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This collection features a selection of inspiring examples of the circular economy, compiled in the context of the Switch to Circular Economy Value Chains programme (SWITCH).

Launched in 2020, SWITCH is a five-year initiative that assists EU multinational companies and their suppliers from developing countries to switch to more circular economy approaches and practices in three selected value chains: [Plastic Packaging](https://knowledge-hub.circle-lab.com/switchtocircular/search?collections=832%3D0&framework_elements__5=111), [Textile & Garments](https://knowledge-hub.circle-lab.com/switchtocircular/search?collections=832%3D0&framework_elements__5=99), and ICT and Electronics.

The overall objective of SWITCH is to support the “transformation towards a circular economy”, and to contribute to sustainable growth, low carbon and climate resilient development, decent jobs creation, and a safer, healthier and pollution-free environment.

SWITCH is co-funded by the European Union and the Government of Finland, and implemented by UNIDO, in collaboration with Chatham House, Circle Economy, and the European Investment Bank.
Learn more at www.switchtocircular.eu

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Switch to Circular Economy Value Chains

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This collection is being created to regroup all case studies related to the packaging industry (CAT purpose)

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Packaging collection

Business case

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

Reduced use of virgin materials and/or an increase of the use of secondary and bio-based materials

Reduce Material Consumption (SDG12)

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)

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

Chemical and Plastic

Processing and producing food and beverages for consumption

Food and Beverage

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

Prioritise regenerative resources

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

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

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

Design for cyclability

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

Industry collaboration

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

Customer / consumer collaboration

Engage with the government on circular policies and programmes

Government collaboration

Using materials that can be easily reused or recycled after use

Reusable, recyclable materials and inputs

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

Open loop downcycling

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

Generating energy from waste

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

Design for recycling

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

Joint industry ventures, projects, pilots

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

Takeback programmes

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

Advocacy for circular economy policy

Advocate for circular change

Slow strategies aim to keep materials in use for as long as possible, for example through design for durability and repairability. A more circular economy is also a slower one: materials, components, and products—and even buildings and infrastructure—that we lock in stocks are made to last. This will lower material demand in the long run, in essence also serving to narrow resource flows.

Slow

Regenerate strategies phase out hazardous or toxic materials and processes and substitute them with regenerative biomass resources. A circular economy aims to mimic natural cycles—by shifting to more regenerative farming practices, for example—while also maximising the share of circular biomass that enters the economy. Regeneration can happen both at the systems level (by designing regenerative processes) as well as at the product level (by switching synthetic to organic fertilisers, for example).

Regenerate

Cycle strategies aim to cycle and reuse materials at their highest value: they maximise the volume of secondary materials re-entering the economy, ultimately minimising the need for virgin material inputs and therefore also narrowing flows. Of course, virgin materials will always be needed to a degree: all materials degrade and can’t be cycled infinitely, use energy, and require blending with virgin materials to maintain strength and functionality.

Cycle

Impacts

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Industries

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A framework of policy instruments that enabled and encourage the transition to the circular economy

Policy Instruments

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A framework of policy instruments that enable and stimulate the transition to the circular economy

The principles of a circular economy concern designing out waste, regenerating ecosystems and keeping items in use. Decoupling the economy from material flows—improving the rate of resource productivity faster than the economic growth rate—is also a consistent guide. By evolving with the growing number of applications of circular economy principles, and consolidating these strategies across thematic areas, Circle Economy’s Key Elements Framework (KE) renders the elements of the circular economy salient and serves as a basis to derive contextual strategies and interventions. 


The Framework consists of:
- Core Elements: Activities directly handling product or material flows; and uniquely,
- Enabling Elements: those that remove obstacles for core actors.


Key elements of the circular economy

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Circle Economy's framework of strategies and activities that define the circular economy

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Based on the work of [Bocken et al. (2016)](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309699661_Product_design_and_business_model_strategies_for_a_circular_economy), the Four Flows Framework serves as a simple framework for managing resource flows in a circular economy by using less (Narrow), using for longer (Slow), using again (Cycle), and using clean, regenerative materials and energy (Regenerate).

These different principles of circular economy can be applied to our socioeconomic metabolism: we can design stocks like buildings, infrastructure, machinery, and vehicles to be rich resource mines for the future, and design manufactured goods and consumables to be cycled and made regenerative. Furthermore, the focus must also centre on getting more value out of fewer materials. Achieving the aims of a circular economy—minimising material use, regenerating the Earth, and preventing material losses—can be done through these four key strategies mentioned above.

Source: Circle Economy. (2023). *[The circularity gap report 2023](https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023)* (p.22). Amsterdam: Circle Economy. 

