IKEA Opens the Door for Furniture Rental Service

06.02.2019

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IKEA is to start leasing furniture as part of a more sustainable business model for the future.

The Swedish brand has announced it is launching trials in Switzerland this month to test out new subscription services for everything from office chairs to kitchen cabinets.

New wardrobes and kitchen cupboards are now being designed so that it will be possible to change the doors without needing to rip out the whole set-up, allowing customers to modernise without having to consign all of the original material to the skip.

IKEA aims to achieve a 70% reduction per product by 2030.

Torbjorn Loof, CEO of Inter Ikea, which owns the Ikea brand, said: “We will work together with partners so you can actually lease your furniture.

“When that leasing period is over, you hand it back and you might lease something else. And instead of throwing those away, we refurbish them a little and we could sell them, prolonging the lifecycle of the products.”

Source: Energy Live News

UK Chips an Inch Shorter After Summer Heatwave – Report

06.02.2019

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The British chip has been left an inch shorter by the 2018 heatwave, according to a report on the risks to UK fruit and vegetable growing from climate change.

The spell of baking summer weather was made 30 times more likely by global warming and left spuds substantially smaller than usual. Yields of carrots and onions were also sharply down.

Recent years have seen winter deluges cause flooding, severe late frosts and dry summers, all of which make the precarious job of growing fruit and vegetables even harder. Climate change is already making extreme weather more likely and, with projections indicating severe water stress in key parts of England, some growers fear for their future.

The report, Recipe for Disaster, was produced by The Climate Coalition, which brings together 130 organisations including WWF, the National Trust, the Women’s Institute and Christian Aid, and represents more than 15 million UK members. The report calls for urgent reductions of carbon emissions and food waste by, for example, eating more wonky veg.

The summer of 2018 was the joint hottest on record, with some places not seeing any rain for 58 days. The lack of water resulted in the fourth lowest potato harvest in the last 60 years.

“Yields were down 20-25%,” said Richard Thompson, a potato grower in Staffordshire. “We also had quality issues with a lot of misshapen and small potatoes. I’ll be reducing my acreage next year because I can’t afford to take the risk.”

Cedric Porter, editor of World Potato Markets, said consumers were seeing smaller chips as a result of last year’s drought and extreme heat: “They were 3cm shorter on average in the UK. Smaller potatoes means smaller chips.”

More than 80% of the potatoes eaten in the UK are homegrown, but climate change could make three-quarters of land used unsuitable by 2050, the report found. “It should be unthinkable to us that the humble spud could become a delicacy,” said Gareth Redmond-King, at WWF. “But the unthinkable becomes reality if climate change isn’t tackled.”

Leeds University scientists Kate Sambrook and Prof Piers Forster contributed climate analysis to the report. They found that high temperature extremes in summer and intense winter downpours have become more common in recent decades, with 2013-2014 the wettest winter on record for the UK. Extreme weather will worsen further in future as the world gets hotter, they said.

Warmer winters encourage early flowering of fruit such as apples and wine grapes, but they can then be wiped out by late frosts. Mild winters also mean pests such as the cabbage moth can thrive and could allow the pea beetle to cross the channel from France.

Lee Abbey, head of horticulture at the National Farmers Union, said: “A lot of growers will have come out of [2018] with sore heads and not much income. Farmers and growers are used to dealing with fluctuations in the weather but if we have two or three extreme years in a row it has the potential to put growers out of business.” Carrots yields were down 25% and onions down 40%.

Michael Gove, the environment secretary, said: “This nutritious food, and the livelihoods of the hard-working farmers who grow it, are increasingly threatened by more extreme weather and increased pests and diseases as a result of climate change.” He said the new agriculture bill would reward farmers who reduce their emissions.

“We have to do all we can to limit climate change,” said cook and broadcaster Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. “As luck would have it, that is an built-in consequence of sustainable, ethical eating anyway. If you shop locally and eat seasonally you are already doing your bit. If you prioritise organic produce and limit your consumption of animal foods, you’re doing even more.”

Agriculture is a large emitter of greenhouse gases, particularly from cattle. In January, the National Farmers Union set out its aspiration for UK farming to become net zero in its greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

Other threats to fruit and vegetable supplies in the UK are a lack of pickers after Brexit – currently 99% are from other EU nations – and extreme weather in other places. There were shortages of courgettes, spinach lettuce in early 2017 after bad weather in Spain and Italy.

