Policy 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

Extracting resources and processing them to produce materials for use bysociety

Materials and Fuels

Producing transporation equipment and providing services for thetransportation of goods and people

Transportation and Logistics

Societal Services

Producing building materials and providing services to create residential and non-residential infrastructure and real estate


Construction and Infrastructure

Providing public and private education and support services at any level or for any profession, and governmental and public administration services, including judicial, regulatory, and legislative activities, taxation, defence, public order and safety, immigration services, foreign affairs and the administration of government programmes

Education and Government Services

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

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

Industry collaboration

Engage with the government on circular policies and programmes

Government collaboration

Engaging in discussions with industry stakeholders to share circular economy best practices and push the industry towards greater circularity

Guidance, dialogue with industry stakeholders

Participating in government programmes that support and advance the circular economy

Government programmes

Biogas produced by the anaerobic digestion of organic solid waste can be used as an energy source for cooking, lighting and generate electricity, replacing thus other fuels. Moreover, the treatment of organic waste alleviates the solid waste crisis in urban and peri-urban area if the developing world.


Use biogas

Locally produced food has to travel shorter, which means less fuel is consumed and less greenhouse gases are generated. Moreover, buying locally produced food helps local farmers and markets and creates more jobs in the local businesses. 


Produce locally

Other

'Manage' influences the use and function of physical and material elements within the urban environment. 

Manage

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

Mobilise

Visions and Ambitions

Roadmaps and strategies and targets

 Spatial Planning

Compact city development

Redesign systems to lay the foundation for circular activities and enable the transition to a circular economy 

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Rethink

High-level changes to policy and practice (such as taxation systems, investment and procurement guidelines and criteria) that disincentivize activities that perpetuate linear economic systems, as well as vision-setting (goals, roadmaps) to catalyze
action on circularity across the city

Eliminate linear incentives and set goals and incentives for circularity

Cities consume about 75% of global energy and emit between 50% and 60% of global greenhouse gases (UN-Habitat). To reduce the negative impact of their energy consumption, cities need to shift away from fossil fuels and move towards renewable energy sources. Such a shift will help cities work towards their climate change mitigation and adaptation action plans. Renewable energy technologies such as wind, water, solar, and geothermal can also help improve access to energy in vulnerable and marginalised neighbourhoods through, for example, decentralised, off-grid solutions.

Renewable energy technologies can harvest the energy in nature’s processes, such as wind, and solar radiation and geothermal heat, that can be replenished within a human lifespan. In contrast, fossil fuels are materials that are not replenished within a human lifespan and are combusted for energy, losing the fuel material and resulting in emissions.

Local governments can develop sustainable energy plans, considering different energy resources and requirements, to develop a robust strategy for the development of renewable energy technologies and infrastructure throughout the city. They can also institute specific legislation and tax systems to regulate energy production and consumption, incentivise research and development of cleaner, more efficient technologies. Via Power Purchase Agreements cities can buy renewable energy from green energy providers and fix the price in order to provide security to financial institutions to finance renewable energy infrastructure. Furthermore, increasing awareness and facilitating capacity-building on planning urban sustainable energy projects can help the uptake of clean energy across the city by different stakeholders—from citizens to businesses and institutions. Facilitating collaboration, then, will be crucial, since private companies operate most of the world’s energy systems.


⚡ Energy Systems

The built environment, including housing, commercial buildings, and the necessary infrastructure for mobility, is essential for our livelihoods, but:
- the extraction of minerals used to produce construction materials is responsible for a quarter of global land use change,
- approximately 40% of global GHG emissions can be attributed to buildings’ construction, use and demolition, and
- construction and demolition processes drive nearly one-third of all material consumption. 

Making the built environment more circular must prioritise a heavy reduction in material use—while also closing the loop on materials and bringing secondary and renewable material choices to the fore. Our four key solutions for the built environment are:
- Make the most of what already exists: Make the most of existing materials by reusing, repurposing, upgrading and renovating following circular approaches. Where new builds are needed, use secondary materials and be as efficient as possible with urban planning solutions that follow circular design principles so that buildings can be reused, repurposed, and easily disassembled in the future.
- Be as energy efficient as possible: From the design phase, utilise circular strategies to create material- and energy efficient buildings. Couple these designs with a rollout of clean energy solutions, and prioritise energy-efficient appliances and retrofitting. 
- Utilise secondary materials: Maximise the high-value reuse of buildings and components where possible. Ideally, enable the utilisation of construction and demolition outputs and ensure that as much of it as possible is recycled to avoid the need for virgin materials, such as sand and gravel.
- Prioritise circular materials and approaches: Transition to using renewable wood, timber or cross-laminated timber instead of steel and concrete, or move to other locally available materials. Utilise mainstream modular construction and prioritise lightweight frames and structures to reduce cement and steel use, as well as green roofs where possible.



