Policy case

Impact on the availability of resources as well as their effect on living organisms, ecosystems, and components of the environment.

Ecological Impact

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

Reduced use of virgin materials and/or an increase of the use of secondary and bio-based materials

Reduce Material Consumption (SDG12)

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)

Reduced use of fossil fuel energy sources and/or increased use of renewable energy

Reduce Energy Consumption

Producing agricultural products and processing them into food and beverageproducts for consumption

Agri/Food

Extracting resources and processing them to produce materials for use bysociety

Materials and Fuels

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


Construction and Infrastructure

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

Construction Materials and Products

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

Chemical and Plastic

Utilise waste streams as a source of secondary resources and recover waste for reuse and recycling

Use waste as a resource

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

Reuse, repurpose, and recycle waste streams within the same industry

Valorise waste streams - closed loop

Reuse, repurpose, and recycle waste streams within other industries

Valorise waste streams - open loop

Industry peers to industry peer collaboration to create joint value and identify synergies

Industry collaboration

Engage with the government on circular policies and programmes

Government collaboration

Engage with the local community where facilities or offices are located

Community collaboration

Putting in place purchasing guidelines for procurement departments and evaluating suppliers on circular economy principles

Circular procurement

Participating in government programmes that support and advance the circular economy

Government programmes

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

Use recyclables

Implementation of strategies to collect recyclable waste in order to make it accessible and available to be used as an input in industrial processes (big or small). These are door-to-door collection (higher recovery rates but more costly intensive), drop-off schemes (cheaper but less effective, more common in cities with high housing density), or a combination of the two, and their corresponding incentive schemes. 

Collect recyclables

Infrastructure for citizens or cities to sort waste and extract recyclables, including incentives and pay-as-you-throw policies, as well as clear and targeted communications campaigns.

Sort recyclables

Collect organic waste generated by households and related businesses for use in, for example, composting and anaerobic digestion facilities.

Collect organic

Buildings are where we live, work and play, and also where we store machinery and goods for later consumption. Buildings are but one component of the greater built environment which includes urban infrastructure such as roads, bridges and utilities. 
Current construction techniques have buildings consuming the bulk of materials globally. With increasing urbanisation and therefore demand for buildings of every kind, we drastically need to re-imagine how we design, utilise and decommission buildings.

BUILDINGS

Waste is often the entry point for discussing a circular economy. However, in a fully circular economy, waste does not exist as it has  been designed out of the system from the outset, either through avoidance (reduction of materials) or because outputs are such that they can be re-used as inputs into other production and consumption processes. Studying existing waste streams allows us to trace the problem back to its source and design an appropriate intervention. 

WASTE

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

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

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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Finland

Circwaste

Southwest Finland created a circular economy roadmap, within the CIRCWASTE project framework, to achieve the goals of the national waste plan. Regional objectives were determined with the input of an expert network shaped by the Finnish Environment Institute, matched by strategies to meet these objectives. The priority of waste management emerged after research revealed that the Central Finland region annually produces close to two million tonnes of waste. Public procurement also takes centre stage in the roadmap, in addition to improved management of construction and demolition waste, biodegradable waste, plastics, electronics and electronic wreckage. The primary aim is to reuse as much as 70% of construction and demolition waste. Implementation of the measures developed will fall on the shoulders of a variety of actors, from municipal or regional authorities to educational institutions and private companies.&nbsp;

Central Finland's circular economy roadmap

Ensure renewable, reusable, non-toxic resources are utilised as materials and energy in an efficient way

Prioritise regenerative resources

Consider opportunities to create greater value and align incentives that build on the interaction between products and services

Rethink the business model

Utilise bio-based, reusable, non-toxic and non-critical materials

Regenerative materials

Replace energy sources with less impactful alternatives and enact energy efficiency measures

Regenerative energy

Enacting measures that optimise material use such as 3D printing, etc.

Material efficiency

Enacting measures that optimise energy use

Energy efficiency

Collection of waste arising from commercial and industrial actors

Collect non residential

Regenerate strategies phase out hazardous or toxic materials and processes and substitute them with regenerative biomass resources. A circular economy aims to mimic natural cycles—by shifting to more regenerative farming practices, for example—while also maximising the share of circular biomass that enters the economy. Regeneration can happen both at the systems level (by designing regenerative processes) as well as at the product level (by switching synthetic to organic fertilisers, for example).