Source: Guardian

A Record 250,000 People Participated in Veganuary

05.02.2019

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As you might already know, Earth really needs us to eat less meat. That’s why it’s so encouraging to hear a record-number of people tried going vegan this January.

Organizers behind Veganuary, the UK-based charity that started the month-long pledge, reported 250,000 sign-ups for their 2019 campaign. That’s more pledges in the previous four years combined, the group cheered.

“I think Veganuary has reached critical mass now—vegan living is growing, it’s here to stay, it’s part of the national conversation, and it has credibility,” head campaigner Rich Hardy said in a blog post. “That’s great news for people, animals, and the planet.”

This year’s initiatve grew globally thanks to 13 new overseas partnerships in India, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Iceland and Russia.

A number of celebrities also helped spread the word, including BBC wildlife expert Chris Packham, Spanish international footballer Hector Bellerin and Harry Potter actress Evanna Lynch.

The travel industry publication TTG recently reported that airlines such as Norwegian and Emirates recorded noticeable spikes in vegan meal orders in January, up 7 percent and 40 percent respectively.

All together, some 500,000 people around the world have taken part in Veganuary since it first launched in 2014 and many participants remain plant-based. The organizers say that six out of every 10 participants stay plant-based after the first month.

Some omnivores might think a vegan diet can be too limiting or dull, but there are plenty of delicious recipes that prove otherwise. Even famously cranky chef Gordon Ramsey—who once joked about being allergic to vegans—gave his signature Beef Wellington a meat-free spin for Veganuary.

A vegan diet obviously saves the lives of countless animals, but it can also be good for your health and the planet’s health. Scientists behind a recent study determined that the best thing you can do for the planet is go vegan.

“A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use,” study leader and University of Oxford professor Joseph Poore told the Guardian. “It is far bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying an electric car,” he said.

If that doesn’t convince you to extend Veganuary for another month, maybe Jay-Z and Beyonce can. The famous couple will give you free concert tickets for life if you forgo meat—such as Meatless Mondays or plant-based breakfasts—for a month.

Beyonce announced the contest to her 123 million Instagram followers on Wednesday in support of the Greenprint Project that aims to improve the environment by encouraging people to switch to plant-based meals.

Source: Eco Watch

Tesla’s Latest Acquisition Means Better Batteries for Its Future Cars

05.02.2019

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EV owners know what it’s like to live with range anxiety, but Tesla’s latest investment might make those travel concerns easier to live with. The company confirmed its plans to purchase San Diego-based Maxwell Technologies in a $218 million deal that should see the electric car maker produce more efficient, longer-lasting batteries for its vehicles.

Improving battery performance has been the holy grail for EV makers, and with so many companies now vying for attention, the race is on to make sure drivers don’t need to charge their cars as often. It’s little surprise, then, that Tesla had its eye on Maxwell — after all, the company has lots of experience with traditional lithium-ion batteries. In a paper published last year, Maxwell researchers Joon Shin and Hieu Duong said the company had developed “dry” battery electrodes that allowed for “unparalleled energy density and enhanced cycle life” compared to more traditional designs. And because Maxwell’s production process doesn’t involve toxic liquid solvents, it happens to be easier on the environment, too.

The lure of improved lithium-ion batteries would be tempting for any electric car company, but Maxwell’s work with ultracapacitors may also provide hints at Tesla’s future plans. In short, ultracapacitors are solid-state (that is, non-chemical) power sources that are better at delivering quick bursts of power when needed than more traditional and are well-suited to being recharged while braking. If those sound like pluses for electric vehicles, you’d be right — they’re already used in certain hybrid buses, and Tesla fans have debated their potential benefits for Musk’s cars for years now.

Tesla’s founder has long been interested in ultracapacitors and their potential (he nearly researched them as part of a pHD program), and the Maxwell acquisition might give Musk the talent needed to try them out in future vehicles. If nothing else, though, Tesla’s latest purchase just might be enough to give it an edge over incumbent car makers — until they go out and buy their own innovative battery companies, that is.

Source: Engadget

Adidas Doubles Recycled Plastic Shoe Production

04.02.2019

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Adidas has announced plans to more than double the amount of shoes it is making from recycled plastic waste in 2019.

The trainer and fashion brand aims to produce 11 million pairs of its Ultraboost Parley in 2019, in partnership with environmental organisation Parley for the Oceans.

