Paper Trail: Student-led initiative turns waste into sustainable energy

Life cycle assessments (LCAs) support informed decisions and promote eco-friendly innovation from production to recycling. In a Discover Sustainability Behind the Paper blog, the author answers a simple question: How are LCAs taught in universities, and what works best?

Working with sustainability? Are you an start-up / SME or supporting cluster? Check out some best practices from our ENDURANCE Project in either as: 🟢 infographics: https://lnkd.in/dmFbcXaU 🟢 videos: https://lnkd.in/d7B7Qgcf Here you can find some inspiration cases from Clean members: Aguardio, InfoTiles Digital Water and ReefCircular. As well as from some of the International Cleantech Network members: Cleantech Bulgaria, Cluster TWEED, , Water Alliance and Clean.

WHY 'GREEN' ISN'T ENOUGH: What the 2025 Data Reveals About Sustainability in ECEC It's likely your service has a beautiful garden. Recycling systems are sorted. Nature play is happening. So why does something still feel incomplete? Project Sustainability Collective has just released data based on 300+ Australian ECEC services in our Sustainability Snapshot 2025 It reveals that 88% of services focus mainly on environmental sustainability, while social, cultural, and economic dimensions remain largely unseen. The good news? The environmental work you're already doing doesn't need to change, it needs to deepen. When children share toys, they're learning fairness. When they notice water running down the drain, they're thinking about community needs. When they play with natural materials, they're connecting to place and culture. These aren't separate lessons. They're the fuller picture of the work you're already doing. The EYLF 2.0 Sustainability Principle calls for exactly this: interconnected environmental, social, and economic understanding, embedded throughout practice. Ready to broaden your approach without adding extra work? 📖Read the full article: Why 'Green' Isn't Enough 🔗https://lnkd.in/gVjcsitE Or download our free EYLF Principle Decoder to see how the three domains show up in your daily program. 🔗https://lnkd.in/gPZjbxHz #SustainabilityECEC #EYLF 2.0 #Embedded sustainability #Earlychildhoodeducation #SustainabilitySnapshot2025ECEC #ProjectSustainabilityCollective

WHY 'GREEN' ISN'T ENOUGH: What the 2025 Data Reveals About Sustainability in ECEC It's likely your service has a beautiful garden. Recycling systems are sorted. Nature play is happening. So why does something still feel incomplete? Project Sustainability Collective has just released data based on 300+ Australian ECEC services in our Sustainability Snapshot 2025 It reveals that 88% of services focus mainly on environmental sustainability, while social, cultural, and economic dimensions remain largely unseen. The good news? The environmental work you're already doing doesn't need to change, it needs to deepen. When children share toys, they're learning fairness. When they notice water running down the drain, they're thinking about community needs. When they play with natural materials, they're connecting to place and culture. These aren't separate lessons. They're the fuller picture of the work you're already doing. The EYLF 2.0 Sustainability Principle calls for exactly this: interconnected environmental, social, and economic understanding, embedded throughout practice. Ready to broaden your approach without adding extra work? 📖Read the full article: Why 'Green' Isn't Enough 🔗https://lnkd.in/gVjcsitE Or download our free EYLF Principle Decoder to see how the three domains show up in your daily program. 🔗https://lnkd.in/gPZjbxHz #SustainabilityECEC #EYLF 2.0 #Embedded sustainability #Earlychildhoodeducation #SustainabilitySnapshot2025ECEC #ProjectSustainabilityCollective

WHY 'GREEN' ISN'T ENOUGH: What the 2025 Data Reveals About Sustainability in ECEC It's likely your service has a beautiful garden. Recycling systems are sorted. Nature play is happening. So why does something still feel incomplete? Project Sustainability Collective has just released data based on 300+ Australian ECEC services in our Sustainability Snapshot 2025 It reveals that 88% of services focus mainly on environmental sustainability, while social, cultural, and economic dimensions remain largely unseen. The good news? The environmental work you're already doing doesn't need to change, it needs to deepen. When children share toys, they're learning fairness. When they notice water running down the drain, they're thinking about community needs. When they play with natural materials, they're connecting to place and culture. These aren't separate lessons. They're the fuller picture of the work you're already doing. The EYLF 2.0 Sustainability Principle calls for exactly this: interconnected environmental, social, and economic understanding, embedded throughout practice. Ready to broaden your approach without adding extra work? 📖Read the full article: Why 'Green' Isn't Enough 🔗https://lnkd.in/gfxckG6J Or download our free EYLF Principle Decoder to see how the three domains show up in your daily program. 🔗https://lnkd.in/g2tYjhwV #SustainabilityECEC #EYLF 2.0 #Embedded sustainability #Earlychildhoodeducation #SustainabilitySnapshot2025ECEC #ProjectSustainabilityCollective

