28. 04.08:
Eco-innovation in business
28 million euro funding has been set aside this year to stimulate the market uptake of some of Europes best environmental products, processes and services and the 2008 Call for proposals for "Pilot and Market Replication Projects on Eco-Innovation" under the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (EIP) was published on 21 April (until 11 September). Waste treatment, material recycling, clean construction methods and green management are among the areas where innovation can play a key role in developing new sustainable solutions that reduce the ecological footprint of existing industrial processes and enable a more rational use of natural resources.This year’s call focuses on materials recycling and sorting; buildings and construction materials; food & drink production, waste reduction, recycling & recovery; and greening business & smart purchasing (eco-management & Audit Scheme applications for clusters of enterprises, eco-design, eco-labelling, life cycle approaches…). An Information Day is scheduled for 8th May in Brussels. The call text and registration details are available from http://ec.europa.eu/environment/etap/ecoinnovation/library_en.htm
