small_20210526 - CJI logo - 185x600px-01.png

thumbnail_20210526 - CJI logo - 185x600px-01.png

20210526 - CJI logo - 185x600px-01.png

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>

20210526 - CJI vignette - circle crop - 120x120px.png

Circular Jobs Initiative

large_shutterstock_406114573.jpg

medium_shutterstock_406114573.jpg

small_shutterstock_406114573.jpg

thumbnail_shutterstock_406114573.jpg

shutterstock_406114573.jpg

Business case

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

Increase Awareness

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

Jobs

Impact on the health and happiness of human populations

Well-being

Contribution to social parity, or impact on social disparity

Equality

Direct and indirect reduction in economic costs

Cost Savings

Efficiency gains on operations or transactions either through cultural or technological shifts

Productivity

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)

Collecting waste from households and businesses by means of refuse bins, wheeled bins, containers, etc., and providing treatment, incineration, materials recovery and reclamation, and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste

Waste Management

Providing air, water, rail, and land transportation and related services for the distribution of goods, such as air freight, air courier and logistics services, maritime freight, marine courier and logistics services, rail freight, rail courier and logistics services, land freight, land courier and logistics services, including package and mail delivery and customs agents, as well as storage and warehouse facilities

Logistics Services

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

Chemical and Plastic

Refining and processing ores and producing ferrous and non-ferrous metal and glass products, including packaging

Metal and Glass

Extracting and gathering wood through forestry and producing wood and paper products

Wood and Paper

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

Use waste as a resource

Employ online platforms to connect and improve information sharing between stakeholders

Digital platforms

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

Open loop collection

Using waste materials that have been processed and recycled to produce new products within other industries

Using open loop recycled materials

Utilising data and models to to identify, enable and/or implement circular strategies (eg. effective resource use & logistics planning, circular business models & design)

Data analytics, modelling

Connecting products and services into the internet of things to identify, enable and/or implement circular strategies (eg. effective resource use & logistics planning, circular business models & design)

Internet enabled, connected operations


Good quality jobs that are fairly paid, secure and carry social value, supported by governments, market mechanisms, strong trade unions and labour standards that are championed and upheld by business and through regulation. 

Quality of work

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

small_climate-4803653_640.jpg

thumbnail_climate-4803653_640.jpg

climate-4803653_640.jpg

Industries

small_coast-wind-turbine-sea-sky.jpg

thumbnail_coast-wind-turbine-sea-sky.jpg

coast-wind-turbine-sea-sky.jpg

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

large_photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

medium_photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

small_photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

thumbnail_photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

Circle Economy's framework of strategies and activities that define the circular economy

If managed well, the transition to the circular economy will have multiple benefits for the labour market, including the opening up of job opportunities, raising job standards and reducing inequalities through a global redistribution of value. But a positive transition to circularity for work and workers must be underpinned by three pillars: upskilling the workforce, quality of work and inclusive job opportunities. Find out more and explore cases that illustrate these pillars below.

Circular Jobs Initiative Pillars

large_61791a640bc7e355853af058_shutterstock_1135948928 (1)-min-p-1080.jpeg

medium_61791a640bc7e355853af058_shutterstock_1135948928 (1)-min-p-1080.jpeg

small_61791a640bc7e355853af058_shutterstock_1135948928 (1)-min-p-1080.jpeg

thumbnail_61791a640bc7e355853af058_shutterstock_1135948928 (1)-min-p-1080.jpeg

61791a640bc7e355853af058_shutterstock_1135948928 (1)-min-p-1080.jpeg

A positive transition to circularity for work and workers must be underpinned by three core pillars.

![Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png](https://goldilocks-images.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Screen_Shot_2024_10_21_at_16_53_12_12858da6aa.png)

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

medium_Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png

small_Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png

thumbnail_Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png

Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png

         Chennai (formerly Madras), the capital of the State of Tamil Nadu, is a megacity of nine million inhabitants that generates 5,000 metric tons of urban waste on a daily basis. Just like many other large Indian cities, 90% of the waste collected ends up in inefficient landfills. Often incinerated on site, aggravating the air pollution and providing very little energy recovery, it causes serious public health and safety problems. Not to mention the pollution caused by uncollected waste… The situation is the same in most urban centers in Southern Asia and Africa.
In these areas, the informal sector is a key link in the waste management chain. Two thirtysomethings from Chennai sought to thoroughly understand the ecosystem of this “invisible” economy. Their investigations have given rise to Kabadiwalla Connect (KWC).
Understanding the informal waste management ecosystem
Since his teenage years, Siddharth Hande, KWC’s co-founder (see interview) has been involved in cleaning up the waste polluting his city’s beaches. He then saw the potential of recovering this waste and began to take a closer interest in the informal economy, which allows the most destitute to earn a living by selling the waste collected all over the city. To increase this system’s performance, Siddharth realized that it had to be organized, even though — by its very nature — it falls outside any regulations. A specialist in urban data management, the young Indian then came up with the idea of mapping the districts of Chennai down to the meter to draw up a list of all the stakeholders in the informal recycling value chain. Then, once identified, providing them with a whole logistical framework to guarantee outlets for them. The company Kabadiwalla Connect (KWC) started up in 2014. Its long-term goal is to reduce the volume of waste sent to landfill by 70% across the Indian subcontinent. In other words, 48.16 million metric tons of material recovered.   
                                                     
     
Kabadiwalla means “waste aggregator-entrepreneur” in Chennai’s dialect. They own a shop in the city and buy the material salvaged by street pickers, the first links in the recycling value chain. The kabadiwallas are key players in this chain; KWC’s added value lies with them: over and above collection, they prepare a raw material destined for wholesalers-dealers who are able to purify these recycled materials and sell them to reprocessors.
“In Chennai, according to our survey, the informal sector recycles 19,000 metric tons of plastic and generates 4.3 million dollars in revenue each year,” highlights Siddharth Hande. “Plastic represents the second best earnings of all salvaged materials, behind copper. 500 metric tons of PET bottles alone have been salvaged since our business began,” he continues.
 A source of inspiration 
Some 2,000 kabadiwallas have joined KWC to date in Chennai. 100 of them have decided to further professionalize their work: they have computer applications specially developed by KWC that allow them to plan their everyday work and better set the prices of their material. KWC is also helping them improve the quality of the sorted material and work as a network to increase the amount of waste purchased (see interview).
“Our focus for development is to continue to professionalize the kabadiwallas, which means continuing to expand the urban mapping and more precisely quantifying the impact of their activities. We also benefit from Veolia’s experience as a world leader in waste management to ensure our growth. The model that we are offering can most likely be exported to other cities with a similar economy, which is why we joined forces,” adds the young founder.

Laurent Auguste, Veolia’s Director of Development, Innovation and Markets, explains: “The informal sector is a reality in certain Asian countries. It makes it possible to salvage materials, especially plastics such as PET, that are of value. KWC’s know-how is a source of inspiration. We are exploring with them how to adapt their model to Senegal and Indonesia.” Siddharth Hande and his colleagues from KWC are convinced that if cities from the Global South want to set the example in terms of preserving natural resources, they have no choice but to rely on the informal sector. It is beneficial for the climate and pollution, while having a positive social impact.

 INDIA : 
68.8 million metric tons of waste generated per year. It is set to reach 160.8 million metric tons in 2041, i.e. a 133% increase. 50% is organic waste. 91% of the waste collected ends up in open landfills.
Since Kabadiwalla Connect’s business began in 2014 500 metric tons of PET bottles collected by the informal economy sector between 2014 and 2017 2,000 kabadiwallas listed, 100 of whom have specialized and professionalized with KWC.

Know more :
https://www.kabadiwallaconnect.in/
* “Sustainable Solid Waste Management in India”, Janvier 2012, Columbia University, New York.   
  
