high-value sustainable chemicals". The ambition extends well beyond Scotland - the company sees potential in waste streams from any food, drink, or agricultural sector globally. The Grangemouth demonstrator plant has been producing green solvents and shipping regularly to customers since becoming operational, with the process constantly being refined and improved ( Zero Waste Scotland, 2025 ). Building on this success, Celtic Renewables has secured £16.23 million in new investment to fund the planning and development of a new £120 million industrial-scale biorefinery at Grangemouth - with ten times the production capacity of the current facility and plans to create 149 new skilled jobs by 2030 ( Celtic Renewables, 2026 ; Biofuels International, 2026 ). Celtic Renewables illustrates how a business built on circular principles can become more competitive, build resilience, and unlock entirely new markets - turning industrial waste into sustainable value. Climate Impact During the delegation's visit to the Grangemouth plant, Celtic Renewables CEO Mark Simmers told CIRCULÉIRE: "Renewables has been mostly about energy to date, but we must as a society really start to think about materials and the way we live our lives and the inputs we need for that." Celtic Renewables is showing what that shift looks like in practice. Celtic Renewables reports that its green chemicals generate up to 65% less carbon emissions than their fossil-based petrochemical counterparts ( Celtic Renewables, 2025 ). For every tonne of bioacetone or biobutanol produced, almost 3 tonnes of carbon are saved ( Celtic Renewables, 2025 ). The company has plans to build several larger facilities directly adjacent to distilleries, allowing waste streams to be piped directly across the boundary. They also plan to make better use of process byproducts - capturing CO₂ and hydrogen and producing biogas from the leftover liquid effluent - which will close the loop further, increase their positive climate impact, and create additional revenue streams. The potential at scale is transformative. Around 13% of all fossil fuels are used not for energy but as the raw material for chemicals - a share that current decarbonisation strategies largely overlook ( Zanon-Zotin et al., 2024 ). Biorefineries like Celtic Renewables' demonstrator in Grangemouth point the way forward - showing that it is possible to produce the chemicals our economy depends on from sustainable, above-ground resources rather than fossil fuels extracted from below. Replicability The green chemicals and biorefinery space is growing, with a number of organisations developing comparable approaches: Niskus Biotec (Ireland), a CIRCULÉIRE member established in 2022, uses fermentation and enzymatic processes to upcycle spent grains from breweries and distilleries into high-value bioproducts - demonstrating that the circular valorisation of drinks industry waste streams is replicable in an Irish context. RipCell (Scotland), was founded in 2021 and uses a compact purification process to convert biomass fermentation byproducts into high-purity bio-lactic acid and bio-acetic acid - serving markets including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, bioplastics, and EV battery recycling. POET LLC (USA) is the world's largest producer of bioethanol, operating 35 bioprocessing facilities across nine US states with an annual production capacity of 3.1 billion gallons - demonstrating the commercial scale that bio-based fermentation processes can reach when built around abundant agricultural feedstocks. Green Generation (Ireland) was the first company in Ireland to inject biomethane into the national gas network, fermenting food waste and animal slurry at its anaerobic digestion plant in Co. Kildare. The company went into receivership in early 2025, with its shareholders citing competition from fraudulently labelled cheap biofuel imports as a key factor - a cautionary illustration of the commercial pressures facing early-stage bio-based producers in Ireland ( Irish Times, 2025 ). ALL CASE STUDIES

901caf9a-8db1-4d23-86ed-4ed8c4895fef Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Copy link CIRCULÉIRE NON-MEMBER CASE STUDY COMPANY: GEN PHOENIX WEBSITE: GENPHOENIX.COM SECTOR: TEXTILES PUBLISHED: 23 RD OCTOBER 2026 TAGS: WATER CIRCULAR MANUFACTURING, RECYCLED LEATHER, UPCYCLING, WASTE VALORISATION, CLOSED-LOOP RECYCLING, TAKE-BACK SCHEMES, MATERIAL INNOVATION, WATER RECYCLING, AVIATION INTERIORS, ZERO WASTE TO LANDFILL, MATERIAL EFFICIENCY The Challenge Leather is one of our oldest materials, but making it creates a lot of waste. Only about 20-25% of the weight of raw cattle hide becomes leather ( JRC, 2013 ). Processing one tonne of hides uses around 500 kg of chemicals and leaves roughly 600 kg of solid residues and 15,000-50,000 litres of wastewater ( JRC, 2013 ). Between 80% and 90% of the world’s leather is tanned with chromium salts, so offcuts and shavings carry chromium with them ( JRC, 2013 ). EU rules do not class this chromium(III) waste as hazardous ( JRC, 2013 ), but burning chrome-tanned scraps produces ash with high levels of chromium(VI) ( UNIDO, 2021 ). Poorly managed tannery waste can also contaminate soil and groundwater ( JRC, 2013 ). In developing countries and under-developed countries, landfill is the main disposal route for solid tannery waste ( Famielec, 2020 ). The chemicals, machinery and processes used in tanning pose high risks to workers, especially in countries where laws are poorly enforced ( UNIDO, 2021 ). Toxic hydrogen sulphide gas causes more tannery deaths than any other hazard, while skin disease is a common harm ( UNIDO, 2021 ). Europe faces its own pressures. EU cattle-hide tanneries produce an estimated 400,000 tonnes of wastewater sludge a year, plus a similar amount of other solid residues ( JRC, 2013 ). Raw materials make up 50-70% of tannery production costs ( JRC, 2013 ), so every discarded offcut is money lost. Pressure is also building at the end of a leather product’s life. Under the revised Waste Framework Directive, every EU country must, by April 2028, make producers of clothing, accessories and footwear, including leather items, pay to collect, sort and recycle them ( European Parliament and Council of the EU, 2025 ). The Circular Solution Gen Phoenix is a materials company based in Peterborough, England, that has been turning waste into new materials since 2007 ( Gen Phoenix, n.d.a ; Gen Phoenix, n.d.b ). It collects leather offcuts from tanneries and factory floors, as well as products at the end of their life ( Gen Phoenix, n.d.a ). These are milled into soft fibres and pressed into sheets of fibre web. Two sheets are then bonded to a textile core using only high-pressure water, 95% of which is recycled on site. Finally, the material is oiled, buffed and coated ( Gen Phoenix, n.d.a ). It is supplied on ready-to-cut rolls, and the main plant can make up to 6 million m² a year ( Gen Phoenix, n.d.b ; Gen Phoenix, n.d.c ). Gen Phoenix makes three material families. ELeather, the original product, has been used across buses, trains and aircraft for over 15 years; its Essence range is the company’s main aviation material ( Gen Phoenix, n.d.b ; Gen Phoenix, n.d.c ). Aurora uses chrome-tanned “wet blue” offcuts from European tanneries for fashion, footwear and car interiors ( Gen Phoenix, n.d.d ; JRC, 2013 ). Helios, launched in 2024, takes finished leather scraps and used post-consumer and industrial materials, so old products can become new material ( Gen Phoenix, n.d.d ; Gen Phoenix, 2024 ). The Circular Dress Cover, unveiled in 2024 with seat-cover maker Sabeti Wain Aerospace and Doy Design, shows how the loop can close ( Gen Phoenix, 2024 ). Made from Helios, the covers are designed to be collected through a take-back programme at the end of their life and turned back into new seat-cover material, while still meeting aviation fire-safety tests ( Gen Phoenix, 2024 ). In a separate seat design, Gen Phoenix’s Essence material is paired with a 100% PET spacer fabric instead of the foam layer usually bonded to seat covers. This allows the whole seat cover to be recycled without complex dismantling ( Gen Phoenix, 2026 ). Gen Phoenix notes, however, that recycling covers at scale still depends on the wider industry setting up ways to collect and return them ( Gen Phoenix, 2026 ). Environmental, Social and Economic Impact Gen Phoenix reports zero waste to landfill from its manufacturing since 2016 and recycles 95% of its process water ( Gen Phoenix, n.d.a ). It reports that its Essence aviation material has an over 80% lower carbon footprint than traditional leather ( Gen Phoenix, n.d.e ). Early life cycle analysis suggests the Circular Dress Cover cuts the carbon footprint of seat-cover manufacturing by about 30%. For an airline with 180 aircraft, it could keep over 3 tons of waste a year out of landfill ( Gen Phoenix, 2024 ). Products contain up to 77% recycled content. Some of the rest is virgin plastic, which the company aims to eliminate ( Gen Phoenix, n.d.b ). For airlines, material on rolls gives around 90% usable area, compared with a maximum of 70% for hides. It is also more than 48% lighter than typical aviation leather, which lowers fuel costs ( Gen Phoenix, n.d.c ). Gen Phoenix reports that Essence lasts over six years in use without wear and tear, reducing how often seats need replacing ( Gen Phoenix, n.d.e ). Customers include American Airlines, LATAM, SNCF and Amtrak ( Gen Phoenix, n.d.b ). Gen Phoenix manufactures in the UK ( Gen Phoenix, n.d.b ). It requires suppliers to ensure that leather does not