This is a vast step up from a million pairs in 2017 and five million pairs in 2018.

The shoes are made of plastic waste intercepted on beaches which is then sewn into a yarn – each shoe is made up of around five recycled 500ml bottles’ worth of plastic.

Adidas also produces clothing such as football shirts out of the recycled material and has committed to stop using ‘virgin plastic’ by 2024.

Global Grands Executive at Adidas, Eric Liedtke, said: “With Adidas products made from recycled plastic, we offer our consumers real added value beyond the look, functionality and quality of the product, because every shoe is a small contribution to the preservation of our oceans.”

Source: Energy Live News

Offshore Wind ‘Could Provide Half of UK’s Power Demand’

04.02.2019

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Offshore wind could provide a cost-effective and low carbon route to providing at least half of the UK’s future electricity demand.

That’s the verdict made in a new report commissioned by the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC), which claims a long-term government strategy would enable private investment into the sector to continue, resulting in projects becoming largely subsidy-free in the 2020s.

The report suggests the UK’s offshore wind industry needs to seize the “huge export opportunity” available and argues it must be encouraged to innovate and create valuable intellectual property.

To achieve the growth required, it suggests businesses will have to commit to the sector and build a solid supply base to create lasting employment and export revenues.

The organisation warns placing UK manufacturing on a level playing field with foreign state-assisted competitors is likely to prove unsuccessful in the long term.

Co-Chair of the Offshore Wind Industry Council, Benj Sykes, said: “Industry and Government are finalising a Sector Deal which will set out how offshore wind can become the backbone of our energy system.”

“This review makes clear that an ambitious, long-term strategy is vital to bring forward new investment in our supply chains and secure export growth”, he concluded.

Source: Energy Live News

Droughts Lead to Higher Levels of HIV in Lesotho

03.02.2019

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Extreme events such as droughts are known to put agricultural communities under pressure. A new paper in PLOS One now suggests that there is also a link between severe droughts and the spread of HIV in Lesotho.

A Population-Based HIV Impact Assessment conducted after a 2-year drought in southern Africa allowed the authors to evaluate the relationship between extreme events and the spread of HIV. To elaborate on the link, researchers compared results of rainfall data with an in-depth survey as well as HIV tests of 12,000 people.

The comparison revealed that 15-24-year-old women, and especially those living in rural areas and with fewer years of formal education, had a higher risk of acquiring HIV in times of drought. Drought was also linked to lower HIV levels among young men, since having less money constrained their opportunity and will to engage in commercial or transactional sex.

Meanwhile, both young men and women were more vulnerable to getting HIV if they underwent internal migration in times of drought. The team considered circular migration, where one of the partners came back home after a period of staying elsewhere, to be particularly risky for rural families and communities.

The researchers suggest that policy-makers adopt measures that reduce the impact of income shocks and extreme events on HIV transmissions among vulnerable groups of the population. They consider preexposure prophylaxis, as well as economic and social support, to women and immigrants from affected areas as potential prevention mechanisms.

As drought levels may intensify in coming years, this research reminds us of the broader link between climate change and health, which policymakers increasingly will have to deal with.

Source: Sustainability Times

Investors Worth $6.5 Trillion Demand Climate Action from Fast Food

03.02.2019

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It’s not just consumers who are driving change in the food industry.

For the longest time, discussions around changing the food industry have centered on diets. Whether it was farm-to-fork eating, freeganism or the rise of the vegans and flexitarians, the choices people make have been gradually influencing the food that stores and restaurants offer—perhaps most notably in White Castle’s recent embrace of the Impossible Slider.

While I am sometimes skeptical of the green movement’s focus on lifestyle change as the relevant lever for change, food is one area where consumers do indeed have a lot of power. And that’s for the simple reason that (most of us) eat every day and have to buy that food from somewhere.

But consumer choice isn’t the only lever we can pull. Just as important in a globalized food system is the power of investors to demand change and manage climate risk. And just as investors have been demanding change of power companies and car manufacturers, a coalition of institutional investors with US$6.5 trillion is now demanding significantly more robust climate action from the world’s largest fast food companies.

