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This collection was curated by the Circle Economy team from Knowledge Hub case studies for businesses, local and national governments around the world to find inspiration in practical examples of the circular economy. 

Visit the <a href="https://circle-economy.com" target="_blank">Circle Economy website</a> for more information and for more publications on the circular economy.

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Circle Economy

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CAT Africa

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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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Business case

Business

Build countries consume 13% of the global material footprint, while they account for almost 50% of the population. 

Examples include countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia such as: 
- Bangladesh
- Ethiopia
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- The Philippines
- Some small island states, ...

Minimal contribution to the overshoot of planetary boundaries: these countries contribute 20% of land use change, 30% of
freshwater use, 23% of phosphorus emissions to soil, and 11% of nitrogen emissions.

To find out what country profile your country belongs to, explore [this interactive story](https://circularity-gap.world) and search for your country on the final map.

Build

Preserving and conserving biological products such as food, forests, etc.

Preservation, conservation

Direct and indirect effects that increase revenues or the potential for new revenues, for example from new products, customer segments, partnerships or business models

Revenue Potential

Direct and indirect reduction in economic costs

Cost Savings

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

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)

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

Jobs

Producing and gathering crop and animal products from land and water through farming, hunting, and fishing

Agriculture

Providing products through leasing, rental, or pay-per-use models instead of sales

Leasing, rental, pay per use

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

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

Whilst no two countries are the same, there are still obvious similarities between some of them, with discernible development patterns and parallels in evidence. Common problems and shared solutions help place unique country identities and individual issues in context.

Whilst this classification is far from clear-cut and exhibits some overlap, it does underline how the discourse on transitioning to a circular economy needs to account for both differences and commonalities, if we are to arrive at a more strategic and instructive analysis. It also allows to highlight a set of key themes that are likely to be central to the countries that fall under the respective profiles. 

Country profiles (Build, Grow, Shift)

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A framework to distinguish between different country profiles and their circular transition needs.

Browse case studies by type of implementing stakeholder.

Implementing stakeholders

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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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     ColdHubs : Solar Powered Cold Storage for Developing Countries         Our innovation, ColdHubs, is a “plug and play” modular, solar-powered walk-in cold room, for 24/7 off-grid storage and preservation of perishable foods. It adequately addresses the problem of post- harvest losses in fruits, vegetables and other perishable food. ColdHubs, is installed in major food production and consumption centers (in markets and farms), farmers place their produce in clean plastic crates, these plastic crates are stacked inside the cold room. This extends the freshness of fruits, vegetables and other perishable food from 2 days to about 21 days. The solar powered walk-in cold room is made of 120mm insulating cold room panels to retain cold. Energy from solar panels mounted on the roof-top of the cold room are stored in high capacity batteries, these batteries feeds an inverter which in turn feeds the refrigerating unit.Flexible Pay-As-You-Store ModelColdhubs offers farmers with a flexible pay-as-you-store subscription model. In preparation for storage, farmers transfer their perishable foods into our reusable crates, which fit neatly onto the shelves. Farmers pay a daily flat fee for each crate of food they store.                   