come from the Amazon or other areas of high environmental concern ( Gen Phoenix, n.d.b ). Replicability Gen Phoenix is one of several companies rethinking how leather is made, used and recovered. The examples below take different routes to the same goal, from cleaner tanning and energy recovery to new materials made from farming and food waste. Muirhead (UK) describes its leather as the lowest carbon intensity in the world, achieved by sourcing hides locally, reclaiming energy from waste and reusing water ( Muirhead, n.d.a ). Its long-life leather can be turned into energy at the end of its life instead of going to landfill ( Muirhead, n.d.b ; Muirhead, n.d.c ). ECCO Leather’s DriTan™ (The Netherlands), launched in 2018, uses the moisture already present in hides for part of the tanning process, producing leather that is indistinguishable from traditionally tanned leather. It saves about 20 litres of water per hide and reduces chemical use and wastewater ( ECCO Group, 2018 ). Ananas Anam (London) makes Piñatex® from pineapple leaves left over from the harvest ( Ananas Anam, n.d.a ). The leaves need no additional resources to grow, and using them gives farming communities a new source of income ( Ananas Anam, n.d.b ). Because the leaves are often burnt after harvest, the company reports that each metre of Piñatex® saves the equivalent of up to 12 kg of CO₂ ( Ananas Anam, n.d.c ). VEGEA (Italy) turns grape marc, the waste left over from winemaking, into GrapeSkin®, a material for fashion, interiors, cars and luxury packaging. It is made from several bio-based layers on a thin recycled textile backing ( VEGEA, n.d.a ; VEGEA, n.d.b ). ALL CASE STUDIES

c7eee634-9120-419d-8d18-ac09ce30d4b1 Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Copy link CIRCULÉIRE MEMBER CASE STUDY COMPANY: RELOOP WEBSITE: RELOOP.IE SECTOR : INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) PUBLISHED: 25 TH MARCH 2026 TAGS: PRODUCT SHARING, LIBRARY OF THINGS, REUSE SYSTEMS, TEXTILE RECOVERY, E-WASTE COLLECTION, VALUE RETENTION, DIGITAL PLATFORMS, MATERIAL EFFICIENCY, SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCE The Problem Ireland has a waste problem. We generate 3.1 million tonnes of municipal waste (the waste from homes and businesses) per year ( EPA, n.d. ), or roughly 590 kilograms per person 1 . This rate has remained largely unchanged since 2016 2 , and at the same time, there has been no meaningful improvement in the recycling rate 3 . Over 97% of the materials used in the economy come from virgin sources ( Circle Economy, 2024 ). This consumption is reflected in emissions: in 2022, Ireland had the second-highest carbon emissions per capita in the EU, and was more than 50% higher than the EU average ( CSO, 2024 ). Textiles are one part of this issue. Ireland generates about 170,000 tonnes of used textiles per year ( EPA, 2021 ). Roughly two-thirds end up in general waste, which destines it for incineration or landfill ( EPA, 2021 ). The remaining third is collected through clothes banks, collections and charity shops, where items may be resold or recycled ( EPA, 2021 ). The collection rate of textiles needs to be increased to boost this reuse and recycling. Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) shows a similar pattern. In 2023, Ireland collected 44% of WEEE placed on the market; well below the EU target of 65% ( EPA, n.d. ). In fact, this is down from previous years; it was 51% in 2022 and 64% in 2021 ( EPA, n.d. ). Despite this, Ireland performs strongly once WEEE is collected, exceeding EU benchmarks for recovery, recycling and reuse ( EPA, n.d. ). The main challenge is therefore expanding the collection, particularly from consumers. Sharing offers a practical mechanism to reduce the amount of waste generated and materials used, whilst maintaining access to products and services. For example, a typical household drill is used for only 13 minutes over its lifetime ( Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2021 ), yet most of us have one at home. But what if you and your neighbours shared one drill instead? Sharing tools or other products within communities can significantly cut demand for new items, share costs, and encourage the purchasing of longer-lasting, better-quality products ( Demailly & Novel, 2014 ). In the UK, Libraries of Things scale this idea through digital platforms to manage shared items. Members can easily check availability, book items, and collect them from local hubs ( Library of Things, 2024 ). These systems simplify borrowing, build community trust and make low-impact choices more accessible and affordable ( Library of Things, 2024 ). The Circular Solution Reloop is an online platform that works with residential communities to collect old clothes and e-waste, while also offering a library-of-things service for residents. Through the platform, residents can borrow a wide range of products, from VR headsets to steam cleaners to tables and chairs. Items are requested online, delivered the next working day, used for two days, and then collected for the next user. The service itself is free; residents pay only an €8 delivery and collection fee. This saves residents’ money by removing the need to buy these items while saving materials and emissions. Reloop also partners with charities to ensure that collected textiles are resold to support their work. E-waste is collected by social enterprises that specialise in recycling electrical and electronic equipment. These partnerships help give materials a second life and support wider social and environmental goals. For property managers, Reloop offers a low-effort way to improve residents’ experience. Running a library of things or managing textile and e-waste collections independently would be an administrative burden and would require significant investment. Reloop handles logistics, coordination and reporting through its online booking and data-tracking system, reducing workload while enhancing the services available to residents. Climate Impact Library of Things services cut manufacturing demand and resource extraction by enabling shared access to products. Reloop now works with 23 residential communities across Dublin to provide this service. A useful comparison comes from Library of Things Ltd in London, which operates 22 locations. To date, they have enabled their members to borrow 75,000 items, saving them over £10 million, while at the same time reusing 525 tonnes of electricals and saving 1,500 tonnes of carbon emissions ( Library of Things, 2025 ). This illustrates the potential environmental value of shared-use systems like Reloop’s. Reloop’s textile collection helps to divert these from general waste streams. Reused clothing has 70 times lower emissions than new, even when global transport is included ( Norion Consult, 2023 ). Producing a new cotton shirt requires more than 30,000 litres of water, while a reused one only needs 0.3 litres ( Norion Consult, 2023 ). Increasing textile recovery, therefore, delivers substantial savings. E-waste collection offers similar benefits by recovering valuable materials. From the 5.7 million tonnes of e-waste collected in Europe, around 400,000 tonnes of critical raw materials were recovered, including copper, aluminium, silicon, tungsten and palladium ( Iattoni et al., 2025 ). Recycled metals are 2 to 10 times more energy efficient than virgin metals ( PACE, 2019 ). According to the 2050 Critical Raw Materials Outlook for WEEE report, “improving separate collection systems is essential to reduce the volume of critical raw materials lost before they even reach treatment facilities” ( Iattoni et al., 2025 ), and this objective is in line with Reloop’s mission. Replicability Tulu is a smart in-building platform that lets residents access shared appliances, tools and services on demand, reducing the need for individual ownership. Clothes POD provides clothing banks at 1,200 locations nationwide to offer convenient local drop off for waste textiles for resale or recycling. University College Dublin’s library offers a library of things for its students, enabling access to shared equipment. Westmeath libraries offer a library of things for musical instruments, toys, children’s fancy dress costumes, and much more. WEEE Ireland is a CIRCULÉIRE member that offers on-demand collection of e-waste for businesses, schools, colleges, health facilities and more. Footnotes Based on waste statistics for 2023. Ireland’s population in April 2023 was 5.281 million people ( CSO, 2023 ). For 2016, total municipal waste generated =2.763 million tonnes ( EPA, n.d. ) and Ireland population = 4.762 million people ( CSO, 2017 ). This gives a per capita rate of 580 kg per person, representing a 1.7% increase between 2016 and 2023. The recycling rate in 2016 was 41%, in 2023 it was 42% ( EPA, n.d. ). The EU target for 2023 was 50% ( EPA, n.d. ). ALL CASE STUDIES

