Sebastian B.

A German court has ruled against Apple’s “carbon neutral” claims for the Apple Watch, and it’s a strong signal of where sustainability claims are heading: In 2026, the EU’s ”Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition” will ban “carbon neutral” product labels based on offsetting alone. My own perspective: → Products cannot be carbon neutral at all, and corporates shouldn’t market them as such. Every product requires raw material extraction, processing, manufacturing, and transport. These create unavoidable emissions, even with high-quality credits. The case also puts the spotlight on the 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 of carbon credits: → Apple’s Paraguay forestry project land was only leased until 2029, with no guarantee of CO2 storage beyond then → The court interpreted “carbon neutral” as aligning with the Paris Agreement timeline, which would imply CO2 storage through 2050 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆: Sustainability claims must align with the actual permanence of your credits. - This ruling sets a precedent, and it will hopefully spark a few key questions: → For carbon credit buyers: Can your sustainability claims withstand scrutiny? Do they align with the details of your carbon credits? → And for the broader sustainability community: How do we hold corporates accountable without sparking backlash that undermines critical climate finance? Story from Trellis Group- link below.

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♻️ The #CircularEconomy is much more than the opposite to the "take-make-dispose" linear model. The loops have to be designed with certain characteristics. Here is my pitch. When I speak with governments or businesses, I try to shift the focus away from simply comparing circular economy to the linear model we all know. Instead, I invite people to visualize the loops — the flow of products and materials through production, use, reuse, disposal, and reintegration. But that’s just the beginning. A truly circular economy doesn’t just loop -it loops with intention. Here's how: 🔄 1. Loops are slow Design products to last. Circularity is not about keeping waste moving quickly—it’s about keeping materials and products in use for as long as possible. Durability, repairability, and reuse come first. 🎯 2. Loops are lean Only essential resources should be used—nothing extra. This is where sufficiency matters most, especially in high-consumption economies. You can't bend massive material flows—you must reduce them. 🏘️ 3. Loops are local Circular systems work best when waste and resources flow within local or regional ecosystems. No long-distance waste exports. Communities should benefit directly from the value kept in the loop. ☣️ 4. Loops are clean Toxic materials have no place in a circular system. They harm health, pollute ecosystems, and disrupt recycling by contaminating resource streams. 🌞 5. Loops are powered sustainably Circularity must run on renewable energy and make use of regenerative materials. It’s not circular if it relies on fossil inputs. 🌱 6. Loops are regenerative Most importantly, circularity should restore and improve. It's about building systems that make life better—for people and for the planet—not just doing less harm. read the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/dHBpwfXX

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🌡️ What happens if we exceed the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 °C limit? and how do we bring temperatures back down? Overshoot is the term used for scenarios where global warming temporarily surpasses 1.5 °C before being lowered again through deep emission cuts and large-scale carbon removal. The first-ever international conference on climate overshoot was held in Laxenburg, Austria to explore one of the most uncomfortable questions in climate science. 🌱 Net-negative is the new net-zero. Limiting warming in the long term means removing more CO₂ than we emit. Yet, most countries still lack quantified net-negative targets. 🧪 Carbon removal is a necessity not a licence to delay. It must “enable ambition,” not excuse inaction, and we urgently need more knowledge about its risks, impacts, and equity dimensions. ⚖️ Overshoot has irreversible consequences. Even a temporary exceedance could trigger glacier melt, species extinction, and sea-level rise. A 0.1–0.3 °C overshoot could lead to 15 % more heat-related deaths this century. 📜 Ambition must remain high, and nations will likely be expected to go beyond net-zero. Delayed action today means heavier burdens and greater legal liability tomorrow. Communicating this reality is one of our greatest challenges. How do we explain that 1.5 °C remains the goal even if we cross it? The answer is by making it clear that overshoot is the emergency response to decades of insufficient action. 🌍 The message is sobering but empowering: We have not lost the fight but winning now requires removing as much as we emit, repairing what we’ve damaged, and protecting what we still can. The era of overshoot is not an excuse for delay. It’s a call to radical ambition — faster, fairer, and deeper than ever before. Read more the Carbon Brief coverage: https://lnkd.in/eHCCFD4g