 To qualify for this prize, companies had to share information on implemented pay-per-use cooling/ outsourced cooling projects from Asia, Africa, or Latin America to show how the model works in application. The winners were selected by BASE, leaders of the CaaS Initiative, after reviewing the various entries from around the world. AND THE WINNER IS…
ColdHubs Ltd. is a social Nigerian enterprise that designs, installs, commissions and operates 100 percent solar-powered walk-in cold rooms in farm clusters, produce aggregation centers and outdoor markets. They were selected as the Caas Prize winner because of their successful pay-as-you-store solar-powered walk-in cold rooms system for small-scale farmers, demonstrating that this business model has a large potential to make sustainable cooling accessible and competitive.
“We selected ColdHubs as the prize winner because of its exemplary Cooling as a Service model offered to smallholder farmers, retailers and wholesalers, to store and preserve fresh fruits, vegetables and other perishable foods 24/7, extending their shelf life from two days to more than 21 days,” explains Dimitris Karamitsos, Senior Business Developer at BASE for the CaaS Initiative.
ColdHubs’ business model is a simple pay-as-you-store Cooling as a Service model.  Farmers and retailers pay 100 Nigerian Naira (equivalent of USD 0.50) to store one 20kg (44lbs) returnable plastic crate per day inside the cold room. Hubs are operated by a female Hub Operator, who monitors the loading and unloading of crates, collects the fees, as well as a Market Attendant who builds relationships in farm clusters and markets. The simplicity of the model, without the requirement to sign any contract, makes this an excellent solution for first-mile cooling.
With this solution, ColdHubs aims to eliminate the impact of food spoilage and lack of small scale post-harvest infrastructure facing 470 million smallholder farmers globally and increase the income of farmers and retailers by eliminating previous losses.
The original “ColdHub” design was for solar-powered cold rooms driven by solar-powered refrigeration units using electrical storage. Now, ColdHubs has developed a second version that uses latent thermal energy storage to reduce the size of the batteries and thereby the cost and environmental impact of the system. The cold rooms operated by ColdHubs use the natural refrigerant propane (R290), which has no Ozone Depletion Potential and a minimal Global Warming Potential.
ColdHubs is currently serving 3,517 farmers, retailers and wholesalers using its 24 installed cold rooms in 18 farms, aggregation centers and markets within the Southern and Northern Regions of Nigeria. 30 more ColdHubs are presently under construction across Nigeria, bringing the projected total number of Hubs, to 54 by the end of 2020.
In 2019, the 24 operational ColdHubs saved 20,400 tons of food from spoilage, increased the household income of their customers by 50% by eliminating food loss, created 48 new jobs for women, and saved 462 tons of CO2 emissions.
“ColdHubs’ solution is a perfect example of how Cooling as a Service can overcome key barriers to adopt clean cooling technology,” says Thomas Motmans, Sustainable Energy Finance Specialist at BASE. “We want to showcase this success story because here is a large opportunity for its wider application in agricultural supply chains to reduce food waste and increase the quality and value of food for small- and medium-scale producers.” FINALISTS BOAST INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS 
Among the short-listed applicants, the second and third place positions were respectively awarded to Energy Partners and Maxwell & Spark. Energy Partners provides Cooling as a Service to Dr Oetker’s production facility in South Africa via a brand new ammonia refrigeration system. Maxwell & Spark was selected for developing “the world’s first zero carbon mobile Cooling-as-a-Service solution” powered by “the world’s first battery-electric truck refrigeration system” which can provide  up to 90 percent cost savings on energy.
“We would like to thank all the applicants for the excellent proposals we have received, and we look forward to  sharing more in-depth case studies documentation about the CaaS prize winner and finalists in the near future,” says Motmans. 








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Nigeria

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ColdHubs

ColdHubs is a post-harvest, solar-powered, cooling-as-service solution in Nigeria. By offering a solution to store and preserve perishable foods that adequately meets the financing needs of smallholder farmers, ColdHubs is an effective solution to the issue of post- harvest losses in fruits, vegetables and other perishable food in Sub-Saharan Africa. ColdHubs are installed in major food production and consumption centers (in markets and farms). There, farmers place their produce in clean plastic crates, which are stacked inside the cold room. This extends the freshness of fruits, vegetables and other perishable food from 2 days to about 21 days. [1] Coldhubs offers farmers a flexible pay-as-you-store subscription model at rates that they can afford, helping to tackle the barrier of access to financing for cold chain solutions and bridges the technological gap for smallholder farmers.

ColdHubs: Solar-powered, cooling-as-a-service solution

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This collection is part of Footprints Africa's work to build a comprehensive database of circular economy initiatives in Africa. 

