As part of the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan, digital product passports (DPPs) will be implemented to promote circular business practices, reduce CO2emissions, and maximize material efficiency. DPP is a digital record providing comprehensive information about a product throughout its lifecycle, from manufacturing to disposal or recycling. The goal is to increase transparency, traceability, and efficiency across industries, supporting sustainable decision-making and practices.
DPPs will leverage digital technologies to capture, manage, and share product information throughout their lifecycles. To realize these intentions, DPP systems must efficiently ensure and maintain the quality and integrity of passports. Primary concerns in the journey of DPPs from creation to integration are data incompleteness, duplication, dynamic updates, standardization, and interoperability.
SeConDPass aims to address these concerns by developing innovative methods, algorithms, and software frameworks to enable scalable, robust processing of DPPs and their integration across various domains. Results will contribute to DPP systems on two complementary fronts:
While the primary focus of this project centers on DPPs, data processing and integration paradigms proposed in SeConDPass will be broadly applicable to other systems and domains.
In June 2017, the Norwegian authorities and the entire food industry signed an industry agreement to reduce food waste. The aim of the agreement is to halve food waste in Norway by 2030, in line with the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 12.3. This goal is to be achieved through intermediate targets of a 15% reduction by 2020 and a 30% reduction by 2025, using 2015 as the baseline. The parties to the agreement are obligated to report on the progress in the amount and composition of food waste. The Food Waste Mapping analyses the figures and development trends in all food industry sectors on an annual basis. Additionally, the project includes an annual consumer survey that examines Norwegian consumers' behaviour, attitudes, and knowledge related to food waste.
Faktaark om matsvinn i serveringsbransjen finner du here
Faktaark om matsvinn i mat- og serveringsbransjen 2024 finner du here
Faktaark om matsvinn i dagligvarehandelen 2024 finner du here
Faktaark om matsvinn i Norge 2024 finner du here
Faktaark om matsvinn i Kiosk-,Bensin- og Servicehandel 2024 finner du here
Faktaark om matsvinn i grossistleddet 2024 finner du here
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Bio-based adhesives are a safer and more sustainable alternative to fossil-based adhesives used in plywood, particleboard, and MDF.
SUSPENSE aims to develop new types of bio-based adhesives from renewable raw materials such as bio-acids, polyphenols (plant compounds), and other biological materials, that are as strong and moisture resistant as their fossil-based alternatives
The project will explore two different production routes: the "Acids route" and the "Polyphenolics route," which use biological raw materials like hemicellulose, sugars, proteins, and vegetable oils, and natural proteins, chitosan, and lignin, respectively.
The goal is to significantly reduce CO2emissions from adhesive production, make the product more sustainable and circular, and establish bio-based adhesives as a viable alternative for consumers.
NORSUS’ role in the project is to ensure that the project adheres to the EU’s Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework for the development of new chemicals and materials. We will conduct Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) of the newly developed products, in addition to performing a Life Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis of the technology. NORSUS will follow the products' life cycle, from design to end-of-life (EOL) phase, to ensure that sustainability and environmental impacts are analysed and addressed at every step, making the solutions as circular as possible.
The NORSUS team is Cecilia Askham (project leader), Ellen Soldal, Lina Plataniti, Maciej Biedacha, Majvi Brandbu-Opsahl and Nora Løvdal Gamnes.
Project co-funded by the European Union under grant agreement No 101214307. The project is supported by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking and its members. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CBE JU. Neither the European Union nor the CBE JU can be held responsible for them.
In this two-year project, NORSUS will assess the environmental impacts and potential ethical implications of Airene in collaboration with Becour.
Airene is an AI-powered assistant designed to provide comprehensive support in sustainability and renewable energy. Developed by Becour, a pioneering energy technology company, Airene aims to transform how energy users engage with renewable energy sources.
The project's objective is to integrate sustainability principles into the design and deployment of Airene, ensuring the responsible use of technology. This includes optimizing algorithms and infrastructure for energy efficiency, as well as conducting life cycle assessment (LCA) to identify key environmental impact areas. Additionally, a comprehensive ethical evaluation will be carried out in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, to promote responsible AI implementation.
The aim of this project was to provide the knowledge base to support OUS in the potential transition from single- to multiuse warm jackets by informing decision-makers about the environmental, social, and cost implications in a life cycle perspective.
Plastic waste makes up 60% of the residual waste at OUS, with the disposal of plastic single[1]use warm jackets being an important contributor(mepex, 2023).
The Plastsmart sykehus report estimates the replacement of single use jackets with reusable jackets could lead to a reduction in plastic use of about 100t per year for Norwegian hospitals, contributing to a circular plastic economy. The reusable textiles would then be part of a material cycle, rather than a one-way system.
To ensure that the potential transition from disposable to reusable warm jackets does not lead to shifting from one environmental problem to another, or cause other sustainability issues, NORSUS carried out a life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) of the change.
The current single use system at OUS and the likely alternative multiuse system were mapped and analysed. NORSUS developed three models to measure the environmental, social and economic impacts of the two options (disposable vs. reusable jackets).
LCSA-arbeidet er dokumentert i rapporten “Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) of disposable and reusable warm jackets at Oslo University Hospital”
Et sett med lysark som ble laget for å presentere resultatene finnes here
The goal of the Circulizer project is to improve circularity between the blue and green sectors. The project aims to increase knowledge about the use of marine residual resources, such as fish sludge and fish silage, for biogas and biofertilizer production.
Both in Norway and the EU, there are political goals to increase biogas production in the coming years. An increase in biogas production will also lead to a rise in digestate production. Effective utilization of digestate as biofertilizer is key to a circular system where valuable nutrients can be recovered. However, digestate could represent a significant cost for biogas plants if there is no market acceptance for its use as fertilizer.
In Norway, many new biogas plants will use marine residual resources for biogas production. This is relatively unique to Norway, and therefore, there is little documentation on how these raw materials affect the digestate quality. One of the biggest barriers to increase biogas production is skepticism regarding the quality and environmental risks of using digestate as fertilizer.
The project examines how the use of marine residual resources in biogas production affects the anaerobic digestion process and the quality of digestate as fertilizer. It will also assess the potential environmental benefits of replacing mineral fertilizers with biofertilizers from digestate. Furthermore, the project will explore how research-based knowledge and experience on biofertilizer use can be communicated to farmers to encourage changes in fertilization practices.
The project is led by NORSUS and is carried out in collaboration with research institutions such as NIBIO, NMBU, Norsøk, and the Institute of Marine Research, along with stakeholders representing the entire value chain: raw material suppliers, biogas plants, and users of fertilizer.
