Business case

Providing public and private education and support services at any level or for any profession, and governmental and public administration services, including judicial, regulatory, and legislative activities, taxation, defence, public order and safety, immigration services, foreign affairs and the administration of government programmes

Education and Government Services

Providing water and sewage services, including water collection and distribution, water treatment systems and sewage treatment facilities

Water and Sewage

Replacing freshwater use with rainwater, fogwater, seawater, etc.

Alternative water use

Enacting measures that optimise water use

Water efficiency

Enacting measures that optimise energy use

Energy efficiency

Designing products so they use as little materials, water, energy, etc. as possible during use

Design for resource efficiency

Working together with customers to jointly create products fit for them

Co-creation

Specific programmes or initiatives to help customers become more circular 

Customer programmes

Engaging in discussions with government bodies and policymakers to push for regulations that support the circular economy

Advocacy for circular economy policy

Employing artificial algorithms and robotics to identify, enable and/or implement circular strategies (eg. effective resource use & logistics planning, circular business models & design)

Advanced robotics, artificial intelligence

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

Efficiency and effectiveness of water supply services must be secured by minimising the leaks, through a combination of leak detection techniques, pipes maintenance and reparation and water audits. Leak minimisation can be enhanced through the use of sensor technologies.

Minimise leaks

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

Use wastewater

Measures to drain accumulating rainwater from rooftops, roads or other public surfaces and channel it into containers for multipurpose use. These include watering plants and crops, as an input into manufacturing processes, the establishment of public water features, or the introduction back into plumbing systems, Uses may include the application of filtration and treatment systems when needed. 

Manage rainwater

Greywater is drained water from bathing, laundering, washing dishes etc. and excludes sewage (black water). Greywater can be reused most commonly for irrigation and toilet flushing if the appropriate system to capture and distribute it is in place. To extend usage possibilities, filtration and treatment systems may be introduced. 

Use greywater

Other

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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By combining the intelligence of humans and nature, Biopolus is engineering urban ecosystems to close water, energy, food, and waste loops through a network of decentralized urban metabolic hubs. A new class of buildings will house these hubs for urban circularity. Through smart, functional engineering and design, Biopolus has created the BioMakery, a biofactory for the future city. The BioMakery is powered by Biopolus MNR technology, which uses biological engineering to harness clean water, energy, nutrients, and minerals from wastewater and organic waste. Supplemental modules for community functions and urban farming, can also be added to create an open and integrated space for sustainable urban living.Share this page with your network. “The future belongs to those who understand that doing more with less is compassionate, prosperous, and even enduring, and thus more intelligent, even competitive.”Paul Hawken, author of the Ecology of Commerce

By combining the intelligence of humans and nature, Biopolus is engineering urban ecosystems to close water, energy, food, and waste loops through a network of decentralized urban metabolic hubs.

Biopolus

<p>An organization that aims to tackle urban circularity, by combining technology, urban planning and dynamic modeling.</p>

Biopolus – The Living Technology Alliance

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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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Starter Kit collection

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

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

Impact on the health and happiness of human populations

Well-being

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

Innovation

Scalability

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 and withdrawal of water and rate of recycling and reuse of water

Save Water (SDG6)

Contributing to the improvement of biodiversity including species diversity, total number of protected species, and ecosystem health

Biodiversity

Societal Services

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

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

Designing to reduce waste during production and use

Design out waste

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

Manage

Infrastructure

Develop regenerative infrastructure

Develop infrastructure to support resource cycling

**Harmonize with nature** by promoting infrastructure, production systems and sourcing that allows natural ecosystems to thrive




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Regenerate

Use longer and more often by extending and intensifying use of existing resources, products, spaces and infrastructure

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Reuse

Do better with less by using and supporting infrastructure, processes and products that are designed to minimize material, water and energy use and waste generation from production to end of use


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Reduce

Eliminate waste by maximizing the recovery of resources at the end of the use phase so that they can be reintroduced into production processes


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Recover

Prioritize solutions that use the power of functioning ecosystems as infrastructure to provide natural services to benefit society and the environment; consider nature-based replacements for grey infrastructure.

Promote solutions inspired and supported by nature

Maintain and repair city-owned spaces and infrastructure to increase longevity, and support opportunities for residents to do the same for privately owned items and property

Support reuse, repair, remanufacturing, maintenance of existing resources, products, spaces & infrastructure

Put enablers in place that allow circular businessesto grow, thrive and innovate (e.g. incubators, start-up funding, partnerships, innovation deals, business capacity building and testing groundsfor new business models).