94036eb7-0636-4468-96f2-31cf79a845fc Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Copy link CIRCULÉIRE NON-MEMBER CASE STUDY COMPANY: HOLCIM WEBSITE: HOLCIM.COM SECTOR : BUILT ENVIRONMENT PUBLISHED: 05 NOVEMBER 2025 TAGS: SUSTAINABLECONSTRUCTION, GREENCONCRETE, RECYCLEDCONCRETE, BUILTENVIRONMENT, EMBODIEDCARBON, CEMENT, CONSTRUCTIONWASTE, WASTETORESOURCE The Challenge Buildings account for 39% of global carbon emissions, with operational emissions related to heating, cooling, and power use contributing 28%, and embodied carbon—emissions from materials and construction—making up 11% ( World Green Building Council, 2025 ). Concrete alone is estimated to be responsible for approximately 6 to 8% of global CO 2 emissions ( World Economic Forum, 2024 ). This high carbon footprint arises mainly from the energy-intensive process of heating limestone at extreme temperatures during cement production, to make clinker, which is a primary ingredient in concrete. The built environment consumes about 50% of all extracted raw materials globally, emphasizing its significant resource demands ( European Commission, 2018 ). Concrete is the second most used material on earth, following only water in volume of use ( World Cement Association, n.d. ). Without the adoption of sustainable practices, the global consumption of raw materials for construction is projected to double by 2060, causing further environmental degradation and resource depletion ( OECD, 2019 ). A Circular Solution Holcim, a worldwide leader in building materials, partnered with Seqens - a major social housing organization in France - to give birth to Recygénie, the world's first building fully made from recycled concrete. This 220-unit social housing complex utilised Holcim's ECOCycle technology, which turns construction and demolition waste into new building materials (Holcim, n.d.). In 2021, a group of 1960s apartment buildings were torn down just outside of Paris, France. On the same site, construction began on the Recygénie complex, one year utilising demolition waste from the very buildings that once stood on the site ( Fast Company, 2024 ). This project demonstrated Holcim's ECOCycle technology platform, which enables the production of concrete from 100% recycled construction and demolition materials. The platform includes advanced crushing and processing systems that transform demolition waste into high-quality recycled aggregates, sand, and cement components. By reusing these recycled materials, ECOCycle reduces reliance on virgin raw inputs, conserves natural resources, and contributes to lowering the carbon footprint of new buildings ( Holcim, 2025 ; Holcim, 2023 ). A key collaborator on the project was the CSTB (Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment), the French national organization for R&D in construction. The CSTB’s partnership was essential to monitor and validate the performance of the recycled material, as the project went beyond existing French building standards. By working with the CSTB to validate the material, the project helped create a pathway for future circular projects and challenged existing regulations that limit the use of recycled content. The circular opportunity presented by Recygénie shows that big buildings can be constructed using only recycled materials, without a compromise on quality and safety. This helps keep waste out of landfills and encourages better use of resources. It sets an example in the field of sustainable building practices that can be used around the world ( Holcim, 2023 ). Climate Impact Recygénie has significantly reduced its environmental impact. The project's primary CO 2 savings come from using recycled materials to create new clinker, a process that avoids the high-temperature calcination of virgin limestone—the main source of cement's emissions. The project also diverted over 6,000 tons of construction and demolition waste from landfills and saved an equivalent amount of natural resources by recycling materials such as cement, aggregates, and water. These efforts demonstrate the potential of circular construction practices to lower carbon emissions, reduce waste, and conserve resources ( Holcim, 2023 ). Replicability The success of Recygénie proves that fully recycled concrete buildings are feasible and scalable. Holcim is replicating this model across the markets where it operates, adapting the solution to local building norms and material availability. In 2023, Holcim has recycled nearly 8.4 million tons of construction demolition materials ( Holcim, 2023 ). Several Irish companies are making great strides in the use of recycled cement and sustainable construction practices: Ecocem Ireland is a leading sustainable cement producer specializing in Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS), a byproduct of the steel industry used as a low-carbon substitute for Portland cement. Their product significantly reduces embodied carbon in concrete while maintaining high performance. Techrete are Ireland’s largest architectural precast concrete façade specialist, Techrete has launched a sustainable concrete range with a 50% reduction in embodied carbon, driven by incorporating cement replacement materials and high-performance mixes. Trinity College Dublin & FLI Precast Solutions developed a groundbreaking low-carbon concrete using biomass ash, an industrial byproduct from Edenderry Power Station, reducing carbon emissions by over 50%. Kilsaran , a longstanding Irish concrete products producer, implemented CarbonCure technology, which injects recycled CO 2 into concrete to permanently mineralize it for a reduced carbon footprint. ALL CASE STUDIES

792505fe-15ec-45b6-acf6-1cfc10e0bcf0 Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Copy link CIRCULÉIRE NON-MEMBER CASE STUDY COMPANY: MiALGAE WEBSITE: MIALGAE.COM SECTOR: BIOTECHNOLOGY, AQUACULTURE & AGRI-FOOD PUBLISHED: 15 th JULY 2026 TAGS: CIRCULAR BIOECONOMY, DISTILLERY WASTE, FERMENTATION, BY-PRODUCT VALORISATION, MICROALGAE, AQUACULTURE, FISHMEAL REPLACEMENT, JUST TRANSITION The Challenge Global fish stocks are under sustained pressure: as of the most recent FAO assessment, 35.5% of the world's marine fish stocks are classified as overfished ( FAO, 2025 ). A significant share of this pressure comes from "reduction fisheries" - fishing aimed not at direct human consumption but at producing fishmeal and fish oil - which land an average of 23.4 million tonnes of forage fish a year, around a quarter of all wild marine catch by volume ( Majluf et al., 2024 ). Having fallen well below its 1990s peak, the volume of wild fish reduced to fishmeal and fish oil is now projected to rise again over the coming decade, according to the OECD-FAO's latest joint outlook, which identifies the EU as one of the two largest global consumers of fish oil - expected to account for 15% of world demand by 2034 ( OECD/FAO, 2025 ). Ireland has a direct stake in this: marine ingredients still made up around 62% of feed for its organic farmed salmon at the sector's 2017–2019 baseline, including 18% fish oil ( Cooney et al., BIM, 2025 ). A Circular Solution MiAlgae produces omega-3-rich microalgae by recycling nutrient-rich by-products from whisky distilleries, including Falkirk Distillery ( Scotch Whisky Association, n.d. ). In Scotland, approximately 15 litres of co-product are generated for every litre of whisky produced ( Zero Waste Scotland, 2026 ). MiAlgae uses them as a feedstock for fermentation in 30,000-litre bioreactors, which the company states are run on renewable energy ( Just Transition Commission, 2025 ). Throughout the process, growth is monitored to maintain oil quality ( University of Edinburgh, n.d. ). The dried algae is sold as a microalgal omega-3 ingredient for the aquaculture and pet food sectors, giving distilleries a lower-cost, lower-impact route for co-products that would otherwise require disposal ( University of Edinburgh, n.d. ). The company's production model is designed to be modular, replicable and scalable, enabling facilities to be located close to whisky distilleries to minimise transport requirements and simplify feedstock collection. Construction of the new Grangemouth facility began in December 2025, with commercial production scheduled to commence in spring 2026 ( Zero Waste Scotland, 2026 ). Environmental, Social and Economic Impact Over a recent six-month period, MiAlgae reports that it recycled wastewater equivalent to nearly 300 Olympic-sized swimming pools and prevented 150,000 kg of CO₂ emissions - comparable to eliminating 500 round-trip flights between London and Edinburgh ( Just Transition Commission, 2025 ). For every tonne of algae it produces, the company saves an estimated 30 tonnes of fish that would otherwise be caught for fishmeal and fish oil ( Scottish Government, 2025 ). Zero Waste Scotland estimates that, scaled across further sites near Scotland's whisky distilleries, the model could average 100,000 tonnes of CO₂ saved per site annually ( Zero Waste Scotland, 2024 ). MiAlgae's Grangemouth facility is backed by £3 million in joint UK and Scottish Government funding and is the first new project at the Grangemouth site since its oil refinery closure ( UK Government, 2025 ; Scottish Government, 2025 ). Over the next five years, the project is expected to create around 310 jobs - roughly 130 directly at the Grangemouth site and a further 180 supported elsewhere in Scotland - and deliver an estimated £53 million into the Scottish economy ( UK Government, 2025 ; Scottish Government, 2025 ). As a condition of the public funding, eligible local workers are given priority during recruitment, and the facility is expected to help move workers into biotech from Scotland's oil and gas sector as part of Scotland's just transition ( UK Government, 2025 ; Just Transition Commission, 2025 ). Replicability The model addresses a growing need for sustainable omega-3. Fish oil remains the only economically viable source of the long-chain omega-3s that farmed fish require, which makes it a limiting factor for the sector's growth. Demand is set to intensify: global aquaculture output overtook wild capture fisheries in 2023, reaching 97.6 million tonnes, and is projected to reach 112 million tonnes by 2033 - growth that will widen a gap fish oil alone cannot fill ( European Commission & EUMOFA, 2025 ). Aquaculture's share of global fishmeal use, which rose from 63% in 2009 to 92% in 2023, underlines how heavily the sector already leans on marine ingredients ( European Commission & EUMOFA, 2025 ). MiAlgae's own model is built to be replicated - a modular design intended to be rolled out close to distilleries across Scotland - and it sits within a growing ecosystem of related approaches to sustainable feed: INNOAQUA (EU) - a €7.2 million Horizon Europe project cultivating microalgae on aquaculture wastewater to produce omega-3-rich, protein-rich ingredients under the Farm-to-Fork Strategy. Horizon Proteins (United Kingdom) - a Heriot-Watt University spin-out that shares MiAlgae's whisky-by-product feedstock, extracting protein from pot ale for Scottish salmon feed. Ocean Harvest Technology (Ireland) - produces seaweed-derived feed ingredients for aquaculture and livestock, developed through an Enterprise Ireland Innovation Partnership. Veramaris (Netherlands) - produces the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA directly from marine algae as an alternative to fish oil. ALL CASE STUDIES

