Author Archives: Elaine Butler

This month what might seem like the biggest news story, the signing of the Circular Economy Act into law in Ireland , won’t really impact progressive companies. If you’ve been waiting for a piece of legislation to oblige you to sort your waste streams or incentivise reusable packaging then you’re not the type of company who’llContinue reading “Newsletter July 2022”

I’m delighted to be announcing that a Circular Design and Economy project that I’m involved in is launching next week. Headed by the Irish Wood and Interiors Network (IWIN) this government funded project will provide a framework to develop new circular products and circular business models aimed at increasing the value, use and life ofContinue reading “Launch of Circular Upholstery Textiles Project in Ireland”

We’re starting to see more and more long-term, system focused policy statements coming from Europe like the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, published in March of this year, which states that ‘By 2030 textile products placed on the EU market are long-lived and recyclable, to a great extent made of recycled fibres, freeContinue reading “Newsletter June 2022”

The OECD have just published a report on circularity in Ireland, and it puts a figure of 2% on our circular material reuse, which is substantially less than the EU average of 12.8% This is despite the economic potential that circularity offers businesses and governments alike. Indeed in 2014, the Clean Technology Centre at MunsterContinue reading “Newsletter May 2022”

The biggest news in the field of eco or circular product design is the publication of the proposal for a new Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) on the 30th of March 2022. It is the cornerstone of the Commission’s approach to more environmentally sustainable and circular products and should be heeded by anyone involvedContinue reading “Newsletter April 2022”

My clients often feel that they have very little power to influence the sustainability of their customers and suppliers. This depends on how you define influence. Can we source cost-effective sustainable raw materials immediately? No. Can we ensure that customers will pay extra for more sustainable products or service? No. Can we start conversations thatContinue reading “Newsletter March 2022”

There is more and more interest in sustainability, but it’s not always the best kind. Unfortunately organisations seem to be getting obsessed with measuring their climate footprint and offsetting. This myopia often pushes genuinely sustainable initiatives off the agenda, particularly if they’re not measurable. After all, how do you measure the waste you didn’t throwContinue reading “Newsletter – February 2022”

Don’t be fooled into investing in less-bad ways of operating. At the moment markets and systems can’t support truly sustainable manufacturing or construction so often the best we can do is limit our impact. This in itself isn’t a bad thing, as long as we’re aware that it’s transitory and will need revising as theContinue reading “Newsletter – January 2022”

Lots of very positive developments in the world of sustainability and circularity this month. I was particularly interested in the EPA’s research into attitudes to the climate crisis in Ireland, compiled into the report ‘Climate Change in the Irish Mind’. It’s an accessible and comprehensive report, which is a must for anyone involved in or interestedContinue reading “Newsletter – December 2021”

Did you follow the coverage of Cop26? I doubt you had time so here are the highlights to get you up to speed. Before COP26, the world was on track for 2.7°C of warming, post COP26 this is estimated to have been reduced to 2.4°C, but only if countries deliver on their 2030 emissions targets.Continue reading “Newsletter – November 2021”