Regenerate

North Karelia

The eastern region of North Karelia, Finland, developed and implemented a circular economy roadmap in 2018 under the framework of the CIRCWASTE project. The primary objectives include improving material and energy efficiency, as well as natural resource use, incorporate circular strategies into industrial production in key sectors and strengthen industry cooperation in the region, and bolster new circular business models while further developing technological solutions. Efforts will also be made to improve knowledge and attitudes among consumers, as regarding waste production and management. Another key area of focus will be the reuse of construction and demolition waste, including training on waste management and reuse for companies in the sector. The plan also hopes to improve municipal waste management, focusing on creating more efficient collection networks as well as creating incentives and implementing monitoring systems. Strategies will be implemented along different timeframes until 2030.

North Karelia's circular economy roadmap

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This collection comes from the <a href="https://www.circle-economy.com/circular-jobs-initiative/" target="_blank">Circular Jobs Initiative</a>, an initiative of Circle Economy.

The workforce is an essential lever for transforming our economy from linear to circular. The Circular Jobs Initiative aims to maximise the employment opportunities offered by the circular economy. It provides practical support and insights to businesses and governments that want to adopt circular strategies that have a positive social impact.The Circular Jobs Initiative works through three focus areas: 

- Upskilling the workforce

- Quality of work

- Inclusive job opportunities 

CJI has defined circular jobs as any occupation that directly involves or indirectly supports one of the strategies of the circular economy. It distinguishes between three types of circular jobs: core, enabling and indirectly circular jobs.

**Core circular jobs** are all jobs that ensure the closure of raw material cycles, including jobs in repair, renewable energy, waste and resource management. 

**‍Enabling circular jobs** are jobs that remove barriers for and enable the acceleration and upscaling of core circular activities, including jobs that arise in leasing, education, design and digital technology. 

**Indirectly circular jobs** are jobs that occur in other sectors that do not play a direct role in furthering the transition to the circular economy but can still adopt circular strategies. They include jobs that provide services to core circular strategies, including jobs in information services, logistics and the public sector.

The Knowledge Hub Collection includes examples of circular jobs, publications, reports, case studies and policies different organisations, governments and businesses are already using to advocate for a person-centred circular economy. 

Visit the <a href="https://www.circle-economy.com/circular-jobs-initiative/" target="_blank">Circular Jobs Initiative</a>

Visit the <a href="http://jobsmonitor.circle-economy.com/" target="_blank">Circular Jobs Monitor</a>

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Circular Jobs Initiative

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Impacts on the social fabric of the community and well-being of the individuals and families.

Social Impact

Impacts on the financial condition of a company, as well as the the economicconditions of its stakeholders and on economic systems at local, national, andglobal levels.

Economic Impact

Impact on the quantity or quality of jobs, and shifts in the labour market

Jobs

Using renewable energy like solar, wind, etc. or renewable fuels like biomass, etc.

Renewable energy, fuels

The circulation of materials and products may result in an increased demand for energy usage overall, therefore it is especially important to provide energy from regenerative sources, and to utilise regenerative and cyclable materials in the production of parts and the required infrastructure.  Energy efficiency is an important step but does not bring about a fully circular economy at a bigger scale or in the longer term. 

ENERGY

South Karelia

The South Karelia region of Finland developed a circular economy roadmap in late 2018, within the framework of the CIRCWASTE project. The roadmap was formed through the opinions of an expert network assembled by the Finnish Environment Institute, which first delineated regional strengths and focus areas. Circular economy objectives were defined as sustainable wellbeing, zero emissions, no waste, and no excessive consumption, as well as increased careers and business opportunities in the environmental field. Another aim will be improving knowledge and bolstering training in circular and more broadly environmental areas. Strategies encompass construction and mining, energy efficiency, renewable energy, cutting carbon dioxide emissions and improving waste management. In the realm of forestry, the roadmap details a focus on by-products, nutrient recycling and developing new products and materials. Stakeholders in the plan include regional and municipal councils, private companies, networks and educational institutions, who are responsible for implementing strategies based on their varying capacities. Through enacting the roadmap, the region hopes to generate hundreds of new jobs and boost the number of businesses in waste management.

South Karelia's circular economy roadmap

Southwest Finland

The Southwest region of Finland has put forward a circular economy roadmap, developed under the framework of the CIRCWASTE project, to carry out the national waste plan. Regional objectives and corresponding strategies were developed by an expert network, assembled by the Finnish Environment Institute, which was comprised of representatives from multiple towns, educational institutions, regional councils and private companies. Priorities emerged in the areas of construction, biodegradable waste, nutrient reuse and municipal waste. Targets include increasing the use of construction and demolition waste to 70%, increasing the rate of organic waste recycling to 60% and increasing recycling of municipal waste to 55%. The roadmap also intends to catalyse circular on-the-job training, especially in the construction sector.&nbsp;