Coordinated by sustainable investing alliances CERES and FAIRR, a letter was sent to Domino’s Pizza, McDonald’s, Restaurant Brands International (owners of Burger King), Chipotle Mexican Grill, Wendy’s Co. and Yum! Brands (owners of KFC and Pizza Hut). In that letter, the investors demand action from these corporate giants in the areas of climate risk and livestock production, water use and pollution, and land use change.

The letter points out that several major food corporations—including Tyson Foods, Great Wall Enterprises, and Pilgrims Pride—have been called out for what are considered high climate risks in their supply chains, and a poor management of those risks. And it asks these major brands to get out in front of the scientific, public policy and consumer demand threats by beefing (sorry!) up animal purchasing policies; establishing clear greenhouse gas targets and metrics; committing to disclosure on progress; and undertaking scenario analysis and risk assessment.

Interestingly, we’ve already seen major brands like Tyson and Maple Leaf Foods investing in plant-based meat alternatives, as well as brands like Sonic hedging their bets with part-beef/part-mushroom burgers. I fully expect initiatives like this one to add significant momentum to these trends.

Author: Sami Groover

Source: Tree Hugger

Microplastics Found in Every Marine Mammal Surveyed in UK Study

02.02.2019

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Microplastics are being widely ingested by Britain’s marine mammals, scientists say, with samples found in every animal examined in a study.

The research on 50 stranded creatures including porpoises, dolphins, grey seals and a pygmy sperm whale is the most comprehensive analysis of microplastics in the digestive tracts of both wild cetaceans and seals.

“It’s shocking – but not surprising – that every animal had ingested microplastics,” said Sarah Nelms, of the University of Exeter and Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), lead author of the research published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The study found that nylon made up more than 60% of the microplastics, with possible sources including fishing rope and nets, clothing microfibres and toothbrush bristles. Polyethylene terephthalate (Pet) and polyester were also widely present. As well as accidental consumption, microplastics are ingested indirectly when predators consume contaminated prey such as fish.

On average, 5.5 particles were found in the guts of each animal, suggesting they pass through the digestive system, or are regurgitated. “The low number of microplastics in their gut at any one time doesn’t necessarily correlate to the chemical burden within their body because the exposure is chronic and cumulative,” said Nelms. “It’s also not yet understood how synthetic particles physically interact with the gut wall as they pass through.”

Dr Penelope Lindeque, the head of the marine plastics research group at PML, has found microplastics in animals at every level of the food chain, from tiny zooplankton to fish larvae, turtles, and now marine mammals.

“It’s disconcerting that plastic is everywhere – all animals are exposed to it and they are ingesting it in their natural environment,” she said. “The ocean is a soup of microplastics and it’s only going to get worse, so we need to reduce the amount of plastic waste released into our seas now.”

Species with a long lifespan such as dolphins and seals are good indicators of marine ecosystem health, but as top predators they are susceptible to the accumulation of pollutants such as toxins or plastics.

Lindeque said: “There’s a risk that chemicals within the plastic and chemicals that stick to the outside of the microplastics, such as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), could affect these animals. We are increasingly worried that microplastics could also be a vector for viruses and bacteria.”

In total, 26 species of marine mammal inhabit or pass through British waters. The 10 species of animals studied were found stranded along the coastline, from Cornwall to the Orkney Islands, and died as a result of disease or trauma, for example as bycatch in fishing nets, interaction with ships or attacks by bottlenose dolphins.

Nelms expressed concern that long-term exposure to plastic pollution could damage the health of Britain’s marine mammals: “They eat all sorts but it will reach a tipping point and really affect their health. It’s important to have this baseline study so we can monitor how they adapt – or don’t adapt – to the changes that are coming.”

Source: Guardian

Swiss Solar Roofs Could Produce 83% of All Power Demand

02.02.2019

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Solar panels installed on every roof across Switzerland could produce 83% of the nation’s entire electricity demand.

That’s the calculation made by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, which worked out potential generation by combining maps from Swisstopo with weather data from Swiss Meteo.

It worked out a countrywide rollout of panels would produce around 50tWh of electricity a year – total annual demand is 60tWh.

The organisation estimated covering the nation’s roofs would cost around CHF100 billion (£76.7bn), about 15% of Switzerland’s annual GDP.

At a price of CHF0.08 (£0.06) per kWh, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy estimates these solar panels together could produce CHF4 billion (£3.1bn) worth of electricity in their first year and CHF108 billion (£82.8bn) over their 30-year lifetime.

Every year Switzerland currently produces 64tWh of power and consumes around 60tWh.