e98898ad-0e77-4354-a3e6-0bf98438432d Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Copy link CIRCULÉIRE MEMBER CASE STUDY COMPANY: BLADEBRIDGE WEBSITE: BLADEBRIDGE.IE SECTOR : BUILT ENVIRONEMENT PUBLISHED: 21 AUGUST 2025 TAGS: BUILT ENVIRONMENT, CIRCULAR DESIGN, INNOVATION, SECOND LIFE, WASTE VALORISATION The Challenge Wind power has established itself as a vital cornerstone technology in the global effort to combat climate change and achieve the transition to a net-zero economy. Its environmental credentials, particularly when compared to legacy fossil fuel systems, are now scientifically robust and well-documented. On a life-cycle basis, onshore wind power has one of the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) footprints of all energy sources. Comparing CO₂ equivalents per kilowatt-hour (gCO_2eq/kWh): Wind power has a median estimate of 13 gCO_2eq/kWh, Natural gas has a median estimate of 490 gCO_2eq/kWh, and Coal-fired power plants have a median estimate of 1,001 gCO_2eq/kWh ( NREL, 2021 ). According to the International Energy Agency, global wind energy generation needs to increase from 2,330 Terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2023 to over 7,100 TWh by 2030 to align with a Net Zero Emissions by 2050 scenario. An approximate increase of 17% per year ( IEA, 2024 ). In terms of policy within the EU and Ireland, more wind power is the clear direction of travel. In 2022, in response to the war in Ukraine, the European Union launched the REPowerEU plan, to reduce EU dependence on fossil-fuel imports. The plan aims for 480 GW of wind energy by 2030 up from 190 GW in 2022 ( Wind Europe, 2022 ). Ireland's Climate Action Plan 2024 aims to increase the island’s share of renewable electricity to 80% by 2030, targeting 9 GW of onshore wind, and at least 5 GW from offshore wind projects ( Government of Ireland, 2024 ). With so much wind power coming online, serious consideration needs to be given to what happens to the wind turbines at the end of their life. Wind turbines are designed for a 20-year lifespan based on a set of design requirements by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) ( Wind Energy Ireland, 2021 ). Typically they last up to 25 years with some having their lifetime extended to 35 years ( Wind Europe, 2020 ). 85-90% of a wind turbine can be recycled as they are made of copper, steel and cast iron, however the remaining 10-15% of a turbine's mass is primarily made from composite materials used in the turbine blades, which are more challenging to recycle. ( Wind Europe, 2020 ). By 2030, it is projected that around 52,000 tonnes of wind turbine blades will be decommissioned annually in Europe ( Wind Europe, 2021) , that’s approximately the same weight as 3,700 double-decker buses. Without a circular approach to blade design, it's estimated that blade waste will grow to approximately 43 million tonnes globally by 2050 ( Liu and Barlow, 2017 ) - that’s approximately 3.1 million double-decker busses. The Circular Opportunity BladeBridge , are an Irish company and CIRCULÉIRE member, spun-out from the Re-Wind Network. The Re-Wind Network is an international research group from the Georgia Institute of Technology, University College Cork, Queen’s University Belfast, City University of New York and Munster Technological University who develop solutions to repurpose wind turbine blades at the end of their life. BladeBridge works with owners and operators of wind farms to provide them with sustainable end-of-life options for decommissioned blade material. When a blade reaches the end of its life, BladeBridge tests its strength to assess what kind of products it is suitable for, they then design innovative products to repurpose the blade for its new life. They have repurposed blades to create infrastructure such as a bridge on the Midleton to Youghal Greenway; benches, bike-parking and picnic tables on the Achill Greenway; E-bike charging hubs with ESB; furniture for a local community centre in Co Clare; and they are constantly coming up with new and innovative ideas. Wind turbine blades are getting bigger as time passes, and the decommissioning of later models brings new opportunities for new designs. BladeBridge has plans for products including office pods, shelters, and glamping pods. BladeBridge is currently the only company in Ireland repurposing turbine blades and are a pioneer in using blades for infrastructure like bridges. They have extensive experience working on pilot projects with ESB, Tidy Towns and numerous county councils. As BladeBridge’s turbine blades are used as a substitute for high-carbon virgin material, such as steel and concrete, their infrastructure designs result in 20-50% lower environmental impacts, which exceeds green public procurement initiatives. Their products also save money over their lifespan, as they require much lower maintenance versus conventional products. For local governments and communities BladeBridge offer infrastructure that shows engagement with the circular economy and comes with a great built-in story about the products history. By averaging the CO 2 saved from the use of raw materials across twelve different repurposing scenarios, BladeBridge have calculated that repurposing one tonne of wind turbine blades saves an equivalent half a tonne of CO 2. Their goal is to repurpose as much of wind turbine material as possible, diverting it from landfill or incineration, and preventing up to 900 tonnes of CO 2 equivalent emissions per year. Replicability Wind turbine blades are made to be tough and durable. They are usually a mixture of fibreglass and resin and are designed to withstand storms and wind for decades. Whilst this makes them hard to recycle, it also means they are ideal for outdoor furniture and infrastructure. Other examples of wind turbine solutions include: The Danish city of Aalborg has installed public bicycle shelters made from decommissioned wind turbine blades from a local wind farm. In the Netherlands, the company Blade-Made creates street furniture, playground equipment, and architectural features from sections of decommissioned turbine blades. The Polish company Anmet recycles and repurposes blades for various uses, including constructing small-scale bridges and city furniture. GE Renewable Energy partnered with Veolia North America (VNA) to process blades from its U.S. based onshore turbines, shredding them for use as a raw material for cement manufacturing. Siemens Gamesa has launched the "RecyclableBlade," the world's first fully recyclable wind turbine blade, which uses a new resin type that allows for the separation of blade materials at the end of life. ALL CASE STUDIES

a5b70e0a-7b0b-46bb-a0ec-f139d0268178 Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Copy link CIRCULÉIRE MEMBER CASE STUDY COMPANY: VOTECHNIK WEBSITE: VOTECHNIK.COM SECTOR : ELECTRONICS PUBLISHED: 24 APRIL 2024 TAGS: WEEE, CRITICAL RAW MATERIALS About Votechnik Votechnik developed a series of cutting-edge innovative robotic technologies for Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) recycling. LCD is an electronic display that is found in smartphones, tablets, televisions, and many other electronics. Votechnik’s robotic technology removes components containing hazardous substances from LCDs (e.g., mercury-containing lamps), and prepare non- hazardous materials for recycling. The Challenge The electronics industry is one of the top eight industries responsible for more than half of the world’s total carbon footprint. In 2020, the equivalent of 580 million metric tons of CO2 were emitted by Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) ( Singh and Ogunseitan, 2022 ). That is more than the emissions generated by Canada in a year (525 million metric tons) ( World Bank, 2023 ). LCDs have become the dominant technology in devices that contain displays. The rate at which people replace their devices every year results in an avalanche of discarded electronic waste. In fact, only about 38% of electronics that enter the market are subsequently collected; the remainder are discarded ( European Commission, 2020 ). LCD monitors are among the most dangerous electronic devices to discard because they contain toxic metals, including mercury, which can harm both humans and the environment. LCDs also contain rare earth metals, such as indium, which is one of the earth’s least prevalent minerals ( Royal Society of Chemistry, 2023 ). If Indium recovery is not