Support circular and resource-efficient business innovations

Ensure that household and business waste is collected and appropriately sorted (by type, label, etc.) to allow for maximum recovery of value.


Collect and sort waste to facilitate recovery

Process waste into valuable industrial inputs or consumer products; distribute processed waste to users.

Process waste and ensure its re-entry into industry at its highest value

Businesses

Governments

The water consumed by households must be of a sufficiently good quality to safely drink, bathe and clean with. However, the quality of water required for each of these needs differs significantly. For example, potable or drinking water must be of a higher quality than the water used to flush a toilet or irrigate a garden (so called “greywater”).  It is possible to significantly reduce our overall water consumption by using and reusing non-potable water sources for lower quality purposes—a strategy particularly relevant for drought-stressed cities.

Greywater reuse systems can be applied at household level to collect water from showers and baths, filter and treat it, and then recirculate it to flush toilets or irrigate gardens. Alternatively, a sports centre can collect greywater from showers and hand basins and process it to be used to irrigate an adjacent sports field or community garden.

Cities can encourage the uptake of greywater reuse systems through awareness campaigns, regulations and financial incentives. Awareness campaigns can show the potential environmental and financial benefits of installing greywater systems. Regulations can be in the form of building codes and requirements in which the installation of a grey water reuse system is compulsory, unless practically infeasible. Financial incentives are usually in the form of rebates for installing such a system. Municipal governments can also lead by example and procure such greywater reuse systems in municipal or city-run buildings, such as municipal offices or schools. This can not only improve the water-efficiency of such buildings, but can also showcase the benefits of the systems, and support local market demand.



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💧  Grey-water reuse systems

Circular water systems in cities will also depend on new business models shaping innovations and new activities. For example, water operators can determine the shift towards circular business models (e.g. fostering water reuse, decentralised water solutions, etc.).

Cities can explore innovative financing and other support measures—for instance, building the adequate expertise in water resource and efficiency management or innovation challenges—for circular business models in water systems. Simultaneously, they should develop the right policy, institutional, regulatory frameworks to promote scale up these models. Fostering these new business models with additional revenue streams would, in turn, attract the private sector to close the funding gap needed for the circular transition.


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💧 Circular business models for water systems innovation

An estimated 80% of wastewater is discharged into the environment without treatment (UN), threatening aquatic wildlife, quality of groundwater and surface water resources, and human health. To avoid these negative effects, it is important to improve wastewater collection and treatment from both households and industries. 

Cities can help achieve this goal by improving wastewater transport and treatment infrastructure, adopting laws and regulations for wastewater treatment discharge, and offer financial incentives for businesses and industries to improve pollution controls over their effluents and advance treatment technologies. 

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💧 Improving wastewater treatment infrastructure

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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A framework of policy instruments that enabled and encourage the transition to the circular economy

Policies

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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

City Stakeholders

 The Need: To help cities transition from their current linear system of consumption and waste, to a long-lasting and regenerative circular model. The Solution: A decentralised network of BioMakeries (urban metabolic hubs) that are powered by Biopolus MNR Technology to harness clean water, energy, nutrients, and minerals from wastewater and organic waste.  What makes this unique? Modular and fully integrated into the urban environment, BioMakeries treat and recycle wastewater, while also providing a platform for circular urban infrastructure integration, all with a beautiful garden aesthetic. The result: Traditional large and smelly wastewater treatment facilities can be replaced by modular, compact, and odour-free BioMakeries, which free up valuable land for redevelopment, and create a platform where energy, food, and organic waste systems are built around a regenerative and sustainable water cycle. 

Netherlands

Budapest

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<p>Biopolus created the BioMakery,&nbsp;an urban metabolic hub, to integrate circular urban infrastructure and technology with open innovation,&nbsp;helping cities transition from their current linear system of consumption and waste to a sustainable and regenerative circular model.&nbsp;The BioMakery was created based upon the principle of water-based urban circularity, where energy, food, and waste systems are built around a regenerative and sustainable water cycle. The BioMakery is a&nbsp;production platform&nbsp;that produces intermediary products from wastewater and organic waste. These intermediary products can then be further processed to a wide scale of valuable end products such as reuse water, food and feed, biopolymers, etc.</p>