Source: Energy Live News

This New Initiative Aims to Sustainably Recycle Your Old Bras

01.02.2019

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As tidying up continues to be one of the top trends in 2019, bra company Harper Wilde is asking its customers what they are doing with old bras they no longer use. Charities don’t accept most used bras, but if you throw them in the trash, they end up in landfills. To fix that problem, Harper Wilde is teaming up with For Days to launch a new bra recycling initiative.

When customers order bras from Harper Wilde, the company always sends a prepaid return shipping label with the order to facilitate easy returns if the bras don’t fit properly or if the customer isn’t happy with the purchase. Now, customers can put their old bras in the box and use the prepaid shipping label to send them to Harper Wilde, and the company will recycle them.

Harper Wilde and For Days are promoting the new recycling initiative on social media with the hashtag #RecycleBra, so customers can tell the world how easy it is to dispose of their old bras in a responsible way.

Both Harper Wilde and For Days are direct-to-consumer brands that use a closed-loop membership model. When ordering from Harper Wilde, customers can order three bras at a time and return anything they don’t want to keep.

For Days is a T-shirt retailer that sells organic cotton tees. Members of the site order shirts, then keep what they love and return what they don’t like. They can also return old T-shirts and get a “refresh.” When that happens, For Days sorts, sanitizes and breaks down the shirts and blends them into fresh, new yarn that it uses to make more shirts.

Now that Harper Wilde has partnered with For Days for recycling, it can break down the materials from old bras and repurpose the material. The fibers can’t be used for new bras just yet, but they can be upcycled into new yarn that can be used for other clothing items or downcycled into industrial products.

Source: Inhabitat

Porsche’s First EV to Come with Three Years of Free Charging

01.02.2019

German carmaker Porsche announced that buyers of its new all-electric Taycan model will get three years of free charging at stations across the United States.

The deal is part of a tie-up with Electrify America which operates almost 500 highway charging stations spread across the U.S. Each Taycan owner will now receive three years of unlimited charges of up to 30-minutes at each use.

Porsche has said its battery technology used in the Taycan car will be able to absorb charging rates of up to 350 kilowatts, almost three times greater than the current crop of Tesla batteries.

It said in a statement Monday that Porsche drivers using Electrify America’s fast charging points, will become the fastest at recharging across today’s car market, and a quick charge of 4 minutes would allow drivers to add 60 miles of range.

President and CEO of Porsche Cars North America Klaus Zellmer said that Electrify America’s agreement with Porsche will provide a national infrastructure of fast charging that “frees Taycan owners from range anxiety.”

The news release also unveiled Porsche-designed home chargers, noting that 95 percent of charging occurs at home or work. All 191 U.S. dealers of Porsche cars will also install fast-charging points.

Porsche confirmed to CNBC last week it plans to double its production plan on the electric car it hasn’t even released yet.

The German carmaker known for its sports cars and racing heritage said stronger-than-expected demand has led it to boost production on the Taycan from 20,000 to 40,000 units.

There is no official sticker price for the Porsche Taycan but it was reported in December that the car will come in three variants, ranging from $90,000 to $140,000.

That places Porsche’s new offering squarely in the same pricing category of Tesla’s more expensive models.

The Taycan will reportedly be unveiled at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show in September with showrooms receiving the vehicle by early 2020.

Source: CNBC

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Levels ‘to Soar Through 2019’

31.01.2019

jc-gellidon-341854-unsplash — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (JC Gellidon)

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are forecast to soar through 2019.

That’s according to the Met Office. which expects the continued burning of fossil fuels, the destruction of forests and a return towards El Niño-like conditions to lead to an average rise in carbon dioxide concentrations of 2.75 parts per million.

This would bring global average carbon dioxide levels up to 411 parts per million – this contrasts with the amount of the polluting greenhouse gas in the atmosphere before the industrial revolution, which was 280 parts per million.

Levels of the greenhouse gas have not been as concentrated as they are today for around five million years, with the past four years having been the hottest ever recorded.

The forecast rise would put 2019 among the highest annual rises since accurate records began.

Professor Richard Betts, from the Met Office, said: “Looking at the monthly figures, it’s as if you can see the planet ‘breathing’ as the levels of carbon dioxide fall and rise with the seasonal cycle of plant growth and decay in the northern hemisphere.”