This is a result of the collaboration with the <a href="https://www.acen.africa" target="_blank">African Circular Economy Network (ACEN)</a>, as part of the programme to support the circular economy transition in Africa. Footprints Africa's vision is that businesses can be a force for good at scale. Their mission is to advance sustainable, scalable and inclusive approaches to development of local African economies. Footprints Africa supports SMEs to adopt future-friendly practices, such as those inspired by the circular economy, to address the challenges of growth and create jobs. 

This open-source dataset features well over 500 cases and 200 examples of policies and laws and intent to collect inspiring examples of initiatives from across Africa, in order to inform the global dialogue, which is largely focused on the European and American context. 

To learn more about Africa's initiatives and content to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, visit https://www.footprintsafrica.co/

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Footprints Africa

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Account for the systems perspective during the design process, to use the right materials, to design for appropriate lifetime and to design for extended future use

Design for the future

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

Rethink the business model

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

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

Prioritise regenerative resources

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

Agri/Food

Archetypes

CE Materials

Materials

Nace Sectors

Topics

Urban Opportunities

It is 2050.  Full systems change has taken place. This wouldn’t have been possible without the immediate action and radical steps taken from 2020 onwards. Many targets had to be identified in the early 2020s and achieved by 2030 to ensure that the 2050 goal happened in full. A sense of urgency, turbo stakeholder collaboration, supportive government regulation and clear, data driven targets enabled the mindsets and systems change needed to transform to a fully circular textiles ecosystem.

A circular economics model underpins what we have created. It reflects and supports a living organism made up of makers, users and restorers, interacting across vibrant and interconnected networks. Checks and balances, alongside transparency and accountability, ensure a healthy system. Financial, environmental, and social metrics have the purpose of serving communities and the planet. There is shared ownership of profit and loss – across all three metrics – throughout the value chain.

This is what we’ve achieved over the last 30 years:

WCTD Themes

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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

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

Thematic Areas

City Stakeholders

Test Framework

Challenges

Based on the ongoing ISO standardisation process, a taxonomy has been defined under which to cluster indicators to measure circularity. 

ISO Taxonomy

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

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

This is a survey that dives into understanding the policy environment around specific circular solutions. 

The survey is divided into five sections, based on the five key elements of the Circular Cities Action Framework. 
Each section asks 2-3 questions to explore which policies may or may not be present within your city to support a transition towards a circular economy. 

You are not alone! Each question provides some practical examples from cities around the world that have adopted a certain policy to support their transition. This can help to compare with your city - is your city doing something similar?

The survey answers should be based on your current knowledge, and not illicit additional research - ! Please make use of the Not sure option as appropriate.


Ganbatte Cities Policy Tracker [Food]

Ganbatte Cities - Policy tracker policy instruments

Policy Tracker - TEST

     ColdHubs : Solar Powered Cold Storage for Developing Countries          Our innovation, ColdHubs, is a “plug and play” modular, solar-powered walk-in cold room, for 24/7 off-grid storage and preservation of perishable foods. It adequately addresses the problem of post- harvest losses in fruits, vegetables and other perishable food. ColdHubs, is installed in major food production and consumption centers (in markets and farms), farmers place their produce in clean plastic crates, these plastic crates are stacked inside the cold room. This extends the freshness of fruits, vegetables and other perishable food from 2 days to about 21 days. The solar powered walk-in cold room is made of 120mm insulating cold room panels to retain cold. Energy from solar panels mounted on the roof-top of the cold room are stored in high capacity batteries, these batteries feeds an inverter which in turn feeds the refrigerating unit.Flexible Pay-As-You-Store ModelColdhubs offers farmers with a flexible pay-as-you-store subscription model. In preparation for storage, farmers transfer their perishable foods into our reusable crates, which fit neatly onto the shelves. Farmers pay a daily flat fee for each crate of food they store.                    

Africa

Owerri

Footprints Africa supports SMEs to adopt future-friendly practices, address the challenges of growth and create jobs, using supply chains as a tool for development. 

