Implementing circular urban supply chains is a major economic transformation that can only work if significant coordination problems between the actors involved are solved. This requires, on the one hand, the implementation of efficient urban collection technologies, where process industries collaborate hand-in-hand with manufacturers and urban waste treatment specialists and are supported by digital solutions. On the other hand, it also requires implementing regional ecosystems connected by innovative CO2-neutral circular city logistics systems smoothly and sustainably managing the regional flow of resources and data, often at large-scale and with interfaces between industrial processes and private and public actors. Develop blueprint for circular urban region This research project aims to develop a blueprint for circular urban regions, including the demonstration of a territorial cross-sectorial, large-scale and sustainable systemic solution for the circularity of high-performance plastics from diverse applications of rigid polyurethane (PU) foams used as insulation material in refrigerators and construction elements. The research project develops a blueprint for regional participative governance using an approach involving multiple actors from the public-, private-, academic-, and financial sectors and civil society (by working in living labs).The focus of the presentation (and paper) is on the control tower elements of the circular urban supply chain and the elements to make the collaboration work.In terms of urban logistics and collection services is to make these materials accessible for downstream sorting and recycling processes for the first time in a sustainable and economically viable way. The project will develop a new way of processing defined waste streams like appliances (refrigerators), to separate chemically recyclable PU from a mixed plastics waste stream.
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This chapter discusses supply chain management responses used by companies in the food supply chain during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter first discusses the relevant literature on supply chain resilience. The chapter subsequently reviews supply chain responses in relation to different supply chain resilience capabilities, and then discusses the theory and practice of supply chain capabilities in food supply chains.
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The possibilities of balancing gas supply and demand with a green gas supply chain were analyzed. The considered supply chain is based on co-digestion of cow manure and maize, the produced biogas is upgraded to (Dutch) natural gas standards. The applicability of modeling yearly gas demand data in a geographical region by Fourier analysis was investigated. For a sine shape gas demand, three scenarios were further investigated: varying biogas production in time, adding gas storage to a supply chain, and adding a second digester to the supply chain which is assumed to be switched off during the summer months. A regional gas demand modeled by a sine function is reasonable for household type of users as well as for business areas, or a mixture of those. Of the considered scenarios, gas storage is by far the most expensive. When gas demand has to be met by a green gas supply chain, flexible biogas production is an interesting option. Further research in this direction might open interesting pathways to sustainable gas supply chains.
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The DPP4CD project, “Digital Product Passport(s) for Circular Denim: From Pilot to Practice,” focuses on delivering pilot and scalable Digital Product Passports (DPPs) in the circular denim industry. This aligns with the upcoming European Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), making DPPs mandatory for textiles from 2027. A DPP for circular denim should clearly detail material composition, production methods, repair records, and recycling options to meet EU rules like ESPR, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). It combines dynamic lifecycle data into a standard, interoperable system that boosts traceability, cuts SME admin burdens, and supports sustainable, circular practices. Led by Saxion and HvA, the multidisciplinary project is based on a real-world Dutch use case with MUD Jeans, a leader in circular denim. The project combines circular economy principles with existing digital technologies, working with partners such as tex.tracer, Tejidos Royo, bAwear, Denim Deal, MODINT, EuFSI and, GS1 Netherlands. Instead of developing new tools, the project applies scalable technologies (augmented DPP extension) and methods e.g. blockchain, life cycle assessments, and traceability standards to denim supply chains. The project defines legal, environmental, technical, and user requirements for DPPs in circular denim and designs a modular, data-driven, and ESPR-compliant system that integrates offline and online components while ensuring interoperability, affordability, reliability, accountability, and scalability. It develops a data framework for material tracking, supported by interoperable digital solutions to improve data-sharing and transparency. A pilot DPP with MUD Jeans will cover the full lifecycle from production to recycling, enabling scalable DPP. The project aims to address societal challenges related to circularity, ensure scalable and implementable solutions, and create a digital platform where knowledge can be developed, shared, and utilised. By combining circular practices with digital technologies, DPP4CD will help textile businesses transition towards sustainable, transparent, and future-proof supply chains.
In the Netherlands the business community is pretty active in the biobased economy because it offers plenty of economic opportunities. Innovation and chain development are stimulated towards the development of the bi-obased economy, bioenergy and to biobased materials. The Netherlands is strongly investing on improving inno-vative business and development, developing business cases and removing obstacles of non-technical origin. Importantly, the Dutch business community have recognised that many activities will depend on biomass imports as domestic production is mostly limited. In the Netherlands there is a large demand for biobased biomass, and it is estimated that in the year 2030 about 60-70% of the required biomass will have to be imported. The Dutch Platform Biobased Raw Materials has emphasised the importance of the imports of biomass, and has focused on developing guidelines for transition paths, where international cooperation with biomass-producing countries is essential. The Netherlands has identified Spain as an important provider of biomass resources (19 million ktoe), Spain holds the third position in European ranking of biomass potential. The autonomous community Galicia is the most important forest region in Spain, where the agroforestry sector has been considered as an alternative to yield economic benefits as well as to bring ecological advantages. However, the potential of Galicia as a pro-ducer and supplier of (waste flow) biomass is underdeveloped and underutilised. There is a need for a better un-derstanding of the potential business models that Dutch companies and Spanish stakeholders can apply to devel-op a biobased value chains that lead to the triple bottom line of People, Planet and Profit. To realise this goal, our project focuses on identifying the linkages between the Galicia agroforestry sector and the Dutch biobased industries, and explore the potential business opportunities towards the strengthening of both the local and the Dutch biobased markets. To achieve the latter we centred on the following questions: I. What are the potential new business models that can be applied for a profitable and sustainable biobased chain from the waste flows of the agroforestry sector of Galicia for a steady production and supply to the local and the Dutch markets, leading to a sustainable transition path? II. What are the institutional frameworks required to develop new and profitable biobased value chains within the agroforestry sector in Galicia?