increased, reserves may become smaller, affecting the supply chain. The Circular Opportunity Votechnik emerged from the University of Limerick, backed by the European Commission, and supported by world- class industrial players such as Siemens and KUKA . Votechnik has spent the last 10 years developing, testing, and operating their technology to the highest industry standards. They are certified compliant with the European Standard EN50625 for WEEE treatment, and their business model is specifically designed to address the EU legislative WEEE Directive. Votechnik offers a wide range of LCD recycling technologies, one of them being their Indium Recovery System, which is designed specifically to extract indium from WEEE glass panels. Their indium recovery technology is called IND2000 and is supplied as a machine to recyclers who run the process with Votechnik’s support. Votechnik’s technology is used to release and capture indium from the glass panels, achieving high extraction rates and minimizing waste. Purification techniques are used to refine the extracted indium, ensuring its quality and suitability for reuse in various applications. Furthermore, clean glass fractions are generated from the process, which can be reused in the production of the new glass products. The Indium Recovery System is designed to comply with international standards and regulations. Climate Impact By recovering this critical raw material from waste electronics, Votechnik’s Indium Recovery System ensures a stable and reliable supply chain for businesses, by reducing dependence on imported indium from China. It further contributes to environmental preservation by efficiently extracting indium from glass panels, preventing it from being lost in landfills or incinerated, and reducing dependency on indium mining. Replicability The electronic device industry is growing. The combined sales of smartphones, televisions, and computers in 2021 were USD$ 880 billion, with growth rates in 2022 expected to range between 3% - 4% ( Stewart and Crossan, 2022 ). Votechnik has effectively incorporated a circular business model into the booming electronics market, decreasing virgin resource consumption while assisting Ireland in meeting its WEEE collection targets. Recovery and reuse are becoming increasingly prevalent as nations strive to meet climate targets. KMK Metals Recycling , another CIRCULÉIRE member, provides environmentally sound management of waste metal in all forms. They collect and process 75% of Ireland’s WEEE. KMK Metals are partners with Votechnik on both their IND2000 technology plus their ALR4000 technology. The ALR4000 technology depollutes LCD displays, allowing them to be shredded before the secondary raw materials are recovered. ALL CASE STUDIES

c931216b-a63e-4825-b859-e06212d28d0b Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Copy link CIRCULÉIRE NON-MEMBER CASE STUDY COMPANY: RE-TURN WEBSITE : RE-TURN.IE SECTOR : PACKAGING PUBLISHED : 31 st JULY 2026 TAGS : DEPOSIT RETURN SCHEME, PACKAGING, PLASTIC RECYCLING, CIRCULAR MANUFACTURING, CLOSED-LOOP RECYCLING, MATERIAL PURITY, EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY, LITTER REDUCTION, POLICY-DRIVEN CIRCULARITY, CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR CHANGE The Challenge Packaging waste in Ireland has grown by almost 20% since 2016, while recycling of that same packaging has grown by only 5% over the same period, meaning waste is piling up nearly four times faster than the ability to recycle it, and the recycling rate is falling as a result ( EPA, 2025 ). Plastic packaging recycling stood at just 30% in 2023, missing the EU's 2025 target of 50% ( EPA, 2025 ). Metal fares little better: ferrous recycling has dropped below target, and aluminium , though improving , remains below target too ( EPA, 2025 ). For plastic bottles, aluminium and steel cans combined, only 49% were being recycled as of 2022, despite all three materials being straightforward to recycle once collected ( Re-turn, 2025 ). Bottles and cans face an added layer of EU regulation on top of general packaging rules. The Single-Use Plastics Directive, transposed into Irish law in 2021 ( DCEE, 2021 ), requires 77% of single-use plastic beverage bottles up to three litres, including caps and lids to be separately collected by 2025, rising to 90% by 2029 ( The European Parliament and The Council, 2019 ) . A newer EU Regulation, the PPWR, applies automatically across all member states from August 2026 and extends this same 90% separate collection target to metal beverage cans as well ( The European Parliament and The Council, 2025 ). A Circular Solution Re-turn's approach is built on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), an environmental policy that shifts the cost of a product's end-of-life, take-back, recycling, disposal, from government and consumers onto the producers who place it on the market. Re-turn is the independent, not-for-profit company appointed by the Irish Government to deliver this through the national Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), live since 1 February 2024 ( Re-turn, 2025 ). Producers placing PET bottles or aluminium and steel cans, 150 ml to 3 litres, on the Irish market must register and pay a fee per product. Containers bearing the Re-turn logo carry a refundable deposit, €0.15 up to 500 ml, €0.25 above, added to the price the customer pays ( Re-turn, 2025 ). The customer gets this deposit back by returning the empty, undamaged container to any registered return point nationwide - reverse vending machine or manual take-back - regardless of where it was purchased. Re-turn has partnered with Limerick Polymers Production (LPP) to handle the scheme's logistics. LPP collects and sorts returned containers from shops and reverse vending machines and manual return points, then transfers the sorted, baled material to third-party buyers. These materials are sold on to reprocessors in Ireland, the UK and Europe, feeding new containers and this sale forms one of Re-turn's own operating income streams ( Re-turn, 2025 ). Because containers are separated at the point of return, the scheme consistently produces bales exceeding 99% purity - beyond the 95% food-grade threshold set by the European Food Safety Authority - enabling genuine bottle-to-bottle and can-to-can recycling, currently via export while a domestic food-grade facility is being developed. Environmental, Social and Economic Impact In its two years of operation, the scheme has facilitated the collection of 2.5 billion drinks containers ( Re-turn, 2026 ). The recycling rate for in-scope containers has risen from 49% to an estimated over 91 %, with 76% captured directly through the scheme and the remainder via mixed dry recycling ( Re-turn, 2025 ). Irish Business Against Litter's latest survey found cans and plastic bottles are now 60% less common nationwide than when the scheme launched ( Re-turn, 2026 ). Aluminium recycling in particular carries an outsized benefit: it saves 95% of the energy and 97% of the emissions of primary aluminium production ( International Aluminium, n.d ). Ballygowan , Britvic Ireland's Natural Mineral Water brand, has trialled Ireland's first "circular bottle", made using recycled PET sourced entirely through Ireland's own Deposit Return Scheme ( Britvic Ireland, 2026 ). The scheme's social impact has scaled alongside its environmental one. More than 4,600 schools, clubs and community groups have used it to fundraise locally, and the Return for Children initiative, supporting six children's charities has raised over €410,000 since June 2024, including €300,000 in 2025 alone ( Re-turn, 2026 ). Financially, Re-turn is not-for-profit and not government-funded, drawing income from three sources: producer fees and material sales, and unredeemed deposits (€66.7m, a figure expected to shrink as return rates climb). The fees from unredeemed deposits were reinvested into scheme infrastructure, expansion of Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs), consumer education campaign, etc ( Re-turn, 2025 ). Replicability Ireland's scheme is not an outlier. Deposit return is a proven, high-performing model across Europe, with established systems consistently achieving return rates around or above 90%: Deutsche Pfandsystem GmbH (Germany), a deposit return scheme operating since 2003, covers single-use PET, metal cans (aluminium and tinplate) and glass beverage containers, consistently achieving a return rate of approximately 98% among the highest in the world ( TOMRA, 2026 ). Infinitum (Norway) operates a return-to-retail, producer-funded deposit return scheme. Norway's tradition of returnable containers dates back to 1902, though Infinitum's current single-use system was established in 1999. In 2024, it achieved a 93% return rate and a total collection rate of 98% across cans (aluminium and tinplate) and plastic bottles (PET and HDPE) ( TOMRA, 2024 ). Užstato Sistemos Administratorius (USAD) (Lithuania), a deposit return system introduced in 2016, raised its PET bottle return rate from 34% to approximately 91.9% within two years of launch, reaching 90% overall by the end of 2025 ( TOMRA, 2026 ). Palpa (Finland), a deposit return scheme, achieves return rates of around 90% for PET bottles, 99% for aluminium cans, and 98% for glass bottles. ALL CASE STUDIES

