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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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Policy 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

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

Providing goods on the Internet, through mail order, or television, or providing goods in stores, including apparel, electronics, furniture, food and drug, etc.

Retail

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

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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  24/06/2019  |  Découvrez la feuille de route des acteurs de la construction vers une économie circulaire !  |   Le secteur bruxellois de la construction dispose aujourd’hui d’une feuille de route qui identifie les objectifs stratégiques et actions prioritaires pour développer l’économie circulaire. En 2018, dans le cadre du Programme Régional en Economie Circulaire (PREC), le secteur de la construction a défini une vision claire ayant pour objectif de réduire drastiquement sa consommation en ressources et sa production de déchets.  UNE FEUILLE DE ROUTE Aujourd’hui, une feuille de route entend poursuivre le travail entamé en identifiant les pistes d’actions prioritaires pour développer plus encore l’économie circulaire dans le secteur bruxellois de la construction. Ces actions très concrètes balisent des jalons qui répondent parfaitement aux objectifs stratégiques du Plan Régional Énergie Climat 2030 et  de sa Stratégie de Réduction de l’Impact Environnemental du Bâti Existant aux horizons 2030-2050.  Plus de 50 professionnels du secteur bruxellois de la construction ont participé aux 3 workshops PREC organisés par Bruxelles Environnement sur la conception, le réemploi et la logistique, apportant ainsi leur expertise et expériences de terrain. La contribution et la relecture de la CCB-C, du CSTC, de Bruxelles Environnement, du CDR Construction, d’Homegrade, du Facilitateur Economie Circulaire Construction, de Rotor et de Batigroupe ont permis de consolider ce travail collaboratif de grande qualité. TROIS GRANDES ETAPES L’objectif est d’accompagner les entreprises et les maîtres d’ouvrage dans leur transition d’un modèle d’économie linéaire vers une économie circulaire. Cette feuille de route envisage trois grandes étapes pour le secteur de la construction: des mesures volontaires pour 2025, la mise en place de règlementations destinées aux bâtiments publics pour 2030 et finalement un passage au réglementaire appliqué à tout bâtiment pour 2040. L’économie circulaire dans le secteur de la construction se traduit par une plus grande circulation des ressources (matérielles, énergétiques, naturelles, humaines, économiques) au niveau du territoire. La feuille de route privilégie la conception circulaire, la maintenance du bâti, le réemploi et la refabrication sur le territoire bruxellois à travers plusieurs objectifs stratégiques. Nous vous invitons à découvrir cette feuille route :    

Gemeente Den Haag

Municipality of the Hague

<p>The Hague has released a policy document detailing its transition to a circular economy. The document highlights why a shift to circular economy is necessary, as well as the benefits it can bring regarding the city’s sustainable development. It also provides an incomplete list of 143 circular projects occurring in the city, and presents research that finds that circular strategies in construction, procurement and retail trade sectors could significantly reduce carbon emissions and bring as many as 3,500 jobs. The policy note, based on the Hague’s characteristics, prioritises improvements in biomass, construction materials and critical raw materials—and lists readily implementable strategies in these sectors.&nbsp;</p>

Circular The Hague: transition to a sustainable economy

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Circle Economy and ICLEI have partnered up to initiate the go to knowledge hub of case studies about the circular economy in cities. The Cities Collection is a repository of case studies that demonstrate the role of cities in the circular transition, and includes policies, business cases and research articles. Cases in the Collection flow into an ecosystem of digital products which support users in transitioning cities to circularity, for example [Ganbatte](https://ganbatte.world/cities/) and <a href="https://circulars.iclei.org/" target="_blank">ICLEI Circulars</a>, both part of the <a href="https://circulars.iclei.org/circle-lab-for-cities/" target = _blank">Circle Lab for Cities Programme.</a>




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Circular Cities

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Impact on increased knowledge and understanding as a result of the case study

Increase Awareness

Impact on the ease of innovation, and facilitating uptake of innovations

Innovation

Producing and providing business and consumer goods and services

Goods and Services

Providing specialist services to support consumers, businesses, andgovernments

Professional Services

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

Circular procurement

Develop infrastructure to support sustainable lifestyles

'Mobilise' sets the direction of and builds momentum towards long-term change, while also determining how this direction is determined and governed.

Mobilise

Advocate for circular change

Compact city development

Develop circular criteria for public procurement of assets

Redesign systems to lay the foundation for circular activities and enable the transition to a circular economy 

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Rethink

Facilitate cross-collaboration by engaging city departments, industries and businesses on ambitious, closed-loop circular projects.