ColdHubs designs solar-powered walk-in cold rooms to enable the 24/7 off-grid storage and preservation of perishable foods in local communities. Their system addresses the problem of post-harvest losses of fruits, vegetables and other perishable foods. These ColdHubs are being installed in major food production and consumption centres (markets and farms). The ColdHubs extend the freshness of fruits, vegetables and other perishable foods from two days to up to 21 days.

ColdHubs - Shared solar-powered cold stations

- Organic food, seasonal & fresh food
- Eliminate the need for chemical fertilisers and pesticide
- Regional-local food
- Produce your own food
- Sustainable biomass certifications
- Shift towards locally produced food in the hospitality sector with a policy focus on national food self-sufficiency.                   

Saving: 2.07 Gt emissions and 3.40 Gt material use

🍎 Sustainable food production

While resources are in-use, maintain, repair and upgrade them to maximise their lifetime and give them a second life through take back strategies when applicable

Stretch the lifetime

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

Ecological Impact

Producing and providing business and consumer goods and services

Goods and Services

The second biggest category in terms of resource use is the need for nutrition. Agricultural products such as crops and livestock require 21.8 billion tonnes yearly. Food products have short lifecycles in our economy, being consumed quickly after production.



Nutrition

'Manage' influences the use and function of physical and material elements within the urban environment. 

Manage

- Replace animal feed with agricultural or food waste
- Less packaging on food products
- Food sufficiency (keep caloric supply per person to 2,700 a day)
- Decrease purchases of food product categories by households as a consequence of all (or a part of) population reducing overall caloric intake

Saving: 2.07 Gt emissions and 3.40 Gt material use

🍎 Reduce excess consumption

Deliver services through business models that ensure maximum value

Service business models

Scalability

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

Social Impact

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

Innovation

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

Producing electronics products for businesses and consumers, including cellular phones, personal computers, printers, servers, electronic computer components and peripherals, TVs, audio equipment, as well as household appliances, such as refrigerators, washing machines, etc.

Electronics and Appliances

Ensure that biological products are properly managed and preserved

Maximise lifetime of biological products

Infrastructure

Contribution to social parity, or impact on social disparity

Equality

Develop infrastructure to support sustainable lifestyles

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 framework consists of 21 complementary interventions, across six scenarios - one for each of the six societal needs we model. These interventions can mitigate climate impact by curbing GHG emissions

Note: interventions are currently focused on:
- 🏠 Housing 
- 🍎 Nutrition
- 🚗 Mobility
- 👚📺 Consumables
- 👩‍⚕️👨‍⚕️ Healthcare
-  🔊 Communication

These 21 interventions are spread across six societal needs and wants, with a set of solutions. Within these solutions are strategies on ’how to get there'.  

The framework moves beyond incremental action and provides solutions that will require behavioral change (dietary shifts towards less meat consumption, for example) and the adoption of state-of-the-art technologies in the industry to mitigate emissions in hard-to-abate sectors (such as steel manufacturing). It illustrates how continued globalisation can benefit from the uptake of digital solutions. The combined interventions showcase the mitigation potential that begins where the current country pledges end; illustrating the additional impact our interventions can bring to the NDCs. In short, the interventions provide input for a more profound fundamental transformation than the more current pathways that make up the vast majority of NDCs. 

Together, the combined interventions can almost double the current global Circularity Metric of 8.6%, bringing it to 17%. 

This results in:
• Shrinking global material use and extraction by 28%. 
• Cutting global GHG emissions by 39%—fully closing the Emissions Gap as defined in our report and taking into account the updated NDCs.
• Allowing the world to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping at 1.5-degrees of warming by 2032.

