Up2Circ

15/10/2026

The EU Right to Repair is here: What does it mean for businesses?

A major shift is underway in Europe’s circular economy.

Since 31 July 2026, the EU Right to Repair Directive has become applicable, making repair a more accessible and attractive alternative to replacement for a wide range of household and electronic products. Manufacturers are now required to repair certain products, provide access to spare parts, and make repair information readily available to consumers.

For businesses, this is more than a regulatory change. It is a market opportunity.
🔹 Manufacturers can develop new after-sales and repair service models.
🔹 Repair and refurbishment companies can benefit from growing demand for professional repair services.
🔹 Technology and spare-parts providers can play a key role in enabling product longevity.
🔹 Retailers and service networks can strengthen customer loyalty through repair-focused offerings.
The new framework aims to:
✅ Extend product lifecycles
✅ Reduce waste and resource consumption
✅ Support the growth of the circular economy
✅ Create new business opportunities in repair and refurbishment markets
✅ Deliver economic benefits through increased investment and innovation across the EU

A further step will come in 2027, with the launch of a European online repair platform designed to help consumers identify qualified repair providers more easily across Member States.
As sustainability, resource efficiency and circular business models become increasingly important, companies that invest early in repairability, maintenance services and product life extension may gain a significant competitive advantage.

The future is no longer "buy, use, dispose". The future is repair, reuse and retain value.

👉 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L_202401799

14/10/2026

☀️ 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀
♻️ Discover Alhomna Systems, a company based in the South of France and a winner of the European Up2Circ programme with the support of risingSUD, demonstrating how the circular economy can be a real driver of business performance!

With 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗗𝗿𝘆, a solar-powered machine, Alhomna Systems is helping decarbonise industry by dehydrating industrial waste, including wastewater and sludge.

The benefits include:
📦 Reduced storage costs
🚛 Lower waste transportation costs
🔄 Greater opportunities for waste recovery and valorisation

💡 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁? 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝘂𝗽 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

🎥 Watch the full testimonial from Thomas Delapierre, Co-founder of Alhomna Systems, and discover how Solar Dry is helping turn industrial challenges into sustainable opportunities : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALaGVHUNxVw

Discover SolarDry by ALHOMNA SYSTEMS, an innovative solar thermal d...

09/10/2026

09/10/2026

𝐀𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝟒 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤. 𝟗𝟕 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬. 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞!

On 6–7 October, the Up2Circ consortium gathered in beautiful Turin for our final consortium meeting. It was a moment to reflect on what we have achieved together and, above all, on the impact we have made.

📊 The numbers are impressive, but the real success lies in the 97 projects implemented by companies across Europe - helping them become more circular, take concrete steps towards sustainability, and inspire other SMEs to follow their example.

👏 A huge thank you to the Camera di commercio di Torino team for hosting us and making this final meeting so special! Excellent organisation, fruitful discussions, and a delicious surprise: a pizza-making 🍕 experience organised together with Panacea. What better way to celebrate our journey together?

🚀 Our project may be coming to an end, but 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬!
The tools and methodologies developed by the Up2Circ team are already being used by almost 300 multipliers across Europe, helping circularity go further and reach more businesses.

📣 Stay connected! Follow us here on LinkedIn and visit our website for 𝐮𝐩𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐔𝐩𝟐𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞 - showcasing inspiring examples of businesses turning circular ambitions into action.

Make Europe more circular!

Camera di commercio di Torino FUNDECYT-PCTEX Lubelska Fundacja Rozwoju JIC Sparkup Tartu Teaduspark

09/10/2026

EU Funding Opportunity for Companies Innovating in the Built Environment

Are you developing solutions for predictive maintenance, digital building management, circular construction, or renovation?

The new Horizon Europe call HORIZON-NEB-2026-01-REGEN-02 offers a unique opportunity to bring innovative ideas to market while contributing to a more sustainable and resilient environment.

The call aims to support projects that:
✅ Extend the service life of existing buildings
✅ Reduce life-cycle environmental impacts and GHG emissions
✅ Develop innovative predictive maintenance and repair solutions
✅ Integrate circular economy principles into building management
✅ Improve building performance while minimizing disruption for occupants and users

📅 Deadline: 1 December 2026

📍 Programme: Horizon Europe | New European Bauhaus

Find all the details and submit your proposal here:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-NEB-2026-01-REGEN-02

The Funding and Tenders Portal is the single entry point (the Single Electronic Data Interchange Area) for applicants, contractors and experts in funding programmes and procurements managed by the European Commission.