WHY 'GREEN' ISN'T ENOUGH: What the 2025 Data Reveals About Sustainability in ECEC It's likely your service has a beautiful garden. Recycling systems are sorted. Nature play is happening. So why does something still feel incomplete? Project Sustainability Collective has just released data based on 300+ Australian ECEC services in our Sustainability Snapshot 2025 It reveals that 88% of services focus mainly on environmental sustainability, while social, cultural, and economic dimensions remain largely unseen. The good news? The environmental work you're already doing doesn't need to change, it needs to deepen. When children share toys, they're learning fairness. When they notice water running down the drain, they're thinking about community needs. When they play with natural materials, they're connecting to place and culture. These aren't separate lessons. They're the fuller picture of the work you're already doing. The EYLF 2.0 Sustainability Principle calls for exactly this: interconnected environmental, social, and economic understanding, embedded throughout practice. Ready to broaden your approach without adding extra work? 📖Read the full article: Why 'Green' Isn't Enough 🔗https://lnkd.in/gt-dM6BN Or download our free EYLF Principle Decoder to see how the three domains show up in your daily program. 🔗https://lnkd.in/gHc7MgXu #SustainabilityECEC #EYLF 2.0 #Embedded sustainability #Earlychildhoodeducation #SustainabilitySnapshot2025ECEC #ProjectSustainabilityCollective

🌱 Sustainability Collaboration with Kimia 🌱 We’re very happy to share our new sustainability collaboration with Kimia Golamian! Kimia holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Science from the University of Gothenburg and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Food Science at Kristianstad University. She brings experience in LCA, ESG reporting, circular economy, and environmental management. Her work with us focuses on developing a hybrid sustainability assessment framework that helps quantify reCovers’ environmental benefits and map key improvement areas across the product life cycle. This collaboration helps us strengthen our sustainability work, advance circular design, and build our certification readiness for future reporting 🌍 We’re extremely grateful for Kimia’s valuable insights and expertise! 👉 Connect with Kimia on LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/diDH7Scz #sustainability #circulareconomy #impactassessment #upcycling #recovers #blueshoecoverremovement

The special issue of the Sustainability journal I worked on has been published as a hardback volume (that you can also download for free). The 12 papers explore how #transdisciplinarity emerges when people with different knowledges come together to address sustainability issues. There's pieces on whales, soil science, water governance, planning, post-mining land use, education, and lots more. I wrote the overview article and used Jantsch's transdisciplinarity axioms (later built upon by Nicolescu) to propose four ways to approach working on wicked sustainability problems in a transdisciplinary way. These are: (i) Embracing complexity; (ii) Surfacing differences through reflexivity; (iii) Communicating across epistemic difference; (iv) Engaging through solidarity. Download, read, or *suggest to your library* here: https://lnkd.in/g7ZQjPv2

Eight (8) Environmental Sustainability Initiatives at my University that just make sense! As I continue my academic journey at the University of Leeds, I am constantly reminded about what true environmental sustainability means! Actively 'walking the talk'.👌🏾 …and I am proud to be part of this institution. Here are 8 environmental sustainability in action I have observed around campus: (Slide 1) — On-campus Sustainable Garden serves as a serene green space for students and staff to cultivate their own food. (Slide 2) — Designated areas aimed to create vital habitats for urban wildlife. (Slide 3) — Wild animals clearly feeling at home. Can you identify those in the picture? Try! (Slide 4) — A vibrant and dense vegetation supporting pollination, and rainwater management. (Slide 5) — Circular economy made easy with accessible donation points for students to give items a second life through the British Heart Foundation. (Slide 6) — Water refill stations offering free, filtered water, making it easy to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic bottles. (Slide 7) — Clear and well-designed waste stations, supporting the diversion of waste from landfills and composting/recycling efforts. (Slide 8) — and oh my personal favorite💃, our shared kitchens that promote bringing own cooked meals, minimising packaging waste, food waste & food costs! Now, your turn!!! What #sustainability initiatives are you promoting in your campus or workplace? #FunFactsFriday #SustainabilityLeadership #SustainabilityInaction

Despite considerable effort, Europe is far from having a circular economy. As part of the public consultation for the Circular Economy Act, the Systems Transformation Hub calls upon the European Commission to adopt systemic reforms that make circular practices economically attractive and structurally dominant. Janez Potocnik, co‑founder of the Systems Transformation Hub and Co‑Chair of the UNEP International Resource Panel (IRP), demonstrates in our newest op-ed that, based on the current trends, without systemic action the 2030 target of doubling circular material use is more than a century away. He proposes to set science based path - targets for materials use, better measurement where it matters, prices that reflect true costs, and coordinated governance leading to better transparency on material flows and policy coordination. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/gAJxn9F5