Support closed-loop systems and cross-sectoral synergies

Includes a variety of actions (e.g. campaigns, information sharing, public events) that encourage city residents and visitors to build sustainable practices into their daily lives

Enable sustainable lifestyles

High-level changes to policy and practice (such as taxation systems, investment and procurement guidelines and criteria) that disincentivize activities that perpetuate linear economic systems, as well as vision-setting (goals, roadmaps) to catalyze
action on circularity across the city

Eliminate linear incentives and set goals and incentives for circularity

The food system nourishes populations and employs 50% of the global workforce, but:
- it currently drives a quarter of the overshoot on the climate change planetary boundary due to its greenhouse gas (GHG) production, 
- animal farming alone uses over one-quarter of all land, equivalent to the size of the Americas,
- nearly a quarter of freshwater resources are lost due to rampant food waste, and
- it is the single largest driver of biodiversity loss.

A circular food system must address the whole value chain, from production to consumption to waste management. The four key solutions for the food system are:
- Put healthier, satiating foods first: Prioritise satiating and healthy foods with a lower environmental impact—ideally shifting calories from meat, fish, and dairy towards cereals, fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
- Go local, seasonal, and organic: Prioritise the production and consumption of local, seasonal, and organic produce (sometimes in combination with GMO to reduce pests and disease loss on crops), which can lead to a significantly reduced need for chemical inputs, fuels, and processing services that contribute to environmental impacts.
- Mainstream regenerative agriculture: Scale up agricultural practices that regenerate ecosystems, recirculate nutrients and sequester carbon by design. 
- End avoidable food waste: Minimise food loss and valorise waste following the food waste hierarchy along the supply chain and at the consumer level through better management of transport and storage, more refrigeration and smart planning, and technology at the consumer and food service levels.



🍏 Food Systems

Cities consume about 75% of global energy and emit between 50% and 60% of global greenhouse gases (UN-Habitat). To reduce the negative impact of their energy consumption, cities need to shift away from fossil fuels and move towards renewable energy sources. Such a shift will help cities work towards their climate change mitigation and adaptation action plans. Renewable energy technologies such as wind, water, solar, and geothermal can also help improve access to energy in vulnerable and marginalised neighbourhoods through, for example, decentralised, off-grid solutions.

Renewable energy technologies can harvest the energy in nature’s processes, such as wind, and solar radiation and geothermal heat, that can be replenished within a human lifespan. In contrast, fossil fuels are materials that are not replenished within a human lifespan and are combusted for energy, losing the fuel material and resulting in emissions.

Local governments can develop sustainable energy plans, considering different energy resources and requirements, to develop a robust strategy for the development of renewable energy technologies and infrastructure throughout the city. They can also institute specific legislation and tax systems to regulate energy production and consumption, incentivise research and development of cleaner, more efficient technologies. Via Power Purchase Agreements cities can buy renewable energy from green energy providers and fix the price in order to provide security to financial institutions to finance renewable energy infrastructure. Furthermore, increasing awareness and facilitating capacity-building on planning urban sustainable energy projects can help the uptake of clean energy across the city by different stakeholders—from citizens to businesses and institutions. Facilitating collaboration, then, will be crucial, since private companies operate most of the world’s energy systems.


⚡ Energy Systems

The built environment, including housing, commercial buildings, and the necessary infrastructure for mobility, is essential for our livelihoods, but:
- the extraction of minerals used to produce construction materials is responsible for a quarter of global land use change,
- approximately 40% of global GHG emissions can be attributed to buildings’ construction, use and demolition, and
- construction and demolition processes drive nearly one-third of all material consumption. 

Making the built environment more circular must prioritise a heavy reduction in material use—while also closing the loop on materials and bringing secondary and renewable material choices to the fore. Our four key solutions for the built environment are:
- Make the most of what already exists: Make the most of existing materials by reusing, repurposing, upgrading and renovating following circular approaches. Where new builds are needed, use secondary materials and be as efficient as possible with urban planning solutions that follow circular design principles so that buildings can be reused, repurposed, and easily disassembled in the future.
- Be as energy efficient as possible: From the design phase, utilise circular strategies to create material- and energy efficient buildings. Couple these designs with a rollout of clean energy solutions, and prioritise energy-efficient appliances and retrofitting. 
- Utilise secondary materials: Maximise the high-value reuse of buildings and components where possible. Ideally, enable the utilisation of construction and demolition outputs and ensure that as much of it as possible is recycled to avoid the need for virgin materials, such as sand and gravel.
- Prioritise circular materials and approaches: Transition to using renewable wood, timber or cross-laminated timber instead of steel and concrete, or move to other locally available materials. Utilise mainstream modular construction and prioritise lightweight frames and structures to reduce cement and steel use, as well as green roofs where possible.



