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The Circularity Gap Report: Friesland is a joint initiative led by Circulair Friesland, the Province of Friesland, and Circle Economy to track Friesland’s progress toward a more circular economy while also serving as a model for other regions. As the organizations behind this dashboard, we aim to provide structured indicators to measure key aspects of circularity—such as resource efficiency, waste reduction, and circular jobs—alongside on-the-ground case studies that highlight innovative local initiatives. This approach helps policymakers, businesses, and communities assess progress, address challenges, and accelerate Friesland’s transition to a circular economy. In doing so, Friesland is working toward meeting the national goal of reducing primary resource use by 50% by 2030 and achieving a fully circular economy in the Netherlands by 2050.

Beyond Friesland, this dashboard is designed as a replicable tool that can be implemented in other regions worldwide. By fostering comprehensive comparisons, it enables knowledge sharing and collaboration, allowing regions to learn from one another and scale successful strategies. In addition to tracking current trends, the monitor offers forward-looking recommendations to drive circular development—both within Friesland and beyond—helping to create a more sustainable global economy.

This case study collection supports the dashboard, in showcasing circular economy projects and initiatives already occurring in the region.

CGR Friesland

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Policy case

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


Construction and Infrastructure

Providing water and sewage services, including water collection and distribution, water treatment systems and sewage treatment facilities

Water and Sewage

Upgrade, repair, and maintenance while in-use

Maximise lifetime of products in-use

Designing to reduce waste during production and use

Design out waste

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

Alternative bio-based materials and inputs

Using materials that can be easily reused or recycled after use

Reusable, recyclable materials and inputs

**Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation**

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The manufacturing industry’s recovery from COVID-19 remains incomplete and uneven: some high-income regions achieved record-high manufacturing value added per capita in 2022 but levels in LDCs were not much higher than the 2015 baseline. 
In the aftermath of the pandemic, data show that higher-technology industries recovered faster and proved to be more resilient, pointing to the need to promote innovation and technology transfer in a way that benefits all countries. 

Inclusive and sustainable industrial development has been incorporated, together with resilient infrastructure and innovation, as Sustainable Development Goal 9 in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

To achieve Goal 9 by 2030 it is essential to support LDCs, invest in advanced technologies, lower carbon emissions, and increase global mobile broadband access.

This goal's target includes:
- develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all;
- promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and, by 2030, significantly raise industry’s share of employment and gross domestic product, in line with national circumstances, and double its share in least developed countries;
- increase the access of small-scale industrial and other enterprises, in particular in developing countries, to financial services, including affordable credit, and their integration into value chains and markets;
- by 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities;
- enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending;
- facilitate sustainable and resilient infrastructure development in developing countries through enhanced financial, technological and technical support to African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States;
- support domestic technology development, research and innovation in developing countries, including by ensuring a conducive policy environment for, inter alia, industrial diversification and value addition to commodities;
- significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020.

Sources: [https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal9](https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal9)
[https://sdgs.un.org/topics/industry](https://sdgs.un.org/topics/industry)

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9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure  

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

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

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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Aan de westkant van Leeuwarden heeft de provincie Fryslân een nieuwe centrale voor de bediening van 40 bruggen en een nieuw steunpunt voor de Provinciale Waterstaat laten bouwen: It Swettehûs.Met het op afstand bedienen van bruggen is het mogelijk om pauzes en tolgeld op bruggen af te schaffen. Op die manier kunnen we alle watersporters en de beroepsvaart gastvrij in Fryslân ontvangen. Naast een werkplek voor ongeveer 20 brugbedienaars, doet het nieuwe gebouw en terrein dienst als uitvalsbasis voor provinciale medewerkers vaarwegwegbeheer, nautische zaken en de technische dienst voor onder andere bruggen en sluizen.Voor meer informatie over brugbediening op afstand vanuit It Swettehûs, zie: Brugbediening op afstand | FryslanOrganisatie: Provincie FryslânProject: It Swettehûs, een circulair brugbedieningscentrum en steunpuntAanbestedingsprocedure: Europees niet-openbaar, met voorselectieGunning: Economisch meest voordelige inschrijving (80% kwaliteit, 20% prijs)Impact:44% van de toegepaste materialen is hergebruikt12% van de toegepaste materialen is biobasedVoldoende duurzame energieopwekking en -opslag voor gebruikers- en gebouwgebonden energie inclusief bediencentrale, het elektrische voer- en vaartuigenpark en één van de aangesloten bruggenAanbesteding: 4 juli 2019Start bouwteamfase: september 2019Vaststelling definitief ontwerp en ondertekening Engineer, Build & Maintain contract: 24 juni 2020Start voorbereiding: augustus 2020Start realisatie It Swettehûs: november 2020Hoogste punt bereikt: mei 2021Ingebruikname bediencentrum: december 2021Oplevering It Swettehûs en start onderhoudsovereenkomst: januari 2022Oplevering terrein en aanvaarding werk: juni 2022Projectleider Trienke laat je meekijken met de bouw van It Swettehûs. Specifiek hoe het bouwproces van een circulair en duurzaam gebouw er aan toe gaat. Kijk je mee, met de vlogs?Met de nieuwbouw wil de provincie Fryslân tegelijk een bijdrage leveren aan het realiseren van hoge ambities op het gebied van circulariteit. Dat betekent onder andere dat het Swettehûs zoveel mogelijk van secundaire en herbruikbare grondstoffen gebouwd wordt.Hieronder een overzicht van de nieuwsbrieven die zijn verschenen.Lees hier de nieuwsbrief juli 2022Lees hier de nieuwsbrief maart 2022Lees hier de nieuwsbrief december 2021Lees hier de nieuwsbrief september 2021Lees hier de nieuwsbrief mei 2021Lees hier de nieuwsbrief januari 2021Lees hier de nieuwsbrief oktober 2020Lees hier de nieuwsbrief juni 2020Lees hier de nieuwsbrief maart 2020Meer informatie over openingstijden bruggen en sluizen.

Leeuwarden

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Province of Friesland

Various Local Stakeholders

It Swettehûs, a circular bridge control centre in Leeuwarden, exemplifies how circular building practices can be embedded into critical infrastructure. Designed according to circular construction principles, the building minimises environmental impact through the use of recycled and bio-based materials, as well as energy-efficient systems.Led by the Province of Fryslân through a top-down procurement strategy, the project brought together more than 100 organisations from the Circular Friesland Association, fostering a collaborative, network-driven approach to sourcing materials and expertise.The design and construction process was shaped by the availability of materials, influencing planning, architecture, and building techniques. This adaptive and flexible method turned It Swettehûs into a real-time testing ground for innovative circular construction, reinforcing Fryslân’s commitment to experimentation and continuous learning.Builders and designers responded dynamically to emerging challenges, developing and applying new solutions that moved beyond conventional construction practices.