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Circle Economy and ICLEI have partnered up to initiate the go to knowledge hub of case studies about the circular economy in cities. The Cities Collection is a repository of case studies that demonstrate the role of cities in the circular transition, and includes policies, business cases and research articles. Cases in the Collection flow into an ecosystem of digital products which support users in transitioning cities to circularity, for example [Ganbatte](https://ganbatte.world/cities/) and <a href="https://circulars.iclei.org/" target="_blank">ICLEI Circulars</a>, both part of the <a href="https://circulars.iclei.org/circle-lab-for-cities/" target = _blank">Circle Lab for Cities Programme.</a>




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Circular Cities

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This collection features a selection of the initiatives listed on the Québec Circulaire platform.

Québec Circulaire is one of the flagship measures of the Pôle québécois de concertation sur l’économie circulaire (Quebec centre for consultation on the circular economy), a voluntary grouping of leaders from various backgrounds to accelerate the transition to the circular economy in Quebec. The information that emerges about circular economy is often fragmented by types of strategies, regions, people involved and sectors of activity. For a real change in the economic model to take place, it seemed essential to create a convergence forum for the exchange of information. Therefore, Québec Circulaire's mission is to bring together the variety of initiatives, tools, and expertise related to circular economy in Québec that are currently dispersed and will be multiplying in the coming years. 

Having begun its transition to circular economy in 2014, Québec serves as a pioneer in North America. By shining a light on the collective impact of individual and targeted initiatives, the circular economy can constitute a powerful lever for change.

This collection of case studies aims to bring together Quebec people involved in this transition, alongside facilitating access to initiatives and knowledge developed elsewhere in the world, and disseminating Quebec best practices internationally.

To learn more about Québec's initiatives to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, visit www.quebeccirculaire.org.

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Québec Circulaire

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Business case

Impact on the availability of resources as well as their effect on living organisms, ecosystems, and components of the environment.

Ecological Impact

Impacts on the social fabric of the community and well-being of the individuals and families.

Social Impact

Impact on the quantity or quality of jobs, and shifts in the labour market

Jobs

Impact on the health and happiness of human populations

Well-being

Minimise waste through diversion: Instead of sending waste to landfill, it is redirected into other industrial processes for handling, treatment, recycling, recovery, or reuse in various forms. 

Minimise waste through design: At the outset of a process of project, plan and design such that there is zero waste or minimal waste during production, use, and at end of life. 

Minimise Waste (SDG12)

Extracting resources and processing them to produce materials for use bysociety

Materials and Fuels

Producing and providing business and consumer goods and services

Goods and Services

Societal Services

Providing healthcare services, such as hospitals, medical facilities and patient care services, medical research and clinical trial services, pharmaceuticals and drug development, and genetic engineering services

Healthcare Services

Collecting waste from households and businesses by means of refuse bins, wheeled bins, containers, etc., and providing treatment, incineration, materials recovery and reclamation, and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste

Waste Management

Producing and providing leisure and personal products and services for consumers, such as cleaning products, sports equipment and toys, personal and beauty care products, as well as domestic and personal services such as caretaking, cleaning, hairdressing and other beauty treatment, funeral and related activities

Personal Products and Services

Producing basic and specialty chemicals, inks, agricultural chemical such as fertilisers and pesticides, plastics including packaging, and rubber

Chemical and Plastic

Ensure renewable, reusable, non-toxic resources are utilised as materials and energy in an efficient way

Prioritise regenerative resources

While resources are in-use, maintain, repair and upgrade them to maximise their lifetime and give them a second life through take back strategies when applicable

Stretch the lifetime

Utilise waste streams as a source of secondary resources and recover waste for reuse and recycling

Use waste as a resource

Consider opportunities to create greater value and align incentives that build on the interaction between products and services

Rethink the business model

Account for the systems perspective during the design process, to use the right materials, to design for appropriate lifetime and to design for extended future use

Design for the future

Work together throughout the supply chain, internally within organisations and with the public sector and communities to increase transparency and create joint value

Team up to create joint value

Utilise bio-based, reusable, non-toxic and non-critical materials

Regenerative materials

Upgrade, repair, and maintenance while in-use

Maximise lifetime of products in-use

Deliver products through business models that ensure maximum value

Product business models

Designing to reduce waste during production and use

Design out waste

Designing to enable multiple uses and lifecycles of a product and its materials

Design for cyclability

Designing products that are made to last and to ensure longer use

Design for durability

Engage with the local community where facilities or offices are located

Community collaboration

Using materials that can be easily reused or recycled after use

Reusable, recyclable materials and inputs

Providing repair services or maintenance services for products or parts

Product maintenance, repair

Providing products through leasing, rental, or pay-per-use models instead of sales

Leasing, rental, pay per use

Selling high quality, long-lasting products

Sale of durable, long-lasting goods

Designing products so they produce as little waste as possible during production

Design for minimal waste

Designing products so they use as little materials, water, energy, etc. as possible during use

Design for resource efficiency

Designing products to be reused for the same or different purposes in multiple lifecycles

Design for reuse

Designing products to resist damage and wear, and serve a long and useful life.

Design for physical durability

Initiatives with disadvantaged communities, minorities, people distanced from the labour market

Give-back programmes

'Mobilise' sets the direction of and builds momentum towards long-term change, while also determining how this direction is determined and governed.

Mobilise

 Convene Towards Action

Advocate for circular change

'Incentivise' sends market signals and support to businesses, citizens and governments to promote certain activities.