42190427-b090-430f-90dc-e30d21bfa7df Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Copy link CIRCULÉIRE NON-MEMBER CASE STUDY COMPANY: RENEWABLE PARTS LTD. WEBSITE: RENEWABLE-PARTS.COM SECTOR: ENERGY DATE PUBLISHED: 16 JANUARY 2026 TAGS: WINDENERGY, WINDTURBINES, REMANUFACTURING, SUPPLYCHAIN, RENEWABLEENERGY, COMPONENTREUSE, DECOMMISSIONING, CARBONSAVINGS, MATERIALRECOVERY In the second week of September 2025, a delegation of CIRCULÉIRE members and staff was invited to Glasgow, Scotland, by Zero Waste Scotland to meet Circular Economy Industry Pioneers and Stakeholders from the Scottish Ecosystem. On Tuesday, September 9 th , our delegation visited Renewable Parts, a supply chain refurbishment and remanufacture specialist in the wind energy industry. This case study is part of a special series to transfer knowledge and learnings to Circular Economy Pioneers in the Irish Ecosystem. The Challenge The wind energy industry is experiencing rapid growth. In Ireland, wind power’s share of electricity supply has more than doubled in the last decade. It now provides 34% of Ireland’s electricity supply, second only to natural gas at 44% (SEAI, 2024) . Wind has very low emissions; about 13 grams of CO 2 per kilowatt-hour (NREL, 2001) , which mainly comes from the materials, manufacturing, and construction of the wind turbines. Once in operation, a wind turbine produces virtually zero emissions. In comparison, natural gas emits 486 grams per kilowatt-hour (NREL, 2001), making wind 97% cleaner. While this represents a significant leap forward, the industry still faces challenges. How can we make the materials, manufacturing, and construction of wind turbines more sustainable? How do we maintain them and source parts for them decades later? How can the existing turbines be improved upon? What happens to these massive structures when they reach the end of their life? Addressing these questions requires a circular approach. Many wind farms are approaching their end of life, meaning huge quantities of waste materials will need to be disposed of. In Scotland alone, 5,500 onshore turbines will be decommissioned by 2050, creating 1.4 million tonnes of waste material (Jacobs, 2021). If you were to load this onto lorries and line them bumper to bumper, the queue would extend from Cork to Belfast and back (based on a 16.5 metre long articulated truck ( RSA, 2025 ) carrying 27 tonnes ( Espace Global Freight, n.d. )). The industry urgently needs to address this waste. Each turbine has about 8,000 parts ( US DoE, n.d. ), such as gears and motors, many of which will fail or will need to be replaced regularly over its lifespan. These parts currently end up in a landfill or are melted down to be recycled. Producing the materials for replacement parts accounts for 83% of their emissions (Arias Losada, 2021) . The wind industry creates a lot of waste, but the materials used to replace parts are also a major source of emissions. The Circular Solution Renewable Parts is a Scottish company tackling waste in the wind industry. Renewable Parts began exploring the reuse of parts in the Wind Industry in 2012, but it took until 2018 for the idea to gain real traction. This illustrates both the inertia in shifting industry mindsets and the persistence required for circular business models to succeed. Their work points towards a growing recognition that achieving net-zero goals depends on the sustainability of supply chains; and remanufacturing can be central to achieving that. Renewable Parts’ approach is simple: take end-of-life components, remanufacture them to a standard equal to or better than new, and return them to turbine owners. Wind turbines operate for decades in extreme environments, and sooner or later, some of their components are going to break. The failed parts, along with parts from decommissioned turbines, are taken to Renewable Parts’ facility in Lochgilphead. Here they are stripped into components, and everything down to the bolts and washers is cleaned and inspected. The bearings, seals, and grease are always replaced, and individual worn-out components are refurbished or swapped out. Once reassembled, the parts perform like new and even have the same warranty. This reuse of material enables lower cost parts and diverts a huge amount of materials going to waste. Despite common misconceptions that remanufactured parts might be somehow inferior to new parts, industries such as aerospace have long relied on them, proving their safety and reliability. In fact, remanufacturing often outperforms original manufacturing, as data from past failures enables engineers to design out weaknesses and produce improved parts. Far more rigorous than repair, remanufacturing delivers high-integrity products that often surpass the originals, positioning it as a cornerstone of a high-quality and sustainable industrial future. Renewable Parts tracks exactly how components fail: by age, manufacturer, and even the specific conditions of the turbine e.g., wind alignment. By pinpointing the root causes, they can redesign vulnerable parts. The result? Remanufactured components that are stronger and often outlast the originals. In one example, an improved Siemens 1.3 yaw drive showed a 10% reduction in failures compared to the original design (Cross, 2024). The CIRCULÉIRE team visits Renewable Parts in Scotland to see how remanufacturing and circular supply chains are tackling waste in the wind energy sector Renewable Parts demonstrates how remanufacturing with a circular business model can improve quality while reducing time, cost, and carbon. And it's working; turnover is growing by 37% year on year (Zero Waste Scotland, 2024) , with remanufacturing already accounting for 38% of revenue. The company aims to raise this to two-thirds within five years, and in the process create more skilled jobs in rural Scotland. The Differences Between Repair, Refurbishment & Remanufacture Repair is the most basic intervention, focused on fixing a specific fault to get a product back into working order. This process typically involves minimal disassembly and only addresses the failed part without assessing the overall condition of the item. The goal is to restore function, not to improve the product's lifespan or appearance. Refurbishment goes a step further than repair. It involves restoring a used product to a functional, but not necessarily "like-new," condition. The focus is on fixing obvious faults and improving its cosmetic appearance. Parts are repaired or replaced as needed, but the product is not completely disassembled. A refurbished item will often have a limited warranty and may not meet original performance specifications. Remanufacture is the most rigorous and comprehensive process. It involves disassembling the product completely, inspecting all individual components, and replacing or restoring worn-out or obsolete parts with a combination of reused, repaired, and new parts. The goal is to return the product to a like-new or better-than-new condition in terms of performance, appearance, and quality. A remanufactured product typically comes with a new warranty that is equivalent to or better than the original product's warranty. Climate Impact The remanufactured parts offer significant carbon savings. Customers receive carbon certificates, allowing them to measure their reductions and compare the value directly against buying offsets. Between 2018 and 2024, Renewable Parts’ remanufacturing has saved 579 tonnes of CO 2 equivalent (Zero Waste Scotland, 2024) . That’s equivalent to the electricity of roughly 540 homes in Ireland for a year. In that same period, they have diverted 198 tonnes of material from landfill (Zero Waste Scotland, 2024) , or about seven articulated lorries full. The potential impact across the wind industry is vast. Research commissioned by the Coalition for Wind Industry Circularity, of which Renewables Parts is a member, found that if just ten out of the thousands of parts in a turbine used a circular supply chain, it could save 800,000 tonnes of parts from being scrapped in 10 European countries by 2035. This market would be worth 9.6 billion GBP (11.1 billion EUR) and create 20,000 jobs (BVG Associates Limited, 2023) . Circular economy solutions aren’t just good for the environment - they also make clear economic sense. This presents a huge untapped business opportunity; Stephen Fitzpatrick of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland said, “Renewable Parts Limited are the only company in Scotland, and arguably the UK, that are picking this up. But they can only do so much. We need many, many more of those companies or for Renewable Parts to grow significantly.” Replicability Vestas , one of the world's largest turbine manufacturers, operates a refurbishment facility of 120 people in Lübeck, Germany. Failed generators are refurbished, cutting their CO 2 emissions by more than half compared to producing a new one. This supports their goal of reducing supply chain emissions in their service business by 45% by 2030 (Arias Losada, 2021) . Siemens Gamesa operates 11 repair centres globally, which offer reduced costs and lead-times, with improved reliability and availability of parts (Siemens Gamesa, n.d.) . They have also launched the "RecyclableBlade," the world's first fully recyclable wind turbine blade, which uses a new resin type that allows for the separation of blade materials at the end of life (Siemens Gamesa, n.d.) . BladeBridge , an Irish company and CIRCULÉIRE member, repurposes old wind turbine blades into new products such as bridges and outdoor furniture. The blade is used in place of virgin materials such as steel and concrete, resulting in a 20-50% lower environmental impact. The products also require less maintenance, saving money over their lifespan. Their products have been used on the Achill Sound and Midleton to Youghal greenways, as well as communities across the country. Read our BladeBridge case study here. GE Renewable Energy partnered with Veolia North America (VNA) to process blades from its U.S.-based onshore turbines, shredding them for use as a raw material for cement manufacturing. These examples show how circular solutions are fostering an entire ecosystem of companies, each specialising in different aspects of wind turbines. ALL CASE STUDIES