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🌍🌱 Top Biochar & Carbon Removal News 🌱🌍 1️⃣ Atitude secures 50,000-ton biochar deal in Southeast Asia ♻️ Swiss carbon-removal firm Altitude signs a major deal for 50,000 tons of biochar credits, highlighting investor interest in scalable, nature-based carbon removal solutions. Benjamin Schulz 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eUAzYymp 2️⃣ #Colombia proposes higher carbon tax & lower offsets 📈 The government plans to raise the carbon tax from USD 6 to USD 18 per tonne and reduce allowable offsets from 50% to 30%, boosting demand for domestic carbon credits. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eVbMeMdR 3️⃣ #Brazil launches green economy investment fund 💰🌱 BNDES introduces a fund to finance sustainable projects in energy, agriculture, and forestry, promoting clean technology adoption and climate-aligned growth. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eQD9Gbh6 4️⃣ #UK GGR policies boost biochar incentives 📊 The UK’s greenhouse gas removal framework links biochar to carbon credits, creating new revenue opportunities for projects and reinforcing net-zero commitments. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/es4br2y3 5️⃣ Calderdale Council explores biochar plant 🌱💪 A proposed biochar facility could process 240,000 tonnes of green waste annually, reduce disposal costs, and generate carbon credits while supporting local sustainability efforts. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/emJBSUGx 6️⃣ Global Biochar Conference insights 🌍✨ The Biochar Conference brings together experts, investors, and policymakers to discuss innovations, market trends, and policies shaping the global biochar sector. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/e4ZzRxDJ 🌿 Biochar and carbon removal are rapidly shaping sustainable investment, climate action, and circular economy solutions worldwide! #Biochar #CarbonRemoval #GreenTech #CircularEconomy #Sustainability

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I recently came across an interesting piece of academic research that I think will be of interest to anyone working in clothing design, product development, recycling, or policy. The paper, "Assessing the circularity potential of textile flows for future markets in Denmark: A study of textile anatomy" by Heather Logan et al (DTU - Technical University of Denmark), looks closely at how the design of garments impacts their recyclability at end of life. https://lnkd.in/eAyrrSq2 Key takeaways from the study: 1) The researchers examined the physical make-up of garments—things like zips, buttons, linings, and fibre blends (“textile anatomy”). 2) Under current systems and technologies, less than 2% of garments analysed were suitable for high-quality recycling. 3) The biggest barriers were complex construction and mixed materials that are difficult to disassemble and process. The study also makes clear that this figure is not fixed — with changes in design, adoption of automated sorting/disassembly, and expansion of fibre separation and recycling infrastructure, this percentage could rise dramatically. In short, collection alone won’t deliver circularity — design choices at the start of a garment’s life will determine how recyclable it is at the end. For those in the industry, this is a reminder that product design decisions today directly affect recycling outcomes tomorrow. Worth a read if you’re interested in designing for recycling: What are your thoughts — how can we better balance design creativity with end-of-life recyclability? #TextileRecycling #CircularEconomy #DesignForRecycling #SustainableFashion #EcoDesign #TextileCircularity

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🔋 Batteries are not just waste – they’re a challenge! The new EU directive introduces even more battery categories, which means one thing for recyclers like us: 💡 we have to carefully sort every single battery before sending it to the right processing facility. ⚙️ Why? Because each battery is processed in a completely different way – and only installations with the right technology can handle them safely and efficiently. 🎥 Watch our short video to see why batteries require special treatment and how proper recycling works behind the scenes! #BatteryRecycling #CircularEconomy #Sustainability #WasteManagement #EURegulations #EWaste #RecyclingTechnology #EWasteRecycling #Recycling #EEE #Weee

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