🏢 Built Environment

Manufactured goods, such as vehicles, textiles, appliances and equipment and their associated production processes are big employers but:
- production processes often rely on fossil fuels and currently drive one-third of the overshoot on the climate change planetary boundary due to its GHG production, 
- material- and energy-intensive industrial activities are linked to deforestation and drive 15% on both the land use and freshwater planetary boundaries, 
- manufacturing goods results in substantial amounts of hazardous industrial waste and leaks chemicals into the environment.

Here, circular solutions must tackle the full value chain, but material demand must also shrink: this will necessitate a societal shift to favouring sufficiency over excess and reducing consumption to sustainable levels. Our four key solutions for manufactured goods are:
- Mainstream industrial symbiosis and efficiency : Achieve process improvements, scrap diversion and reduction in yield losses through greater industrial symbiosis and efficiency. Foster tighter collaboration within and between industries to deliver powerful material and emissions savings.
- Extend the lifetime of machinery, equipment, and goods: Maximise the lifetime of goods that serve our daily needs to bring a number of environmental benefits. 
- Buy what's needed: Reduce the number of purchases of common electronic goods, appliances, and other equipment to sufficiency levels. 
- Eschew fast fashion in favour of sustainable textiles: Drastically reduce new clothing purchases. All used clothing should go on to be repaired, reused or, if needed, recycled appropriately. Prioritise natural and local textile manufacturing, as well as higher-quality and more durable garments. 




👕📱 Consumer Goods

The demand for transport is rising globally—but current modes are heavily material- and fossil-fuels-intensive. Emissions from the transport system could grow by 60% by 2050, and transport is the number-one user of oil worldwide. GHG emissions result not only in warming global temperatures, but also in ocean acidification, which has severe consequences for entire ecosystems and further destabilises our climate. The transport system also drives land-use change and biodiversity loss through the development of infrastructure—also releasing harmful pollutants into the ocean. Key circular solutions:

- Embrace and enable car-free lifestyles
- Invest in high-quality public transport
- Rethink unnecessary air travel
- Electrify remaining vehicles

🚌 Mobility Systems

Businesses

Communities

Governments

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 Circular City Actions Framework provides urban changemakers with five complementary strategies they can use to start working towards a more circular system. 

The framework is action-based to provide users with concrete strategic directions and showcase the desired outcomes of each strategy. 
The framework consists of five complementary **strategies**, under which **sub-strategies** provide further detail. Finally, each sub-strategy consists of a diversity of tangible **solutions** which are framed in relation to key thematic areas. 

Note: solutions are currently focused on:
- 🍏 **Food systems**
- 🏢  **Built environment**
- 👕📱  **Consumer goods**
- ⚡ **Energy Systems**
- 🚌 **Mobility Systems**
- 💧 **Water Systems**

More thematic areas are coming soon...

'Click through each of the five strategy cards below to explore the framework and circular economy case studies in more depth!'



This framework was developed in collaboration with ICLEI, Metabolic and Ellen MacArthur Foundation with support from the MAVA Foundation. Read more about it [here]( https://circulars.iclei.org/action-framework/). 



