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

Contribution to social parity, or impact on social disparity

Equality

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 and providing business and consumer goods and services

Goods and Services

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

Fashion and Textiles

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

Upgrade, repair, and maintenance while in-use

Maximise lifetime of products in-use

Providing repair services or maintenance services for products or parts

Product maintenance, repair

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

Impacts

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Industries

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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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Did you know that you don’t have to throw away clothes, shoes or accessories immediately when they are broken? Meet the repair shop, it’s a hip and trendy concept these days. If you want to join the trend, you have come to the right place. In this blog, you will discover repair shops that give your belongings a second life. That way they will last for years to come! Discover repair shops in Amsterdam and Flanders.Amsterdam City PassThanks to the Amsterdam City Pass, you can get your clothes repaired at a 40% discount. You can visit 30 different repair shops throughout the city. The city pass is for people with a low income or low assets living in Amsterdam. You need a city pass with a green dot if you want discounted clothing repairs.Read the terms here!HOIHOIHOIHOI is a professional repair service for luxury shoes, belts and designer handbags. If your favourite item is damaged then you have come to the right place! They offer a full digital service, where you can send photos of the item and get a no-obligation offer. After that, you can send the item or bring it to the workshop yourself. After it has been repaired, HOIHOI will send the bag or shoes back to you.Discover HOIHOI!De SteekDe Steek is a sewing café and shop in Amsterdam-West. You can learn to sew yourself there. You can follow workshops to repair your own clothes. The materials used are very ecological. The haberdashery is good quality and made with as little plastic as possible, the elastic is natural rubber and the stitching threads are organic cotton and recycled polyester. They also have a wide range of sustainable fabrics.Discover De Steek!ShoerecraftingFor 30 years, Luc has been the proud owner of his own shoe repair shop Shoerecrafting in Bruges, where he repairs shoes using traditional craftsmanship. Your quality shoes will get a second life thanks to Luc. For him, quality, class and details are super important. The best of the best, that’s what you can expect!Discover Shoerecrafting!Denim CityAt Denim City, you can have your jeans adjusted and repaired. The shop is located in the Hallen in Amsterdam-West. So be sure to visit with your favourite jeans.Discover Denim City!United Repair CentreThe United Repair Centre is a collaboration between garment brands, consultancy groups, government agencies, NGOs and educational institutions striving to make garment repair the new norm. By working together, there is greater support to make repairs a reality.More info here!Now you know where to go to get your favourite items restored!For more inspiration, subscribe to the newsletter.
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Amsterdam

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Patagonia, Inc. is an American retailer of outdoor clothing. It was founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973 and is based in Ventura, California.
Patagonia is known for its upscale outdoor clothing and various environmental sustainability efforts. The company continues to grow by offering products that are designed to last.

Patagonia

De Hallen

The United Repair Centre

<p>The United Repair Centre is a&nbsp;collaboration between garment brands, consultancy groups, government agencies, NGOs and educational institutions striving to make garment repair the new norm. By working together, there is greater support to make repairs a&nbsp;reality.</p>