Four Flows Framework

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 The public DNV standard provides a best practice to certify the source and authenticity (Chain of Custody) of abandoned plastic and build trust in new products made from reclaimed plastic.  The problem of plastic garbage in our hydrosphere (oceans, rivers and lakes) is massive. Solving it requires ground-breaking technologies, significant efforts and resources. Moreover, extracting the plastic from oceans and rivers is only the first step in addressing one of the biggest threats to our world’s waters. There are currently trillions of pieces of plastic in our oceans with an estimated 8 million pieces added every day. Success hinges on the ability to extract more plastic at a greater scale and higher speed.The standardDNV’s Chain of Custody Standard for Plastics Retrieved in the Hydrosphere sets forth requirements to assure the traceability and integrity of reclaimed plastic from any body of water. The product certification provides proof of compliance. Organizations can share with confidence the source of the material and that it has not been mixed with any other components after extraction from a specific location.The standard covers three main components:Material integrity: Material gathered from the specified body of water has not been mixed with material from other sources before being manufactured into a new product.Traceability: Location, integrity, mass and use of the plastic is made traceable from water to shore and as part of a new product.Systemic approach: Management system in place that enables full traceability of material characteristics along the supply chain.The standard has been developed in partnership with The Ocean Cleanup, who has been the first to apply it and seek certification for its reclaimed plastic from The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. However, the standard is public and can be followed by any organization retrieving plastic from the hydrosphere, i.e. oceans, rivers or lakes.BenefitsProvide proof of your plastic’s source and authenticity (material integrity) certified by an independent party.Differentiate your reclaimed plastic from that of less serious players.Allow anyone to trace the plastic back to its extraction site and view its onward journey.Create a level of transparency that enables customers to trust that their purchases really help make an ocean, river or lake cleaner from plastic waste.How to get certified?When an organization has implemented the appropriate processes to meet the standard’s criteria and agreed scope for its extracted plastic, DNV as an independent third party can certify the plastic. This product certification provides proof that the reclaimed plastic comes from the specific body of water indicated, has not been mixed with other materials, and is the actual material used in a new product, if this is its final purpose.To trace the plastic’s source and assure material integrity, the scope covers the entire value chain and life cycle:Harvest and ExtractionTransport and SortingRecycling and TestingManufacturing and ShippingBased upon the location and value chain complexity, DNV auditors will mix physical audits, visual inspection and digital tools to collect the data needed to certify the traceability and authenticity of the reclaimed plastic.Photo: The Ocean Cleanup 

 The plastic turned sunglasses made from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has been certified by DNV GL so buyers can be certain of both origin and authenticity.    The certification of the sunglass frames has been done to requirements in the chain of custody standard for plastics retrieved from the hydrosphere. This is a public standard that can be used by any organization to certify the traceability and material integrity of plastic reclaimed from oceans, rivers and lakes.“Extracting plastic is only the first step in addressing a serious threat to our oceans and rivers. Turning trash into treasures is critical to fund further cleanup. With trillions of pieces of plastic in our oceans, a dramatic scaling of extraction is needed. Certification builds trust into the authenticity of the reclaimed plastic and new products made from it,” says Luca Crisciotti, CEO of DNV GL-Business Assurance.Third party certification to the standard helps organizations prove to customers the source of the material and that it has not been mixed with any other components after extraction before manufactured into a new product. And that the overall weight of the plastic captures remains somewhat constant. It also ensures that that the plastic can be traced all the way back to the location where it was extracted. Companies who want to be certified, must first implement processes and system to meet the requirements of the standard.Extracting the necessary amounts of plastic requires ground-breaking technologies, significant efforts and resources. For customers who want to contribute and buy products made with reclaimed plastic, certification by an independent third party assures them that the product is in fact authentic.“We started working with the Ocean Cleanup almost two years ago to build a thorough understanding of the process and need before designing the standard. For everything to come full circle and finally see the garbage turn into a pair of sunglasses made from certified reclaimed plastic is extremely rewarding,” says Luca Crisciotti.Photo: The Ocean Cleanup 

United Kingdom

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At TerraCycle, our mission is Eliminating the Idea of Waste®. Businesses, government entities, and people like you work with us globally to keep trash out of landfills or from incineration.
Through collaboration and innovation, we've developed the world's first solutions in everything from recycling to reuse.

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Founded in 1948, Walkers is a retailer of potato crisps. 

Walkers

<p>In 2018 Walkers partnered with TerraCycle to set up collection points to support the recycling of its crisps plastic packaging. As flexible packaging is becoming easier to recycle, the company has closed its take back programme in 2022 and it is instead focusing on making its packaging easier to recycle.</p>