🏢 Built Environment

The demand for transport is rising globally—but current modes are heavily material- and fossil-fuels-intensive. Emissions from the transport system could grow by 60% by 2050, and transport is the number-one user of oil worldwide. GHG emissions result not only in warming global temperatures, but also in ocean acidification, which has severe consequences for entire ecosystems and further destabilises our climate. The transport system also drives land-use change and biodiversity loss through the development of infrastructure—also releasing harmful pollutants into the ocean. Key circular solutions:

- Embrace and enable car-free lifestyles
- Invest in high-quality public transport
- Rethink unnecessary air travel
- Electrify remaining vehicles

🚌 Mobility Systems

Governments

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

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

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

Regenerative materials

Replace freshwater with less impactful alternatives and enact water efficiency measures

Regenerative water

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

Regenerative energy

Upgrade, repair, and maintenance while in-use

Maximise lifetime of products in-use

Give products and parts another life after their end-of-use

Maximise lifetime of products after use

Ensure that biological products are properly managed and preserved

Maximise lifetime of biological products

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

Valorise waste streams - closed loop

Reuse, repurpose, and recycle waste streams within other industries

Valorise waste streams - open loop

Recover waste energy or generate fuels and energy from waste streams

Energy recovery from waste

Deliver products through business models that ensure maximum value

Product business models

Deliver services through business models that ensure maximum value

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

Customer / consumer collaboration

Engage internally to guide employees and facilitate greater knowledge sharing between internal divisions

Internal collaboration

Engage with the local community where facilities or offices are located

Community collaboration

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

Data and insights

Employ online platforms to connect and improve information sharing between stakeholders

Digital platforms

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

Alternative bio-based materials and inputs

Enacting measures that optimise material use such as 3D printing, etc.

Material efficiency

Using <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/raw-materials/specific-interest/critical_sv" target="_blank">materials that are not considered critical</a>.

Non-critical materials and inputs 

Using <a href="https://echa.europa.eu/information-on-chemicals" target="_blank">materials that are not toxic or hazardous</a>.

Non-toxic materials and inputs

Using materials that can be easily reused or recycled after use

Reusable, recyclable materials and inputs

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

Alternative water use

Enacting measures that optimise water use

Water efficiency

Converting fossil fuel based operations to electric

Electrification

Enacting measures that optimise energy use

Energy efficiency

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

Renewable energy, fuels

Providing repair services or maintenance services for products or parts

Product maintenance, repair

Providing upgrade programmes or upgrade services for products or parts of products

Product upgrade

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

Self-repair, spare part service

Extraction and reuse of parts from end-of-life products for use in new products

Part recovery

Activities to clean, decorate, and restore products back to working condition for original or new purposes

Refurbishment, remanufacturing, renovation

Marketplaces or services that enable the second hand sale of own-brand products

Own brand second-hand sale

Marketplaces or services that enable the second hand sale of products

Second-hand sale, distribution

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

Preservation, conservation

Managing and enriching biological products such as soil, land, etc.

Management, enrichment

Collection programmes that process products and parts for reuse or recycling within the same industry

Closed loop collection

Transforming waste products, materials for reuse within the same industry

Closed loop upcycling

Using waste materials that have been processed and recycled to produce new products within the same industry

Using closed loop recycled materials

Transforming waste products into materials and lower value products within the same industry

Closed loop downcycling

Collection programmes that process products and parts for reuse or recycling within other industries

Open loop collection

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

Open loop downcycling

Transforming waste products, materials for reuse within other industries

Open loop upcycling

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

Using open loop recycled materials

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

Generating energy from waste

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

Processing waste into fuel

Recovering and reusing waste heat, gas, etc. for energy

Recovery and reuse of waste energy

Selling parts of modular products that can be refilled

Sale of refillable parts

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

Leasing, rental, pay per use

Providing products through sharing between consumers, customers, etc.

Peer to peer sharing

Selling high quality, long-lasting products

Sale of durable, long-lasting goods

Selling parts of modular products that can be exchanged or replaced

Sale of exchangeable parts

Providing services through a subscription plan with regular payment schemes

Subscription-based services

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

Crowd-based services

Providing services where customers are charged only when they use it

Payment per use

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 that can easily breakdown and degrade in the environment

Design for bio-degradability

Designing products of multiple parts that can be easily disassembled

Design for disassembly

Designing products of multiple parts that can be easily exchanged

Design for modularity

Designing products to remove any barriers to recycling and enable easy recyclability

Design for recycling

Designing products with a single material type to more easily recycle them after use

Design for recycling - mono-materials

Designing products so they are able to be easily repaired

Design for repair

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

Designing products to increase consumer’s emotional attachment and ensure longer use

Design for product attachment, emotional durability

Key elements of the circular economy

<p>The adoption of STEP 2025 on 25 June 2014 by the Vienna City Council marks the final point of a development process that, spanning over two years, has led to the formulation of a common understanding of central challenges and of corresponding strategies and initiatives. In three chapters, the Urban Development Plan 2025 sketches a picture of the city and the future generations who will live and work in Vienna: (1) "Vienna, building the future" is the vision of a new urbanism in the city of the future; (2) "Vienna, reaching beyond its borders" is the vision of the future position of Vienna as a city of business and research, in the metropolitan region and in the European competition between locations; and (3) "Vienna, networking the city" is the vision of the future of mobility, green and social networks as the backbone of the city until 2025 and beyond.</p>