01/10/2026

♻️ From Plastic Waste to Sustainable Design Materials

What if discarded plastic could become a valuable resource for architecture and interior design?

💚 Plastiz is proving that plastic waste can have a second life. By transforming post-consumer and industrial plastic waste into durable, high-quality design panels, the company is helping reduce waste while creating innovative materials for the built environment.

🌿🌱 This is a powerful example of how circular economy solutions can turn environmental challenges into business opportunities, closing material loops and demonstrating that sustainability and design excellence can go hand in hand. 🌍

Thanks to the Up2Circ-funded Double-Up project, the company
🔁 Doubled production capacity through process optimization.
✅ Successfully validated an innovative plastic waste transformation process.
🚀 Established the basis for commercial scale-up and market expansion.
📈 Created opportunities for a second production line through future investment and partnerships.
🧩 Demonstrated potential to extend the technology to other waste streams, strengthening its circular economy impact.

🌟We are proud to showcase innovators like Plastiz that are accelerating the transition towards a more circular and resource-efficient industry. Thank you Luca Pascarella, Gian Luca Beruto and Serena Greppi for your excellent work.

🎥 Watch the story video and discover how plastic waste is being transformed into beautiful, functional materials for a more sustainable future: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiVKy292weI

👀 Read our inspiring success stories from SMEs choosing circular business model Up2Circ website: https://up2circ.eu/case-stories/


Camera di commercio di Torino

Plastiz transforms post-consumer and industrial plastic waste into ...

29/09/2026

✏️🔄 𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫.

The decisions made at the drawing board determine how long it lasts, whether it can be repaired or refurbished, and how much value can be retained after its first use.

The most interesting circular businesses are not waiting until the end of a product’s life to think about sustainability.
They are designing differently from the start.

The Up2Circ case stories offer some great examples:

👜 𝐂𝐈𝐑𝐂𝐋𝐓𝐑 𝐛𝐲 Melina Bucher (The Vegan Goodlife)
Luxury leather goods redesigned around biobased materials, digital manufacturing and replaceable components. With material waste targeted below 5%, the modular approach opens opportunities not only for better material efficiency, but also for repair, replacement of individual components and longer product use.

🪑 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐲 Athanasios Babalis design studio
A modular chair designed to adapt from age 5 to 85+. Instead of treating the product as something that eventually needs to be replaced, its components can be removed, serviced and replaced with a target lifetime of 40+ years.

💡 Kinotehnik – 𝐑𝐞𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭
LED lighting fixtures redesigned around refurbishment, component reuse and integration of circular practices into routine maintenance. With 75% of mechanical parts and 100% of electronic components identified as reusable, the approach shows how extending product life can reduce material use, logistics and emissions while creating new value through maintenance and refurbishment.

🧪 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚 – The Smart Lollipop 🍭
A medical device for collecting saliva samples, redesigned around safe reuse, reconditioning and more sustainable use cycles. By exploring take-back, cleaning, sterilisation and reconditioning processes, the project could reduce waste by 92% and CO₂ emissions by 28.6% per unit, while opening the door to a more circular model for medical devices.

🏗️ 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐂𝐄𝐝 𝐛𝐲 siebold/hamburg messebau
Exhibition stands redesigned around circular design, reusable elements and smarter material and logistics choices. By developing a zero-emission booth prototype, creating an inventory of reusable furniture and prefabricated elements, and exploring on-site furniture rental, the project reduced CO₂ emissions by 90% and waste by 94% compared with previous practice.
The result is not just a more sustainable exhibition stand, but a new circular business offer built around product life extension, reuse and more efficient resource management.

🔗 Explore the success stories behind this circular business model 👉 https://up2circ.eu/case-stories/?jsf=jet-engine&meta=ss_circular-strategy!is_custom_checkbox:circular-product-design

studio_belize | Xtramarine | Indresmat | Proudd Circular Workwear

28/09/2026

𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲, 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.
Hear from the people making it happen.

Across the Up2Circ community, companies are sharing how circular economy projects are helping them rethink products, processes, materials and even entire business models.