Circular City Actions Framework

An action-based framework for local governments working towards circular cities

Thematic Areas

City Stakeholders

      Circular city initiative  Circular Cities Cities as Ecosystems Resource economy URBACT Urban Agenda Partnership waste management  The Hague was not a very early adopter of the circular economy concept, but the city has proven to be a quick learner. The political, administrative, and legal capital of the Netherlands has taken advantage of the growing body of available information on circular city transitions. The municipality closely studied the characteristics of its own economy and asked itself the question: “what is in it for our city?” The short answer: an opportunity to provide the city’s growing population a prosperous and sustainable future.
The first concrete steps towards this future have become visible with an inspirational social circular economy hub , successful circular procurements , and plans for a circular district . The Hague is on its way to become a circular leader and happily shares its experiences on a European level.
    The Hague is not a green, progressive stronghold like Amsterdam or Utrecht. The Dutch seat of government also lacks an obvious industrial sector to take the lead in a circular transition. This resulted in a realistic, straightforward circular economy programme  that builds on themes that are important for the city: the building sector (the city is expected to grow in the coming decades), services industry (important for an administrative capital), and households (a pleasant, liveable city for inhabitants).
Figure 1. Face masks partially made from recycled plastics in the Plasticity project.
The Hague’s city government emphasises that it is foremost a facilitator of the circular transition. In this role, it can act as a catalyst of a more circular local ecosystem. The Hague therefore started the implementation of its circular plans with scoping the local ecosystem. They learnt that a good scoping of the ecosystem requires resources, time, and good coordination. However, the efforts helped the city to bring diverse initiatives together, resulted in new collaborations, and contributes to the long-term strategy of community building.
With its own circular transition on the way, The Hague started to share its experiences with other European cities. It became an active member of the European Association of Cities and Regions (ACR+ ) and partnered in initiatives like the Urban Agenda Partnership on Circular Economy  and the INTERREG project Plasticity . In addition, The Hague took the lead in developing and coordinating the Upcycle Your Waste  and RESOURCEFUL CITIES  projects. In these European collaborations, The Hague shares its insights on ecosystem scoping  and drafting circular resource efficiency management plans .
How The Hague funds its circular projects
In line with its pragmatic approach to the circular economy, The Hague also holds a realistic view on obtaining funding:
Figure 2. The Hague’s resource bike, part of the Plasticity project.
Choosing the right funding instrument: The Hague always starts with a project and tries to find funding that matches it, instead of the other way around. Ideally, the funding should cover the whole project. The city builds on the concept of ‘serial financing’, in which you start with pilots and prototyping and turn this into mainstream activities, with fitting financing per phase. The Hague has used several funds in the past, from European funds such as Interreg to regional funds such as the European Regional Development Fund. The city also has a co-financing fund, which is used for projects that need additional funding as complement to grants.
Identifying funding opportunities: To make sure the city council is up-to-date on all possible funding opportunities, The Hague has an “Grant Expertise Point” which consists of experts on local, national and regional funding programmes. Besides being able to answer all questions related to the funding of projects, the experts also match projects to funding programmes. This decreases the administrative burden on project developers. The Hague also has contracts with several advisory firms who offer support in this process.
Seeking partners for projects: The strength of a consortium makes or breaks a project. Finding the right partners in the project initiation phase is essential. The Hague’s participation in the abovementioned European initiatives helps them in setting-up strong collaborations. In addition, its growing European visibility has resulted in the city being approached by external organisations such as universities with project proposals.
Lessons learnt
Based on the circular activities in the city of The Hague, several lessons can be learnt:
When starting the circular transition in a city, it makes sense to first consider circular initiatives that already exist and bring them together, seeking synergies and complementarities. In this, the municipality can serve as facilitator, providing (financial) incentives for the initiatives to continue their activities and collaborate with others to stimulate the development of effective circular activities in the city. This also facilitates dissemination of smaller circular activities to a wider group of people.
To make sure your circular project will reach its full potential, it is important that the funding matches your planned activities and ideally covers the whole project. By being aware of all possible funding sources and also considering alternative types of funding, such as loans or guarantees, it becomes easier to make the optimal funding decision.
The Hague has become an active participant in European circular initiatives and has shared its own lessons learnt related to the circular economy with other stakeholders. These actions have improved the city’s visibility as an important actor in the circular economy, which has led to an increase of requests to join other circular projects and activities.
More information
Nature and Environment in the City of The Hague 
Contact 
Jan Harko Post 






De Binckhorst is a former industrial area where housing is currently being developed. For the realisation of this project, core values have been drawn up including the creation of experimental space for the circular economy. Knowledge institutions have also developed a research programme (ACCEZ).






The municipal authorities aim to turn De Binckhorst into a (potentially temporary) experimental space for the circular economy. This will be undertaken with a focus on reducing the consumption of water and material.
The municipality is contract-awarding party and licence-awarding party for the area development of De Binckhorst. Alongside the municipality, the province, central government, businesses and project developers are also involved.
 Where the province contributes above all knowledge, the municipal authorities are working together with central government as part of a pilot scheme within the Crisis and Recovery Act to develop a broad scope zoning plan for the area.
Whereas the municipal authorities do not directly involve residents in the circular area development at De Binckhorst, there is involvement on a project basis via enterprises and start-ups. The circular area development at De Binckhorst will create dozens of jobs.
< Back to projects







Netherlands

<p>The municipality of the Hague, in the Netherlands, saw itself as a change agent for a more circular ecosystem in the city. As a result, The Hague began implementing its circular plans by scoping the local environment and concentrating on the areas that are the most important for the city: the building sector, services industry, and households. With the development of a social circular economy center, efficient circular procurements, and plans for a circular district, the municipality has made key steps to scale up its circularity.</p>