Policy case

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 agricultural products and processing them into food and beverageproducts for consumption

Agri/Food

Producing and providing business and consumer goods and services

Goods and Services

Collection programmes that process products and parts for reuse or recycling within other industries

Open loop collection

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

Generating energy from waste

Designing products so they produce as little waste as possible during production

Design for minimal waste

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

Design for recycling

Biogas produced by the anaerobic digestion of organic solid waste can be used as an energy source for cooking, lighting and generate electricity, replacing thus other fuels. Moreover, the treatment of organic waste alleviates the solid waste crisis in urban and peri-urban area if the developing world.


Use biogas

Wastewater (blackwater and water from industrial processes) can be treated and reclaimed for agricultural and industrial purposes. Moreover, depending on economic factors, wastewater treatments can be adopted for supplying domestic freshwater. 

Use wastewater

Locally produced food has to travel shorter, which means less fuel is consumed and less greenhouse gases are generated. Moreover, buying locally produced food helps local farmers and markets and creates more jobs in the local businesses. 


Produce locally

Recover and collect surplus food products that might otherwise be wasted for distribution to people.


Redistribute surplus 

Derive chemicals and fuels from organic waste matter, for example, wasted fats, grease and oils can be used for biodiesel production. Food waste such as corn starch and sugar cane can be used for PLA (Polylactic Acid) to replace plastic packaging, liquid fats and solid meat products can be used as raw materials in the rendering industry (animal food, cosmetics, soap, etc.).


Derive fuel and materials

Other

Develop infrastructure to support sustainable lifestyles

Impacts

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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

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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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 Innovation often comes from applying knowledge from one field to another one which is totally unrelated. This is exactly what happened with this modular wonder. The Wikkelhouse was designed and built by a small Company in Amsterdam that started up as a theatre scenery Company in 1989. You can fall in love with it at first sight. The simplicity of its design is overwhelming, yet fascinating. The full-width glass facade screams modern while the round features make you think high-quality and excellent craftsmanship. Looking at it from the side, it is evident that this is a modular building. The 1.2m wide sections are clearly visible as no attempt was made to hide the separation line between the modules. The Wikkelhouse comes in visible segments, with no shame whatsoever.  Wikkelhouses in Stayokay campsite.  Wikkelhouse in Stayokay campsite.  Wikkelhouse in Stayokay campsite - closeup of the entrance.  Wikkelhouse in Rotterdam Red Apple Marina.  The interior is as good as it gets.Smooth plywood shets wrap around the entire building envelope and give the house a unique look that feels premium and solid. Even from the inside, the separation lines between the modules are clearly visible and this adds depth to the interior space. In theory, there is no limit to the number of modules (segments) you can add. This calls for a very loooooooong house! On top of the exceptional look and unlimited expandability,  the clever Dutch people at Fiction Factory came up with a specialized module for the bathroom and one with the round window, plus accessories for kitchen, living room and stove.This allows putting together a personalized version of the Wikkelhouse.  Wikkelhouse interior.  Wikkelhouse interior - kitchen module.   Wikkelhouse interior - living room.   Wikkelhouse interior - large living room.   Wikkelhouse interior - stove.   Wikkelhouse - the full system.  This modular concept is super simple and yet truly remarkable.The entire house is installed on a chassis made of concrete blocks and wooden beams. The house is very lightweight (more on that in a moment) and, thanks to this particular characteristic, the chassis can be placed on leveled and compacted ground, requiring no foundations. This cuts down installation costs and installation time.High-five to Dutch inventors! Now, the truly remarkable innovation here is another one:  this house is made of cardboard! Believe it or not, each segment is built by "rolling" a tiny sheet of cardboard over a steel framework.The entire system is absolutely ingenious! The Manufacturer declares a wall U-value of approximately 0.29 W/m2K (R = 3.5).U-value of windows is declared as 0.24 W/m2K (R = 4.2).   Wikkelhouse - section of the cardboard wall. The 1.2m wide cardboard sheet is wrapped around the framework while 60 lines of glue are "drawn" on the sheet. The glue sticks the layers together and bonds the entire structure as a solid block.Once the glue has hardened, the steel framework is removed and the segment is ready for finishing.  Wikkelhouse - cardboard gluing.   Wikkelhouse - rolling of the cardboard wall.  The main characteristics of the Wikkelhouse, as described by the Producer, are:   100% recyclable; 3X more eco-friendly than traditional houses; exceptional constructive strength; optimal insulation qualities;  unequaled acoustics; expected life-cycle of 50 years minimum; no foundation needed.  While that's just about anything one would want from a modern prefab house, the Wikkelhouse has another strong selling point: the price. According to the Producer, a three segments house can be purchased for 30 000 EUR (VAT, transport, installation excluded). Given the measurements (4.6 x 1.2 x 3), such house would have an indoor net area of approximately 16.6 square meters... setting the square meter price to an unprecedented 1812 EUR per square meter. For comparison, the concrete built KODA by Kodasema sells for about 3700 EUR per square meter while the glamorous ÖÖD Airbnb module by ÖÖD OÜ  sells for about 2500 EUR per square meter. It really seems The Netherlands are going to beat Estonia with ease... or maybe not (spoiler alert: you cannot get the Wikkelhouse so easily).   Wikkelhouse - view of one segment (module).  Wikkelhouse - assembling of the bathroom module. The transport of a Wikkelhouse is a relatively simple matter.Thanks to the standard size of the modules of 1.2m, two modules can be transported side by side, amounting to a total depth of 2.4m. The set of two modules fits perfectly on a standard truck (see image below).Widthwise, one standard trailer can also carry two modules (see image below). 

Municipality of Malmo

Municipality of Malmö

The proposed food waste kitchen sink disposers from the City of Malmö consists of a pilot project in which kitchen waste disposers have been installed as an easy-to-manage method of dealing with food waste. The waste disposers have proved to be an effective way of dealing with organic household waste in order to produce biogas. In cooperation with the developers, the municipality initially installed waste disposers in the kitchens of 200 homes, within the Housing Fair Bo01 area. The waste disposers are the size of a large thermos and were installed beneath the sink. Separate pipes were routed from the waste disposer, running to a collecting tank below the ground outside the building. The ground food waste falls to the bottom of the tank, while the water runs onward to the wastewater pipes. A sludge suction truck sucks up the collected waste and transports it to the local wastewater treatment plan, where it is digested and produces biogas. The developers themselves had to install and maintain the waste disposers and the pipes that were needed in their buildings.

Food waste kitchen sink disposers

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

Engage with the government on circular policies and programmes

Government collaboration

Participating in government programmes that support and advance the circular economy

Government programmes

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwAK5Y8Vzho          CH Bioforce Helping food producers recover valuable products from their waste streams. Upcycling Finland    Piloting Partner : AB InBev Program Cohort: 2    Helping food producers recover valuable products from their waste streams.   Founders              Lari Vahasalo   
       Corporate partners                

 
  HomeJenna Leino2022-11-09T09:35:07+02:00      

Sweden

The circular transition forms an integral part of the city of Malmö’s Environmental Programme, a strategicset of documents which lays out the direction of the city’s long-term work regarding environmental issues. This Environmental Programme sets out a number of overarching goals such as achieving net zero emissions, increasing biodiversity and increasing resources efficiency. The programme is complemented by sectoral plans such as the Waste and eco-cycle plan 2021 - 2030 for waste management. All departments and municipally-controlled entities are responsible for fulfilling the goals and regularly report on progress made.