Incentivise

 Fiscal Frameworks

Subsidies

**Harmonize with nature** by promoting infrastructure, production systems and sourcing that allows natural ecosystems to thrive




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Regenerate

Eliminate waste by maximizing the recovery of resources at the end of the use phase so that they can be reintroduced into production processes


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Recover

Includes measures that protect and enhance ecosystems and biodiversity both within and beyond city boundaries, as well as actions to restore degraded ecosystems.


Protect and restore local ecosystems

Ensure that household and business waste is collected and appropriately sorted (by type, label, etc.) to allow for maximum recovery of value.


Collect and sort waste to facilitate recovery

A key source of waste generated by urban residents stems from single-use plastics, such as plastic bags and packaging, and other fast moving consumer goods that are produced to be cheap and disposable. If this waste is not disposed of correctly, then such residual materials can pollute the environment. Waste that is generated in cities can also find its way outside of the city, for example, being carried in water ways to pollute other water bodies. 

Systems, initiatives and infrastructure can focus on preventing these types of waste from polluting the local environment. For example, infrastructure placed in local waterways can protect natural systems by diverting plastic pollution. Furthermore, other initiatives could clean up (plastic) waste directly to restore natural systems in a safe and effective way. 

Local governments can support the implementation of solutions by establishing partnerships with and promoting existing initiatives, as well as developing and financing the infrastructures that could reduce the pollution in the local environment.  

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👕📱  Clean up pollution of fast moving consumer goods

Mixed household waste - consisting of textiles, electronics, organic and other consumer goods - can be contaminated and difficult to separate, and hence limit the  recovery of materials and value.

Source separation reduces the upstream sorting cost and ensures that downstream recyclers receive clean feedstock, thus improving their ability to capture the value from post-consumer material streams. Source separation systems can take a variety of forms, such as providing a distributed network of collection points throughout a city for residents to drop off various types of waste materials. The most successful examples of this include: collection of electronics, plastics, waste oil, fabrics, metals, bulky goods, paper, cardboard, batteries, amongst others.

Local governments can support the implementation of the solution by developing and providing the necessary infrastructure throughout the city or engage in public-private partnerships to provide source separation systems. What is more, information campaigns can help to inform residents on which types of consumer goods can be recovered, and the most effective means of disposal. 


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👕📱  Source separation and collection systems for consumer goods 

Designing products that can easily breakdown and degrade in the environment

Design for bio-degradability

Replace energy sources with less impactful alternatives and enact energy efficiency measures

Regenerative energy

Selling parts of modular products that can be exchanged or replaced

Sale of exchangeable parts

Working together with stakeholders and parties in other unrelated industries to implement circular economy strategies and opportunities

Cross-industry projects, pilots

Engaging in discussions with government bodies and policymakers to push for regulations that support the circular economy

Advocacy for circular economy policy

Using renewable energy like solar, wind, etc. or renewable fuels like biomass, etc.

Renewable energy, fuels

Designing products of multiple parts that can be easily exchanged

Design for modularity

Working together with industry peers to engage in business activities or exploratory projects that advance the circular economy

Joint industry ventures, projects, pilots

Providing products through sharing between consumers, customers, etc.

Peer to peer sharing

Transforming waste products into materials and lower value products within other industries

Open loop downcycling

Providing DIY repair kits or spare part programmes for enabling self-repair

Self-repair, spare part service

Engage and guide customers and consumers to ensure circular use of products

Customer / consumer collaboration

Transforming waste products, materials for reuse within the same industry

Closed loop upcycling

Allowing customers to alter and modify certain features of the product

Customisation

Facilitate discussions and meetings between internal team members to identify circular opportunities

Dialogue with internal stakeholders

Generating energy from waste through processes such as anaerobic digestion, gasification, incineration, etc.

Generating energy from waste

Use digital, online platforms and technologies that provide insights to track and optimise resource use, strengthen connections between supply chain actors, and enable the implementation of circular models



Incorporate digital technology

Industry peers to industry peer collaboration to create joint value and identify synergies

Industry collaboration

Preserving and conserving biological products such as food, forests, etc.

Preservation, conservation

Working together with the community and engaging them in the company operations

Joint product development

Reuse, repurpose, and recycle waste streams within the same industry

Valorise waste streams - closed loop

Replacing freshwater use with rainwater, fogwater, seawater, etc.

Alternative water use

Processing waste streams into fuels such as biogas, biofuels, pellets, etc.

Processing waste into fuel

Using bio-based materials such as bioplastics, mushroom-based materials, etc.

Alternative bio-based materials and inputs

Using waste materials that have been processed and recycled to produce new products within other industries

Using open loop recycled materials

Employ technologies to gather and analyse data to provide insights on resource use

Data and insights

Takeback and return of products from customers after end-of-use

Takeback programmes

Transforming waste products, materials for reuse within other industries

Open loop upcycling

Enacting measures that optimise water use

Water efficiency

Installing sensors to gather data from products and services to identify, enable and/or implement circular strategies (eg. effective resource use & logistics planning, circular business models & design)

Sensors, monitoring systems

Decentralised services that rely on the power of the crowd or the community

Crowd-based services

Marketplaces or services that enable the second hand sale of products

Second-hand sale, distribution

Key elements of the circular economy

<p>Lange Bleu is making the environment and the health of children a priority by offering a washable service for nappies, thus ensuring an integrated product management, from cradle to grave.</p>