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This collection features circular practices across several industries in Taiwan: Agriculture & Food, Textiles and Fashion, Buildings, Furniture and Appliances, Vehicles, Packaging and Containers, Electronics and Chemicals, etc. 

Circular Taiwan Network (CTN) is a leadership initiative in Taiwan that brings together governments, businesses, universities, and NGOs to facilitate the transition to a circular economy. CTN aims to enhance understanding and implementation of the circular economy across Taiwan. We catalyze collaborations in the hope that more circular policies and sustainable business solutions may be created and that the circular economy may flourish in Taiwan. CTN has published two books, ‘Circular Economy’ and ‘Circular Taiwan’, along with several specialized reports, to promote awareness and practices of circular economy in Taiwan.

To learn more about Circular Taiwan Network visit [https://circular-taiwan.org/en/](https://circular-taiwan.org/en/)

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Circular Taiwan Network

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Business case

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

Using closed loop recycled materials

**Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns**

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The world is seriously off track in its effort to halve per-capita food waste and losses by 2030.The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on consumption and production patterns, with disruptions to global supply chains and changes in consumer behaviour. 

Responsible consumption and production must be an integral part of the recovery from the pandemic. 
But the global economy also needs to speed up the decoupling of economic growth from resource use by maximizing the socio-economic benefits of resources while minimizing their negative impacts. 

Reporting on corporate sustainability has tripled since the beginning of the SDG period, but the private sector will need to significantly improve reporting on activities that contribute to the SDGs. 

This primarily entails environmentally sound management of "toxic chemicals" A substantial use of chemicals is essential to meet the social and economic goals of the world community, and these can be used with a high degree of safety when best practices are followed.  Gross chemical contamination, with grave damage to human health, genetic structures reproductive outcomes, and the environment, has been continuing within some of the world's most important industrial areas, and restoration will require major investment as well as the development of new techniques.
Effective control of the generation, storage, treatment, recycling and reuse, transport, recovery and disposal of hazardous wastes is another similar challenge. 
In addition,  solid wastes include all domestic refuse and non-hazardous wastes such as commercial and institutional wastes, street sweepings construction debris, and, in some countries, human wastes. As hazardous waste is frequently intermixed with other waste, this poses particular management challenges.
Finally, this target ensures that radioactive waste is safely managed, transported, stored and disposed of, with a view to protecting human health and the environment. 

To deliver SDG12, it is crucial to implement policies that support the shift to sustainable practices and decouple economic growth from resource use.

Sources: [https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal12](https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal12)
[https://sdgs.un.org/topics/chemicals-and-waste](https://sdgs.un.org/topics/chemicals-and-waste)

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12. Responsible consumption and production

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

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

Chemical and Plastic

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

Closed loop collection

Producing electronics products for businesses and consumers, including cellular phones, personal computers, printers, servers, electronic computer components and peripherals, TVs, audio equipment, as well as household appliances, such as refrigerators, washing machines, etc.

Electronics and Appliances

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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**These 17 Goals recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.**

The SDGs build on decades of work by countries and the UN, and especially on the Millennium Declaration adopted in September 2000 at UN Headquarters in New York which let to the elaboration of eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce extreme poverty by 2015.

In 2015, the Paris Agreement was signed. A major blueprint came out of this: The Sustainable Development Goals: 17 overarching goals—and 169 targets—that governments are aiming to meet by 2030. Significant progress has been made in terms of poverty, health and inequality, but there's still a way to go. This is where the circular economy comes in: by circulating resources multiple times, the circular economy tackles issues of scarcity and allows all to access what they need—without overburdening the earth. If it's implemented in a holistic way—affording attention to social considerations and the fair distribution of resources— it also offers a pathway for achieving the SDGs; and the link between the two is ever-growing. To read more about the link between the SDGs and the circular economy, click [here](https://www.circle-economy.com/blogs/how-the-circular-economy-can-help-us-reach-the-sustainable-development-goals).

It is the Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) which provides substantive support and capacity-building for the SDGs and their related thematic issues. TheDSDG plays a key role in the evaluation of UN systemwide implementation of the 2030 Agenda and in advocacy and outreach activities relating to the SDGs. In order to make the 2030 Agenda a reality, broad ownership of the SDGs must translate into a strong commitment by all stakeholders to implement the global goals. DSDG aims to help facilitate this engagement.
Alongside this, the annual High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development serves as the central UN platform for the follow-up and review of the SDGs.
In addition, the UN Secretary-General presents an annual SDG Progress report, which is developed in cooperation with the UN System, and based on the global indicator framework and data produced by national statistical systems and information collected at the regional level.

To read more information: [https://sdgs.un.org/goals](https://sdgs.un.org/goals)

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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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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      In response to extended producer responsibility, promote zero waste, and to solve serious pollution problems caused by WEEE, E&E Recycling was established in August 1998 by 12 major home appliance manufacturers as Taiwan’s first licensed recycling plant and Asia’s first professionally operated WEEE treatment plant. E&E Recycling can deal with end-of-life electrical and electronic waste safely and environmentally, and hence able to avoid the negative environmental impact and harm caused by random dismantling and disposal.E&E Recycling adheres to the vision of “resource recycling, urban mining, and sustainable use”. Waste home appliances and IT products are transformed into valuable resources through E&E Recycling’s physical process. E&E Recycling not only demonstrates extended producer responsibility, but is also a pioneer in practicing circular economy in Taiwan.Linking up the green supply chain to create circular value for WEEEE&E Recycling has now achieved a recycling rate of more than 85%. The recycled materials such as iron, copper, aluminum and plastics recovered from waste home appliances and waste IT products can be reused by the upstream manufactures. E&E Recycling also assists the manufactures to implement green design solutions such as material labeling, easy to dismantle and recycle solutions, which further strengthens resource recycling and sustainable value of materials.BenefitBy the end of 2018, E&E Recycling has treated more than 872 million waste home appliances and 807 million waste IT products. Resource retrieved are iron 171,000 T, copper 16,800 T, aluminum 7,500 T and plastics 65,000 T. Benefits achieved include energy saving and carbon reduction, resource sustainability and environmental conservation. 
   