“Each year’s carbon dioxide is higher than the last and this will keep happening until humans stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.”

Source: Energy Live News

Meat-Free Burger Cooks Up 90% Less Emissions

31.01.2019

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Plant-based ‘meat’ producer Beyond Meat has invented a burger that produces 90% less greenhouse gas emissions than traditional options.

The company says the vegan patties use 99% less water, 93% less land and require 46% less energy than producing burgers from beef.

The sustainable burgers are even designed to ‘bleed’ like real meat but consist mainly of pea protein, beet juice, potato starch and coconut oil.

Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio are among the investors in the business, which claims to have already sold 25 million of its burgers around the world.

Source: Energy Live News

One Man’s Trash Is a Treasure for an Expert in Circular Economy

30.01.2019

During the September and October of this year, the Academy of Circular Economy is being held in cooperation with the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and the company “CirEkon”, which suggests one of the changes that we should embrace in order to preserve the Earth. Plato taught his contemporaries philosophical thinking, and after a series of centuries and revolutions, mankind should adopt a new, different knowledge that will pave the way for a sustainable future in which there is no waste. “Take-Use-Make-Use …” is the perpetual motion of this approach that integrates the economy and waste management system.

The postulates on which the circular economy model is based, whether Serbia keeps pace with the world, how to attribute to waste the value it has in itself and how to make a production system that will allow us to develop on the only planet we have, we talked with Milan Veselinov, one of the organizers and lecturers at the Academy.

EP: How would you explain the term circular economy to a layman? What are its advantages over linear?

Milan Veselinov: Very important questions in the whole story about the circular economy (CE) are “Why” and “Do we need the CE?” It is clear that we used to fix the refrigerator, telephone and iron. Today, it does not pay off. The question is, does that make sense? Admit how many old cell phones you have in the drawer. You have in it: gold, copper and rare elements that are expensive and difficult to procure. And it will become more expensive and harder. The point of the circular economy is to start making products that will serve a person, moving from product ownership to its functionality.

This ensures that producers see benefits in the production of long lasting products, in saving needed electricity, and in a more careful selection of materials for production. Currently, our products are not designed for such an economy, we make products in which it is difficult to separate materials and they are used on the “Take-Make-Use-Throw away” principle.

The circular economy, if properly implemented, provides significant savings in the use of resources, up to 70 per cent, and energy up to 90 per cent. In addition, it keeps the environment cleaner, with no waste, since we always observe all the resources only as such.

EP: What are the postulates of industrial ecology and how can we achieve them in the context of the Serbian economy?

Milan Veselinov: Circular economy actually emerged from the idea of industrial ecology (IE). Within the industrial economy, the industry is considered as a part of the natural system, it is very easy to see the ingress of matter and energy into the industrial system, their origins, changes within the industry and exits from the industrial system. It is observed how these outflows affect both nature and the economy, and how it all affects the society as a whole.

Industrial ecology is essential to answer one question: How to make a production system that will allow us to live and develop on this planet, the only one we have? IE does not observe the planet emotionally, but rather rationally through the analysis of available resources for our devices, land for food production, energy sources for everything that a person wants to create.

Serbia is at the beginning of such a development and it is good that we know our position. There are two roads ahead of us. The first is much more expensive and it assumes neglecting of the trend of industrial ecology and circular economy development, and the other is more inventive, pragmatic, more effective and cheaper. An important difference between these two roads is the approach to innovation, from social, organizational, market-to-technological. The first approach neglects them and deals with the traditional values of the economy, the other approach innovates and pushes us along with the world scale of possibilities. The only question is who can recognize it – from companies to local governments, consumers or civil societies.

EP: The advantages of a circular economy are obvious, but how will you approach a person who does not want to change and who is trying to feed his family without extra costs?

Milan Veselinov: In every story, there are winners and losers. Today you almost do not have traditional crafts, such as coppersmith, quilt maker, dyer… The world is progressing and is waiting for no one. The Latin proverb says, “There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out,” and therefore we must constantly learn. There is no rest from learning if we want to progress. There is actually only a division between those who accept and make changes and those that will be brought about by a change.

EP: Many people have applied for the Academy of Circular Economics. Do you think that means that our people turn to a more sustainable future? What is the overall situation in the field of waste management in Serbia, in your opinion?