And the message coming through the testimonials is powerful:

👉 Circularity can drive innovation.
👉 It can open new markets and opportunities.
👉 It can reduce waste and resource use.
👉 And most importantly - it can create real business impact.

From recycling and reusing materials to developing new products, improving production processes and exploring circular business models, these stories show that the transition to a circular economy is already happening.

Behind every successful project is a company willing to ask:

💡 What if we did things differently?
💡 What resources are we wasting?
💡 How can circularity become part of our competitive advantage?

🔗 Check out all the interviews with Up2Circ beneficiaries 👉 https://up2circ.eu/category/success-stories/interviews/

Close the loop.
Open up a world of new possibilities.

25/09/2026

🤔 How can we connect the dots?

Join our “𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐌𝐄𝐬” webinar for an interactive exchange between innovation and business advisors, EU-funded initiatives, clusters, regional development organisations, training and technology providers, financing actors, public authorities and SME support networks.

Together, we will explore how to:
🔹 Make existing tools and resources easier to discover and reuse
🔹 Connect complementary expertise, initiatives and support schemes
🔹 Build clearer support pathways for SMEs navigating their circular transition

We will also showcase key outcomes from the Up2Circ project, including:
📌 The Up2Circ methodology and tools
📌 The Up2Circ SME support pathway
📌 The relaunched Up2Circ Academy
📌 Inspiring video stories from SMEs
📌 “How to Perform Better” guide

💡 The goal is to connect the people and initiatives that can make those resources work better together.
📅 14:00–15:30 CET
🎯 For organisations supporting SME competitiveness, innovation and sustainability

🤝 An opportunity to exchange, connect and identify new possibilities for cooperation. Your organisation may have the expertise, funding, technology, network or support that another SME - or another support organisation - needs.

This webinar is part of 𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔. Discover other interesting events taking place throughout the Circular Week 👉https://www.circularweek.com/events-agenda

Let’s connect the dots.
🔗 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 👉https://up2circ.eu/webinar-registration-speeding-up-the-circular-transition-of-smes/

23/09/2026

Selling a product is not the only way to create value from it.

More and more companies are exploring a different approach:
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭-𝐚𝐬-𝐚-𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 - shifting from selling products to providing access, functionality or outcomes.

The idea is simple: instead of a product being sold once and potentially becoming waste at the end of its first use, the company stays connected to it for longer. That can mean rental, subscription, pay-per-use, take-back, refurbishment, maintenance or reuse.

Looking at the Up2Circ projects, we can already see very different companies using this model:

🔧 JG Group Sp z o.o. developed vending machines for CNC cutting tools that can dispense tools and receive used ones back for regeneration or recycling. The model connects product access with return, regeneration and resource recovery. The project reported a 20% reduction in material use compared with previous years.

♻️ Felfil is moving from selling plastic recycling equipment towards a rental-based model. Its “Felfil As a Service” project aims to make recycling equipment more accessible while shifting the focus from ownership to access and longer utilisation.

🎨 Bim Trading Ltd is testing a “Paint-as-a-Service Lite” model in which professional contractors are incentivised to return leftover paint and empty buckets. Paint waste can then be processed into a pigment-rich secondary raw material, while HDPE buckets can be cleaned and reused for 10+ cycles.

⚡ elementarhy takes Product-as-a-Service into the green hydrogen sector. Its MEA-as-a-Service concept for electrolyzers combines supply with maintenance, take-back, refurbishment and recycling. Instead of treating a used Membrane Electrode Assembly as waste, the company aims to extend its lifetime, reuse components and recover valuable materials such as iridium.

🗑️ NANDO (Re-Learn) is applying Product-as-a-Service to urban waste management. The solution provides data and monitoring to help municipalities and waste operators better understand collection, contamination and bin utilisation - turning technology into an ongoing service rather than simply a product sale.

The value is moving from the ownership of a product to the service and outcome that the product enables.
And that creates interesting opportunities:
💡 recurring revenue
🔄 longer product lifecycles
🔧 stronger incentives for maintenance and repair
♻️ easier recovery and reuse
📊 better understanding of how products are actually used
🤝 longer-term customer relationships
🌱 lower resource consumption and waste

🔗 Explore the success stories behind this circular business model 👉 https://lnkd.in/dcpgs4PX

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