{"id":104405,"date":"2021-06-03T09:33:14","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T07:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/?p=104405"},"modified":"2022-11-18T13:40:06","modified_gmt":"2022-11-18T12:40:06","slug":"urbanmining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/urbanmining\/","title":{"rendered":"Urban mining: when communities reject the throwaway economy"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A growing number of communities across Europe are speeding up the shift to more resilient economies and supply chains, rethinking the way we create, use, and dispose of our everyday products. Here\u2019s how.<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The world\u2019s resources are limited, but we are living as if they weren\u2019t. Our current economic system is based on extracting raw materials from the Earth, creating products with a built-in life span and throwing them away to then buy new ones.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The good news is that more and more communities are fighting back, creating responsible business models to reduce Europe\u2019s dependency on mining.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>This is the story of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/maakfabriek.be\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Maakfabriek<\/a><\/strong>, a Belgian creative lab and community of <em>upcyclers<\/em> extracting precious resources from urban waste and giving products a second life.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><iframe title=\"A communities of heroes: Maakfabriek\" width=\"1220\" height=\"686\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pQ7t0BU8TlE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\r\n<p>For more information about Maakfabriek and how to set up your own community of upcyclers, contact: maakfabriek@blikfabriek.be<\/p>\r\n<p><strong style=\"font-size: 21px;\">From destructive mining to a resilient economy<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p>Going beyond recycling, the mission of communities like Maakfabriek is to add value to urban waste, sharing tools and ideas to give goods like discarded furniture and broken electronics a new life.<\/p>\r\n<p>Known as urban mining, this practice is becoming increasingly popular in a society that\u2019s running out of raw materials and strives to find a sustainable alternative to conventional, destructive mining.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\r\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">1\/8: A visual guide to why 180+ communities, organisations and academics from around the &#x1f30d; are calling on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EU_Commission?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@EU_Commission<\/a> to abandon parts of its <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EUGreenDeal?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EUGreenDeal<\/a> that would increase <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/mining?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#mining<\/a> extractivism&#8230;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EndEUExtractivism?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EndEUExtractivism<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/AohQ215EEi\">https:\/\/t.co\/AohQ215EEi<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jtEA3daW6L\">pic.twitter.com\/jtEA3daW6L<\/a><\/p>\r\n\u2014 YestoLifeNotoMining (@_YLNM) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/_YLNM\/status\/1400036098429104142?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 2, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote>\r\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\r\n<p>From reducing the need for new materials and mining to avoiding waste and creating new jobs, urban mining provides a glimpse of hope in Europe\u2019s transition to a more resilient and inclusive economy.<\/p>\r\n<p>When communities turn waste into resources, they break away from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.the25percentrevolution.com\/\">our \u2018take-make-use-lose\u2019 economic model<\/a>\u00a0and start redistributing materials locally in a fair and sustainable manner instead. This is a central element of people\u2019s fight against the monopoly of precious resources by powerful mining companies and manufacturers.<\/p>\r\n<p>In a world where most materials can be extracted from discarded products and used to create new goods, people and nature can thrive together.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p><em>To learn more about what civil society organisations are doing to push back against mining, get in touch with:<\/em><\/p>\r\n<p>Diego Marin, Environmental Justice Assistant at the European Environmental Bureau, diego.marin@eeb.org<\/p>\r\n<p>Nick Meynen, Senior Policy Officer Economic Transition at the European Environmental Bureau, nick.meynen@eeb.org<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A growing number of communities across Europe are speeding up the shift to more resilient economies and supply chains, rethinking the way we create, use, and<span class=\"excerpt-hellip\"> [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":104408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[138,3,137],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-circular-economy","category-news","category-resource-efficiency"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/maakfabriek.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}