  

               Posted on 10 September 2019.    
             Our focus for development is to continue to professionalize the kabadiwallas.
Chennai is the state capital of Tamil Nadu, in southern India. This mega-city of 9 million people generates 5,000 metric tons of urban waste every single day. But 90% of the waste collected ends up in open dumps where it is incinerated in the open air, adding to air pollution and causing serious public health and safety problems.Here, as in most major cities in South Asia and Africa, garbage collection is one of the main activities found in the informal sector. An "invisible" economy that two Indian researchers, Siddharth Hande and Sonaal Bangera, sought to understand.Street collectors contribute to better waste management and earn sums that are sometimes above the poverty line. "In Chennai, according to our survey, the informal sector recycles 19,000 metric tons of plastic and generates 4.3 million dollars in revenue each year,” highlights Siddharth Hande.Based on this observation, the two young Indians sought to improve the living conditions and incomes of the people working in the shadows and integrate them into existing waste management channels. They created a start-up called Kabadiwalla Connect (KWC), with the aim of making the informal sector more equitable and efficient and thus enabling Indian cities to reduce the amount of urban waste going to landfill by 70%. "Kabadiwalla" means "waste aggregator-entrepreneur" in Chennai’s dialect.To improve the performance of a system that, by its very nature, escapes regulation, the two entrepreneurs realized it had to be organized. As a specialist in spatial data analysis and urban planning, Siddharth Hande decided to map Chennai neighborhood by neighborhood, identifying all the actors in the informal waste recovery and recycling sector - from street collectors to specialist dealers. Professionalize kabadiwallas
KWC is based on kabadiwallas, the waste pickers that represent the first link in the recycling value chain. Some 2,000 kabadiwallas have already joined KWC in Chennai. Around a hundred have decided to specialize and professionalize.KWC has developed computer applications that allow them to plan their everyday work and better set the prices of their material. It is also helping them improve the quality of the sorted material and work as a network to increase the amount of waste purchased."Our development focus," says Siddharth Hande, "is to continue to professionalize the kabadiwallas, which means continuing to expand urban mapping and more precisely quantifying the impact of their activities.” KWC also benefits from the experience of Veolia, global leader in waste management, which shares its observation about the role of the informal economy in waste management and is considering adapting the start-up’s model for Senegal and Indonesia.
 
Main picture: © Photothèque Veolia   
  
       

This report by the Circular Jobs Initiative finds that combining the social and the circular economy agendas can facilitate an inclusive, just and safe labour market. Based on case studies of social enterprises and cooperatives engaged in circular activities, the report explores how the circular economy can benefit from integrating and collaborating with social economy organisations. While the social aspects of the circular economy remain underexplored, the social economy holds vital expertise that is needed to create the conditions, frameworks, and protections to ensure a just transition to circularity. The report provides recommendations for entrepreneurs, local and national policymakers to help them understand how they can be part of an ethical and inclusive circular economy.

However, municipalities, multi-national brands and waste management companies struggle to work effectively with these stakeholders, and they continue to remain outside the purview of municipal waste-management systems and Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs).In 2015, Kabadiwalla Connect conducted an extensive survey on Chennai's informal sector. Key findings are discussed here.

Today's understanding of the circular economy fails to address issues of global social equity and threatens to exacerbate the divide between high- and lower-income countries, making it clear that a global circular economy will not be socially just by default. This report (and accompanying policy briefs) lays out the case for thinking beyond borders to achieve a sustainable, circular economy that matches environmental goals with social ambitions. It highlights key levers for governments and multilateral bodies, illustrating the benefits of a global, socially just approach to environmental, trade and development policies, and the risks of continuing along current policy pathways.‍‍‍

Chennai

Kabadiwalla Connect is a start-up based in Chennai, India’s fourth-largest urban hub, offering a social and environmental model to integrate the informal recycling sector in the country's waste management, with the aim of enabling Indian cities to reduce the amount of urban waste going to landfill by 70%.

Kabadiwalla Connect

<p>The recovery of post-consumer waste in cities in the developing world is driven by the informal ecosystem. Kabadiwalla Connect, a technology-based social enterprise based in Chennai, is leveraging the informal ecosystem of urban waste recyclers with the aim of decreasing the amount of waste sent to landfills in Indian cities by 70%.</p>