9f538ea4-0f34-457d-a6ea-86430a254ba7 Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Copy link CIRCULÉIRE MEMBER CASE STUDY COMPANY: MESH BIOPLASTICS WEBSITE: MESHBIOPLASTICS.COM SECTOR : ADVANCED-MATERIALS / SMART MANUFACTURING PUBLISHED: 06TH MAY 2026 TAGS: BIOPLASTICS, BIOPOLYMERS, CIRCULARMATERIALS, AI-MANUFACTURING, SMARTMANUFACTURING, DIGITALTWIN, MEDTECH The Challenge Global plastic consumption is accelerating at a pace the planet cannot absorb. Over 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced annually - half of it single use - equivalent in weight to 800 Burj Khalifa towers ( UN, 2025 ). The plastic lifecycle, from production to disposal, accounts for roughly 4% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions ( UNFCCC, 2024 ). In the EU alone, plastic production generates 13.4 million tonnes of CO₂ yearly, making up 20% of the chemicals sector's total emissions ( EEA, 2024 ). The waste picture is equally stark. Every day, the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks' worth of plastic is discarded into oceans, rivers, and lakes ( UNEP, n.d. ). Eighty-five percent of marine litter is plastic, driving toxic leaching and habitat degradation across ecosystems ( EEA, 2023 ). The consequences extend beyond the environment - chemical exposure poses human health risks, disrupted fisheries threaten food security, and coastal communities face growing economic fragility. These pressures are set to intensify. Global annual plastic production is projected to double by 2050 ( EEA, 2024 ), yet global recycling rates remain stuck at just 9%, with incineration accounting for a further 12% ( Houssini et al, 2025 ; EEA, 2024 ). The scale of the problem demands solutions that go beyond recycling alone - rethinking the materials themselves and the processes used to make them. The Circular Solution Mesh Bioplastics , a participant of the 2025 CIRCULÉIRE Venture Accelerator, was founded to address the challenge that the materials used in demanding healthcare and industrial applications needed to meet strict performance requirements while also supporting sustainability and circularity. The company was co-founded by Shane Hannan, who brings over 15 years of experience across plastics manufacturing and regulated life sciences; Tony Hannan, with 30 years in manufacturing and operational scale-up; Dr. Annie Ibrahim, a specialist in artificial intelligence, data science, and scalable SaaS systems and Reinier Kobus, with 25 years in financial strategy and capital structuring for global conglomerates. Between them, the founding team spans the full range of problems Mesh is built to solve - materials science, manufacturing process control, and the digital intelligence to connect them. That combination of expertise is reflected in the company's two connected offerings. On the materials side, Mesh develops bioplastics for healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing - sectors where performance cannot be compromised. Bioplastics are materials that are bio-based, biodegradable, or both - made wholly or partly from renewable biological sources such as corn, sugarcane, or cellulose, rather than from fossil fuels ( European Bioplastics, n.d. ). Mesh's biopolymer-based products are designed to match the performance of conventional petroleum-based plastics while significantly reducing environmental harm. On the manufacturing side, Mesh has developed VariControl - a proprietary AI platform that integrates directly with existing factory-floor equipment including injection moulding, extrusion, and thermoforming machines. Using proactive digital twin technology, VariControl builds a live model of each manufacturing process, continuously monitoring for drift and guiding corrective action before issues reach the production line - improving consistency, reducing waste, and supporting faster learning during manufacturing runs. The platform generates structured, audit-friendly process data designed to support validation-ready production in regulated environments such as healthcare. A short explainer on how the VariControl platform works VariControl is material-agnostic, operating equally with virgin polymers, recycled polymers, bioplastics, and recycled bioplastic blends. Its ability to learn and model material behaviour also makes it a powerful tool for bringing novel materials online - including emerging bio-based feedstocks derived from aquatic, agricultural, and waste sources - stabilising molecular drift as new materials are introduced and enabling manufacturers to increase recycled or bio-based content progressively, without sacrificing quality or throughput, and without requiring hardware modifications. Together, these two offerings address the plastic problem from both ends: replacing harmful materials at source and making the production of sustainable alternatives as efficient and commercially viable as possible. Climate Impact Under optimised conditions, bioplastics produced from lignocellulosic waste biomass (plant-based agricultural and forestry residues such as wheat straw, corn husks, and sawdust) can achieve carbon-negative lifecycle emissions, while food waste-derived bioplastics generate just 4.8 kg CO₂ eq. per kilogram produced - far below conventional fossil plastic benchmarks ( de Mello et al., 2025 ). VariControl delivers additional gains at the production stage. The company’s own pilot trials in plastics manufacturing have reported measurable sustainability improvements through real-time optimisation and waste minimisation: 20–25% average reduction in material waste through predictive fault detection and closed-loop process control. Up to 15% decrease in energy consumption production run due to dynamic cycle-time optimisation. Support for up to 50% recycled or bioplastic content without sacrificing quality or throughput, slashing virgin polymer reliance. 25–35% drop in process-related CO₂ emissions versus conventional virgin-material production. Beyond the environmental gains, VariControl reduces raw material costs and waste disposal fees - improving profit margins and making the transition to circular plastics production a commercially attractive proposition for manufacturers, not just a compliance exercise. Replicability The global medical plastics market - the primary target for Mesh's biopolymer-based devices - was valued at USD $61.35 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach USD $99.25 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 6.0% ( Grand View Research, 2025 ). At the same time, the broader bioplastics sector is scaling rapidly. According to the European Bioplastics Association, global biobased plastics production capacity is forecast to double from 2.31 million tonnes in 2025 to approximately 4.69 million tonnes by 2030, driven by regulatory pressure, rising demand across packaging, automotive, and healthcare, and the emergence of more advanced applications ( European Bioplastics, 2025 ). EU regulation is tightening the conditions under which conventional plastics can be produced and placed on the market. The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) are together mandating reductions in virgin material use and greater transparency around environmental performance - creating both pressure and opportunity for solutions like those Mesh Bioplastics offers. A number of organisations are developing comparable solutions in the bioplastics and circular plastics space: ReBioCycle is an EU-funded initiative scaling sorting and recycling infrastructure for bio-based plastics, improving recycled content and measuring environmental performance against fossil benchmarks. Sulapac (Finland) develops wood-based biocomposite materials for cosmetics packaging, achieving full biodegradability without compromising on design or performance. Corbion (Netherlands) produces lactic acid-based biopolymers used in medical applications including wound care, surgical sutures, and drug delivery systems, applying fermentation-based production processes and rigorous regulatory compliance to support sustainable healthcare materials. NatureWorks (USA) is one of the world's leading producers of Ingeo biopolymers, derived from renewable resources, with applications spanning packaging, medical devices, and industrial uses - demonstrating the commercial scalability of bio-based alternatives to conventional plastics. ALL CASE STUDIES