*This framework was developed in the Circularity Gap Report 2021. Read more about it [here](https://www.circle-economy.com/resources/circularity-gap-report-2021)*






Global Circularity Gap Report

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An intervention-based framework for nations and stakeholders working towards circular countries

 Kimchis, fresh vegetables, fruit, fish, seafood, meat, pickles, pancakes…. One of the many pleasures of dining out in South Korea is the selection of banchan, or side dishes, that accompanies most meals. 
But seldom — if ever — do all banchan get eaten. Diners take a few mouthfuls of this and that, then the meal is over. Just finishing the generous main dish is often enough of a challenge. For a first-time visitor, the joy of discovering so much variety on one table is quickly followed by bemusement at how much of it goes unconsumed. 
So what happens to it all?
Many Korean restaurants offer free, hearty side dishes called banchan. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
On the edge of a building site in Seoul’s eastern Gangdong District is a complex of green buildings. Hang around there for a while and you’ll see food waste trucks turning up from all over southern and eastern Seoul. The complex is operated Naen, a private contractor that recycles some three to four hundred tonnes of food waste every day into animal feed. 
Upon arrival at Naen, the waste is dropped into underground tanks, then carried by screw conveyors to a separator, where non-food content — mostly plastic bags — is removed. The waste is then squeezed in a conical screw press to get rid of as much moisture content as possible. Typically, food waste consists of 80 to 85 percent moisture. 
The orange “juice” squeezed out at this point is collected in another underground tank, then sent off to a wastewater treatment plant where it is fermented to produce methane. The methane is then used as fuel. 
The squeezed waste is then carried to steam dryers, where it is dried for three to four hours at 120˚C. Next, any remaining impurities are removed and the dried waste is powdered. The animal feed is ready. 
“A lot of businesses like ours sprang up after 2005, when the landfilling of food waste was banned,” said Naen official Lim Chang-ho. 
In fact, South Korea has a pretty strong handle on its food waste by global standards. Some 95 percent of food waste is currently recycled: into compost, animal feed, methane gas (through anaerobic digestion) or solid fuel. 
This is based on mandatory separation rules that see households and businesses nationwide throw out food waste in dedicated plastic bags sold in supermarkets, specially made buckets or even at computerized collection points.  Plenty to deal with 
Food constitutes a relatively small segment within South Korea’s waste scene: It makes up some 40 percent of household waste, but household waste accounts for only 13 percent of all rubbish thrown out in the country (the biggest source is construction material waste, at 48 percent). But in terms of sheer amount, masses of food waste are generated every day. 
According to the Ministry of Environment, an average South Korean throws out 930 grams of rubbish each day, 40 percent of which is food waste. That makes for more than 130 kilograms of per capita food waste a year. (In comparison, per capita food waste by consumers in Europe and North America was 95 to 115 kilograms a year, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.) 
In 2016, South Korea produced 14,388 tonnes of food waste nationwide every day, and 3,075 tonnes in Seoul alone. About two thirds of this are processed outside the capital; the rest is treated by five plants within the city limits, of which Naen is one. 
With all their screw conveyors and other moving parts, plants like Naen’s rely on consumers not to leave rogue items in their food waste that can put a literal spanner in the works. 
“We’ve had bowling balls, blankets and bricks in the past,” said Lim. “And once we found a fridge. But things have got a lot better now, thanks to government efforts to educate people better. Now we just get a few spoons and rice bowls here and there.” 
Each time a rogue item causes part of the plant to break down, the whole line has to be stopped for an hour or two while the problem is identified and fixed.
Meanwhile, local authorities are working to reduce food waste at the source. 
In 2013, Songpa, a district in southeastern Seoul, began introducing a radio-frequency identification (RFID)-based centralized system of food waste collection at multiple apartment complexes across the city. Residents were issued with unique electronic ID tags, which they use when depositing food waste at one of several hundred collection points. Machines weigh each deposit and charge each user accordingly.
Bins in Hwaseong that collect and weigh food waste using sensors. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Within four years, some 4,000 RFID collection points had been installed in apartment complexes and approximately 2,000 in non-apartment residential neighborhoods. In 2017, Songpa District authorities calculated that the system had reduced food waste by a total of 36,000 tonnes, or 25 percent of what was being thrown out in 2012, and achieved 7 billion won in budget savings. 
But some argue that solutions like RFID merely deal with the results of food waste, not the causes. 
“The RFID has nothing to do with actually reducing food waste,” said Lee Seok-kil of Korea Food Recycling Association. “It’s just another way of dealing with waste that already exists.” 
Lee says the best way to deal with the problem is education. “For example, a high percentage of food waste is due to people buying more food than they need, letting it go bad in the fridge, then throwing it away. And then there’s the Korean culture of serving more banchan than people can eat. In other countries you have to pay extra for side dishes, but that goes against Korean sentiment. We need more publicity to change this culture, but I don’t the the government has done enough on that front yet.”  Entomological enthusiasm 
Still, other innovative possibilities abound for exploiting the opportunities presented by food waste. One comes in the form of a large plant in Gimje, southwestern South Korea, that buzzes with some 2 billion black soldier flies. 
While flies are normally associated with poor waste management, these ones are working away in large, net-lined chambers to break down some 100 tonnes of food waste every day. 
Soldier fly larvae are raised for a little over two weeks on the food waste. After that, they are separated from their own excrement and dried. Oil is extracted from the larvae, then they are dried and pulverized for use as animal feed. Their excrement is used as fertilizer. 
Meanwhile, the oil squeezed from the larvae before drying is used as a natural additive to any animal feed as an immune system-boosting agent. 
“The animal feed made from the flies is high in protein, while the oil squeezed from them contains lots of [natural] antibiotic substances, which help boost animals’ immunity to disease,” said Kang Seung-ho of CIEF, the company that operates the Gimje facility. 
CIEF’s ultimate plan is to open 100 similar plants around South Korea, which, Kang said, could process the country’s entire food waste output. It’s a neat and profitable solution to a once-stinking problem. 
The South Korean government has embraced the potential of the nascent black soldier fly industry, amending regulations in October 2017 to legalize it as a means of large-scale food waste processing. The country’s Rural Development Administration has hailed the technology’s potential to create new insect-based industries and much-needed jobs for rural communities. 
In addition to its economic potential, using insects to produce high-quality animal feed on a large scale could replace other animal feed sources such as soybeans, the production of which is becoming increasingly notorious for its association with environmental damage and deforestation. 
Back at the consumer end of the chain, the most effective way to combat food waste is to avoid the fridge-to-bin phenomenon by buying only as much as you’re likely to eat. If you want to get really militant, you can ask restaurant owners why they serve more side-dishes than you can eat, but they probably won’t appreciate it. Other options include asking them to put leftover food in a container for you to take home and eat later. This is becoming more common and is generally welcomed. 
And don’t forget to look out for black soldier fly larvae-fed steaks in your local supermarket. Cover image: Food waste. (Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture via Flickr, CC by 2.0) 

