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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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Business case

Direct and indirect reduction in economic costs

Cost Savings

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

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)

Producing textile and leather products and processing them into apparel and accessories

Fashion and Textiles

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

Designing products that can easily breakdown and degrade in the environment

Design for bio-degradability

Make collected and sorted recyclables available for use by citizens, small businesses up to large scale industrial processes. 

Use recyclables

Incubator and investment programmes

Manufactured goods, such as vehicles, textiles, appliances and equipment and their associated production processes are big employers but:
- production processes often rely on fossil fuels and currently drive one-third of the overshoot on the climate change planetary boundary due to its GHG production, 
- material- and energy-intensive industrial activities are linked to deforestation and drive 15% on both the land use and freshwater planetary boundaries, 
- manufacturing goods results in substantial amounts of hazardous industrial waste and leaks chemicals into the environment.

Here, circular solutions must tackle the full value chain, but material demand must also shrink: this will necessitate a societal shift to favouring sufficiency over excess and reducing consumption to sustainable levels. Our four key solutions for manufactured goods are:
- Mainstream industrial symbiosis and efficiency : Achieve process improvements, scrap diversion and reduction in yield losses through greater industrial symbiosis and efficiency. Foster tighter collaboration within and between industries to deliver powerful material and emissions savings.
- Extend the lifetime of machinery, equipment, and goods: Maximise the lifetime of goods that serve our daily needs to bring a number of environmental benefits. 
- Buy what's needed: Reduce the number of purchases of common electronic goods, appliances, and other equipment to sufficiency levels. 
- Eschew fast fashion in favour of sustainable textiles: Drastically reduce new clothing purchases. All used clothing should go on to be repaired, reused or, if needed, recycled appropriately. Prioritise natural and local textile manufacturing, as well as higher-quality and more durable garments. 




👕📱 Consumer Goods

Businesses

Governments

As a result of its cheapness, durability, and range of uses, plastics have become ubiquitous with contemporary life. However, these same characteristics are contributing to a global challenge of plastic pollution, in large part driven by an influx of single-use plastic products, most notably used for packaging and bags. Much of this plastic packaging and bags, which can take hundreds of years to decompose, are not disposed of correctly and pollute and degrade ecosystems.  

Where packaging is absolutely necessary, alternatives can be made from bio-based materials that are sourced from renewable sources that can readily decompose. There are a range of types of biobased materials, from mycelium, starch, and even discarded fruit, which can be used as alternatives to conventional fossil-fuel derived plastics.

Local governments can support use of such packaging and goods made from alternative bio-based materials by banning or creating a bio-based plastic content mandate on single-use plastic packaging. Governments can simultaneously support the uptake of alternatives through incentive schemes such as subsidising their production as well as encouraging further research, innovation and development through incubator schemes or eco-design competitions. A good first step in creating the demand for such products is by integrating such criteria within the local public procurement strategy to supply, for example, municipal canteens.

It is important to note that, if local governments plan to support the uptake of this packaging type, they must also educate residents about the correct way to dispose of biobased plastics based on their waste management plan. Bioplastics often cannot be disposed of with normal plastics as they would contaminate their recycling. Moreover, if they plan to incentivise this type of packaging they should adapt the waste management practices accordingly (such as having an aerobic digester where compostable plastics can be disposed of with organic waste).

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👕📱  Packaging and goods made from bio-based materials

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

Urban Opportunities

The Circular City Actions Framework provides urban changemakers with five complementary strategies they can use to start working towards a more circular system. 

The framework is action-based to provide users with concrete strategic directions and showcase the desired outcomes of each strategy. 
The framework consists of five complementary **strategies**, under which **sub-strategies** provide further detail. Finally, each sub-strategy consists of a diversity of tangible **solutions** which are framed in relation to key thematic areas. 

Note: solutions are currently focused on:
- 🍏 **Food systems**
- 🏢  **Built environment**
- 👕📱  **Consumer goods**
- ⚡ **Energy Systems**
- 🚌 **Mobility Systems**
- 💧 **Water Systems**

More thematic areas are coming soon...

'Click through each of the five strategy cards below to explore the framework and circular economy case studies in more depth!'



This framework was developed in collaboration with ICLEI, Metabolic and Ellen MacArthur Foundation with support from the MAVA Foundation. Read more about it [here]( https://circulars.iclei.org/action-framework/). 



Circular City Actions Framework

An action-based framework for local governments working towards circular cities

Thematic Areas

City Stakeholders

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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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 Are you excited about our material?  Order a sample box to experience Fruitleather for yourself! 




By purchasing this sample package, you contribute to the growth and development of our company. Over the years we have been experimenting on how to convert left-over fruit into leather-like material. By doing so, we are able to bring a eco-friendly and animal-friendly product to the market.




The sample box contains four A5 sheets of Fruitleather, each with its own unique qualities.The Fruitleather is also available in different colors, embossments and variety of fibers.
Worldwide shipping. Please find the transit times for international delivery here. 
See the current specifications of our material here. 

 Gebruikt fruitafval voor een goedkoper en milieuvriendelijk alternatief in de leerindustrie.     Wie  Fruitleather Rotterdam    Waar  Maasboulevard 100 3063 NS Rotterdam     Categorie  Een duurzame en bereikbare stad      Bezoek de website         OmschrijvingFruitleather Rotterdam is het eerste bedrijf ter wereld dat het afval van fruit, in combinatie met natuurlijke additieven, verwerkt tot een duurzaam leerachtig materiaal, met diverse toepassingsmogelijkheden. Wij leveren fruitleer als halffabrikaat aan leerverwerkende partijen. Fruitleather Rotterdam biedt leerverwerkende producenten (en dus consumenten) een alternatief voor de huidige ± 18 miljard m2 dierlijk leer dat per jaar wordt geproduceerd. Fruitleather Rotterdam draagt zo bij aan het terugdringen van de ± 65 miljard kilo CO2 die vrijkomt bij productie van dierlijk leer. Er is grote belangstelling voor dit milieuvriendelijke materiaal van de zijde van consumenten enerzijds en ontwerpers en producenten anderzijds. Momenteel zoeken wij de middelen om binnen 1,5 jaar een stabiel materiaal te ontwikkelen dat we vervolgens als hoogwaardig prototype kunnen leveren aan de leerverwerkende partijen, die reeds interesse hebben getoond. Rotterdam beschikt over de belangrijkste Noord-Europese fruithaven. Bij de import tussen de producent en de Rotterdamse haven als verwerker, wordt er ruim ± 10% fruit verspild. In het transport naar de groothandel is dit nog eens 10%, en tussen de winkel en consument komt daar nog eens 15% bij. Fruitleather Rotterdam helpt de stad bij het terugdringen van zijn fruitafval op een circulaire manier. Fruitleather is een Rotterdams bedrijf dat een rechtstreekse bijdrage levert aan de circulaire economie en productinnovatie in de stad. "Fruit" en "Leather" verbindt twee werelden waarin wij het afval van de ene industrie gebruiken om het vervuilende systeem van de leerindustrie radicaal te veranderen. 

Rotterdam

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Fruitleather Rotterdam

<p>Through the CityLab010, the city of Rotterdam supports and stimulates the energy of ambitious businesses operating in the circular economy such as Fruitleather Rotterdam, a company transforming leftover fruits into durable, leather-like material.</p>