19c8a8d5-aefd-49f6-9c2d-16d77324d22a Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Copy link CIRCULÉIRE MEMBER CASE STUDY COMPANY: HaPPE EARTH WEBSITE: HAPPEEARTH.COM SECTOR : MEDTECH PUBLISHED: 06 AUGUST 2025 TAGS: GREENHEALTHCARE, PPEWASTE, INNOVATION, SUSTAINABLEHEALTHCARE, MEDTECH, CIRCULARHEALTHCARE, ESG, COMPOSTABLE, BIOECONOMY, WASTEMANAGEMENT The Challenge Through its vitally important role in the protection of human health, the global healthcare sector generates an enormous and complex waste stream. If the global healthcare sector were a country, it would rank as the fifth-largest contributor to global CO₂ emissions, responsible for over 5% of total emissions, surpassing those from aviation or shipping sectors ( MedTech Europe, 2024 ). One-third of the carbon emissions generated by the healthcare sector, and most of its waste comes from medical devices ( Boston Consulting Group, 2024 ). Ninety percent of medical device waste primarily consists of single-use devices ( Health & EY, 2024 ). During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical waste became particularly visible, especially concerning Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). PPE is classified as any device or appliance designed to be worn or held by an individual for protection against one or more health and safety hazards ( HSA, 2025 ). Globally, an estimated 129 billion face masks and 65 billion gloves were used every month ( Prata et al., 2020 ). Typically, PPE is incinerated, and none is sent to landfill. However, during the pandemic, incinerators were so overrun that many countries were forced to send waste to landfill ( BMJ, 2021 ). By 2021, more than 8,000,000 tonnes of pandemic-associated plastic waste was generated globally, with more than 25,000 tonnes entering our oceans ( PNAS, 2021 ). An estimated 73% came from hospitals ( PNAS, 2021 ). PPE is an unquestionably necessary tool for saving lives. It prevents the spread of pathogens and infections and protects both frontline healthcare workers and patients. However, PPE such as face masks, gloves, and gowns are commonly manufactured from plastics such as polypropylene, polyurethane, polyacrylonitrile, polyethylene, and polyethylene terephthalate which can take as long as 450 years to decompose ( BMJ, 2021 ). Even when incinerated, PPE still releases greenhouse gases and contributes to air pollution ( Kumar et al., 2020 ). The challenge, therefore, is not to eliminate this essential equipment but to fundamentally redesign its lifecycle. The Circular Solution in Practice HaPPE Earth is an Irish company and CIRCULÉIRE member, founded in 2021. They make medically approved compostable PPE aprons from sustainably sourced, proprietary bio-resins. Bioresins are a type of polymer derived from renewable sources such as plants, cellulose, sugars, and other biological materials, instead of traditional petroleum-based sources ( Verde Bioresins, 2025 ). HaPPE Earth’s aprons are used the same as standard petroleum-based PPE aprons, but instead of being thrown away after use, they are sent to HaPPE Earth’s onsite medical biodigester system. The biodigester is offered as a first-of-its-kind Sustainable-Consumables-as-a-Service (SCAAS) business model and requires no capital investment from the healthcare service provider. The PPE aprons are composted alongside the healthcare provider’s food waste, where they break down in days in HaPPE Earth’s industrial composting process, resulting in a valuable, pathogen safe, nutrient-rich fertilizer. In addition, HaPPE Earth offers a real-time data monitoring tool allowing healthcare providers to track their plastic waste and CO 2 reduction and capture food waste data for use in their ESG reporting. The service is provided with a dedicated account management team to help with software integration and training, and technical support throughout the process. HaPPE Earth estimates the compostable apron and digestion system uses 75% less carbon emissions than standard single use aprons ( Health Innovation Hub Ireland, 2023 ). By managing waste on-site, the system saves on carbon emissions from transport while simultaneously preventing waste from entering waterways and avoiding air pollution from incineration. Furthermore, HaPPE Earth estimates their waste re-direction service can save the Irish Health Service approximately EUR €400,000.00, and reduce 8,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year, all while eliminating PPE plastic waste. HaPPE Earth’s aprons are being trialled in over 20 hospitals in Ireland. However, any sector that uses PPE can use the HaPPE system – including pharmaceuticals, medical device industries and food preparation. Replicability Biodegradable and compostable PPE options are growing across Europe and North America, alongside trials of systems to digest and decompose the products effectively. Some notable examples of companies working to tackle the use of PPE in the healthcare sector include: Revolution-Zero focus on reusable alternatives to medical textiles, including isolation gowns, aprons, transfer sheets, curtains, and warm-up jackets. They offer direct purchase options or Product as a Service models, and offer software for operations, regulatory compliance, asset tracking and environmental reporting. AmorSui – offer a reusable line of PPE made from premium, machine washable materials. Their fabrics are recyclable, and they are currently developing a take-back programme and subscription model to fully align with their circular economy principles. ALL CASE STUDIES

abb2e18b-2e79-4162-97eb-7d22fb6375b8 Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Copy link CIRCULÉIRE NON-MEMBER CASE STUDY COMPANY: AHREND WEBSITE: AHREND.COM SECTOR : BUILT ENVIRONMENT PUBLISHED: 27 JUNE 2025 TAGS: BUILT ENVIRONMENT, FURNITURE, CIRCULAR BUSINESS MODELS, CIRCULAR DESIGN, REUSE About Ahrend Furniture Ahrend , established in 1896, is an international leader in office furniture and space solutions, committed to delivering vitalising workspaces. Ahrend furniture is designed to optimise employee’s experiences with the focus on stimulating health, wellbeing, and productivity in workspaces. The Challenge As educational levels improve and the service industry expands, so will the number of individuals with formal office positions, causing a growth in office space and furnishings ( Ellen McArthur Foundation, 2021 ). Although this benefits people’s livelihoods, it has a negative influence on the environment by increasing waste. In Europe, 10.78 million tonnes of furniture waste is discarded yearly ( Forrest et al., 2017 ), which is the approximate weight of 53,900 adult blue whales. Only 10% of that furniture is recycled, while 80% - 90% is incinerated or ends up in landfills ( Forrest et al., 2017 ). Producing the average piece of furniture emits 47 kilogrammes of CO2, which is comparable to burning nearly 20 litres of petrol ( Lai, 2023 ). The Circular Solution In the 1990s, Ahrend was involved in the development of Ecodesign, the European guideline for environmentally-friendly product design. Since then their new products are designed to be modular, sustainable, repairable and parts are designed to be easily separated for reuse or recycling. In 1994, Ahrend designed the A220 office chair which was was one of the first Ecodesign products in the world. In 2011, they became the first and only Cradle to Cradle company in the furniture industry. Cradle to Cradle is a global certification system which scores brands for their commitment to the circular economy, the reduction of waste and hazardous chemicals, more efficient uses of resources and the reuse of materials, energy efficiency, and social responsibility ( Good On You, 2023 ). Ahrend now offers their customers a “Furniture as a Service” (FaaS) option, in which they rent their office furniture for a fee, based on the length of time that they require it. Ahrend provides maintenance, storage, and insurance for all products in use during this time. When a customer no longer requires the furniture, it is returned to Ahrend and refurbished, thereby prolonging its life and decreasing virgin material use. This business model has several advantages. As Ahrend maintains ownership of their product throughout its lifetime they are incentivised to design it for durability and to be easily repairable and remanufactuarable in the future. This in turn reduces waste, CO2 emissions and the need for additional virgin resources. The FaaS business model also ensures the end-of-life of a product is considered right from the early design stages and influences the materials chosen for production, assessing them on their recyclability and lack of toxicity. Climate Impact Ahrend lowers CO2 emissions by up to 40% each year by redeploying materials and products. The FaaS model also cuts costs. Consider a new working environment with a total investment value of €45,000 over a time frame of 60 months. If the FaaS model is opted for versus buying, a €6000 savings could be achieved on the end cost ( Ahrend, 2023 ). FaaS makes more financial sense once you consider the savings from maintaining a work environment such as logistics, interest, storage, and maintenance expenses. Furthermore, Ahrend’s manufacturing process is CO2 neutral, using 100% renewable energy and closed water and energy circuits with heat pumps to reduce its CO2 footprint. Replicability Under the Product as a Service (PaaS) business model companies offer their physical product as a service. This model incentivises companies to consider longevity, maintenance, reuse, re-manufacture, and recycling in their product design. All this is done in close collaboration with customers, who become “users” of a service instead of “consumers” of a product. The PaaS model has already been applied to cars, bikes, smartphones, clothes, printers, solar panels, tires, etc. For example... Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport, pays Philips and Cofely for ‘light as a service ’. They save on maintenance costs and extend the service life of the light fittings by 75%. It further limits raw material consumption, because every component can be recycled or re-used at the end of its service life ( EU, 2023 ). Homie , in the Netherlands, offers a pay-per-use washing machine subscription where customers pay less for wasing at lower temperatures ( CEF, 2023 ). ALL CASE STUDIES