Taiwan

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Industrial Technology Research Institute

Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) develops a best way to process waste LCD panels called LCD Waste Recycling System. In order to prevent the pollution caused by waste LCD panel disposal and control processing costs, ITRI thoroughly analyzed the characteristics and reusability of each material contained in LCD panels, and designed a logical separation procedure according to the associations between each material.

A Zero-waste, Eco-friendly and Cost-effective Total Solution, for LCD Waste Treatment

Processing of materials to achieve the original high-quality or reduce to low-quality.



🏢 Recycle

Currently, the best practice worldwide for dealing with concrete and brick debris is to recycle it. The debris is collected, transported, manually or mechanically sorted, washed, crushed, and recycled into new building materials and products.

Producing building materials and finished and semi-finished building products for construction

Construction Materials and Products

This framework surpasses the famous 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). The nine strategies Refuse, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refurbish, Remanufacture, Repurpose, and Recycle and Recover provide a clear and actionable roadmap for a circular transition. 

Strategies at the top of the hierarchy, such as Refuse, Rethink, and Reduce, are the most effective at increasing a construction project's circularity level. These strategies focus on avoiding or minimising resource use and waste from the project's conception.

That is why a clear hierarchy exists where higher-level R strategies are preferred, and lower-level strategies are deemed more linear. 

In the original 9R framework, the last strategy, Recover, is often considered non-circular since it consists of energy recovery from material waste incineration, which is why it was left out of the scope of this case study collection.

They are applied to the built environment sector here as part of the [Realdania ](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.realdania.org/&ved=2ahUKEwiF74KezMyJAxUpUaQEHURhOOEQFnoECBYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0o-XWvSka80KCHtCG6XDS3) project.

🏢 9R Framework

 The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has developed an asphalt regeneration agent that combines steel slag and waste asphalt to produce high-load-strength, rutting-resistant asphalt concrete, bringing multiple benefits such as cost savings and carbon reduction.Each year, Taiwan requires approximately 15 million tons of asphalt concrete for road paving, also producing approximately 12 million tons of waste asphalt scrap. The accumulation of waste asphalt scraps that cannot be removed is a huge problem for the country.High load strength road pavementThe asphalt regeneration agent developed by ITRI is combined with asphalt scraps and the basic oxygen furnace slag to form a high-load-strength, durable "rutting-resistant asphalt concrete" pavement. Generally, asphalt concrete pavements cannot withstand the rolling pressure of trucks with high loads and high traffic flow, and often suffer from damage, dents and other problems in less than 6 months. This technology has been proven to remain in good condition on the same road section for more than 40 months.Using recycled materialsAsphalt scraps contain high-molecular polymerized asphaltene, which has high hardness properties. Basic oxygen furnace slag is a by-product of the converter steelmaking process in integrated steel plants. Due to its high pressure resistance, it is widely used in place of natural sand and gravel. Asphalt regenerant is a biorefinery product that can activate aged asphalt and strengthen the binding of old and new asphalt with aggregates.Gradually expanding applicationsThis technology has currently been applied to many actual scenarios, including the Formosa Plastics Group factory sites, the Agency of Rural Development and Soil and Water Conservation under the Ministry of Agriculture, the Xinwu District of Taoyuan City, and the Park Management Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, etc. In the future, technological development will lead to the complete replacement of natural sand and gravel with recycled aggregates, realizing resource recycling and reuse to the fullest extent.BenefitsAs has been verified on roads with high loads and heavy traffic, service life is 3 to 5 times longer than traditional construction methods, thus reducing the annual production of asphalt pavement.With recycled materials reaching 80% of the materials used, total project cost is 30% lower than those using traditional approaches.Reducing the carbon footprint more than 75% [1] compared with conventional road paving methods.[1] With advantages such as reduced sand and gravel mining, reduced use of fossil raw materials (asphalt) and extended life of road paving.


The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has developed an asphalt regeneration agent that combines steel slag and waste asphalt to produce high-load-strength, rutting-resistant asphalt concrete, bringing multiple benefits such as cost savings and carbon reduction.

Recycling Asphalt Millings into High-Strength Road Paving

Soy pulp has a very high nutritional value and fiber content; however, there are still challenges to be resolved&nbsp;for its recycling. To address these issues, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has promoted&nbsp;the gradual establishment of an ecosystem with the Taoyuan City Tofu Business Association, aiming to&nbsp;create a diversified application market and open up recycling business opportunities.

Creating an Soy Pulp Centered Circular Ecosystem

The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has developed an asphalt regeneration agent that combines steel slag and waste asphalt to produce high-load-strength, rutting-resistant asphalt concrete, bringing multiple benefits such as cost savings and carbon reduction.