      When the required hectarage is reached, a Tom is deployed. Each plot within the pod will get three surveys over the course of the growing season.       Tom will accurately geolocate and analyse data on every plant in the field. The data is available in Wilma, our AI Advice Engine.        Access data that will talk to your sprayer, enabling you to reduce the costs of your herbicide and fertiliser.   

 We will offer our robots through a Farming as a Service (FaaS) model. So you can take advantage of robotic farming without any of the risks.What exactly is Farming as a Service?The service links together a series of robots with a clever ‘operating system’. It starts by collecting accurate and up-to-date information about a crop, plant by plant. We call this ‘digitising the field’.This information is then automatically analysed using data and advice from the world’s leading agronomists and the AHDB (the UK Government’s Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board). This is then used to give instructions on what should happen to each plant, and each patch of soil for other robots to carry out.Eventually, each process - from knowing when to plant, to all aspects of crop care, to knowing when to harvest - will be automated.How do the robots fit in? We will place a robot (Tom) on your farm to autonomously monitor your crop and soil, and keep an eye on weeds.Our other robots (Dick, Harry) take care of all the feeding, seeding, and weeding. When one of these robots is needed, it turns up and does its job. When it is finished, it is taken away. Click here to find out more about Tom Dick and Harry. 

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By offering smallholder farmers a flexible, pay-as-you-store subscription option, ColdHubs strives to make cold chain solutions more accessible while reducing food waste and CO2 emissions.