Milan Veselinov: Our goal is to form a critical group of people from companies who see the meaning of doing business through circular postulates and which will grow in time, improve and grow to the level when they will have enough power to change the system. CirEkon and the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia are absolutely committed to this as program implementers.

In the concept of waste management there is a so-called waste management pyramid, which states that the priorities are as follows: 1. Prevention of waste generation 2. Preparation for reuse 3. Recycling 4. Waste utilization in terms of energy recovery and 5. Landfilling. The CE is preparing a strategy for achieving priorities 1 and 2. Serbia is in the middle of editing the fifth priority and is slowly switching to recycling and incineration, energy recovery of matter. So, we lag 35 years behind Europe. In this situation, if we seriously focus on creating products that do not produce waste according to EU practice, how much do we actually need to manage waste?

However, the plan and practice are different categories and we need to provide sufficient capacity to treat waste, which will inevitably exist for another 20 to 30 years, does not cost too much and solves the problems of numerous landfills that are constantly poured into the ground and lead. More importantly, we should not tie our hands with excessive investments in the old technologies in the next 20 years, thus preventing faster development in line with the EU. The situation is such that we can not estimate exactly how much resources we can return to production through recycling, but also, even if we could, current laws do not allow this. People are working on this, and changes in laws are expected, recyclers are appearing and there are more and more of them.

EP: You often mention the power of the circular economy and the value of the circular economy. What value is created there?

Milan Veselinov: CE is a new way of creating value. Under its umbrella, we can expect that the products are made of materials that do not harm our environment and can be easily degraded in nature. The EU introduces rules that will motivate manufacturers to make such products, but also buyers to behave more responsibly towards the things they use.

The value is in: significant material savings, in energy savings, in cleaner sources of resources themselves, in the longer product lifetime, we can expect that the products will be increasingly shared, that we will have organizations that will return your worn out products to the factory instead to the landfill, a situation where you purchase resources from recycling centres instead of pulling them out of the mine, customers who create products online to their extent, we perceive that we will determine the price of a product by how much the product is harmful or contributing to your environment, how much it makes your day easier. In addition, we have more than 9 million tons of resources at the annual level, which we can, but we stop using them.

Benefits are also anticipated, re-awakening the refinery industry, repairs, spare parts, recycling, online sharing of products from screwdrivers to cars, a significant shift to services besides production, etc.

Prepared by: Jelena Kozbasic

Read the whole interview in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine on CIRCULAR ECONOMY, September-November 2018

Lions Have Adapted to Hunt Seals and Seabirds in Namibia, Study Finds

30.01.2019

lion-2882936_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Lions in Namibia have turned to hunting seabirds and seals in the face of scarce food resources in the desert landscape, research has found.

The desert lions, which are found exclusively within the country’s Skeleton Coast region, are the only lions known to target marine life. Among the creatures they have been recorded eating are fur seals, flamingos and cormorants.

The conservationist Flip Stander, the author of the study published in the Namibian Journal of Environment, said the discovery showed the big cats have learned diet adaptability is key to survival in this unforgiving terrain.

The Skeleton Coast spans the coastal backbone of Namibia and is the driest place in sub-Saharan Africa, receiving as little as 5mm (0.2in) of rain a year. The desert lion’s usual prey of oryx and ostriches are thin on the ground there. The neighbouring ocean, however, is rich in life, sustaining nearly 1m Cape fur seals that breed on the shoreline, and a multitude of seabirds.

Stander explained “lions have to be resourceful by hunting a range of different prey species in a wide variety of habitats in their home range”. Seals are prime targets for these big cats, being slow to manoeuvre on land and rich in fat.

While this is not the first known record of lions feeding on marine life in Namibia, such rare behaviour has not been documented for decades. “In 1985, an adult male lion was seen feeding on a beached pilot whale,” said Stander, but the behaviour was eliminated along with the lions.

Desert lions became locally extinct in 1990 due to persecution from livestock farmers. However, by 1997, a pride returned to the area and numbers have been increasing ever since. The area now sustains approximately 130-150 lions.

The first time lions were recorded feeding on marine life since returning to the desert was in 2006, where lionesses were observed eating a seal. Then, in 2017, a lioness in poor condition was spotted hunting cormorants, while others were seen hunting flamingos and teals. Stander said he has observed lions foraging in intertidal areas, so it is possible their diet could expand to other marine life such as shellfish, crabs and sea turtles.

Source: Guardian

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