Policy case

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

Regenerative materials

Replace freshwater with less impactful alternatives and enact water efficiency measures

Regenerative water

Engage with the local community where facilities or offices are located

Community collaboration

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

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

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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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 The population of the Dagoretti district of Nairobi has risen dramatically in recent years, growing to more than twenty times the size from 1969-2009. Overcrowding has strained resources, and many are vulnerable to malnutrition and other poverty-related illnesses due to food insecurity, a lack of access to health facilities and a scarcity of jobs. Young people are particularly affected, as 37% of the population are under 17 years old and many live on the street. What we were doing to help Urban Gardening was a multi-sector, comprehensive, integrated intervention in the Dagoretti district. Aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals and Kenya Vision 2030, the project aimed to ensure that those in the Dagoretti district had guaranteed access to food, their fundamental human right. Working with farmer groups and schools, we helped young people and families to grow their own food and eat a reliable and nutritious diet. By developing high-quality produce and improving access to markets, we helped vulnerable groups, such as unemployed youth, to increase their income and improve food security in the long term. Farm Africa was supporting community members to include environmental conservation techniques and good agricultural practice in their urban agricultural systems while sharing nutritional knowledge to improve community understanding of the links between nutrition and health. Who did we working for? This project set up urban gardens for community groups and schools - school gardens are managed by parents, teachers and class councils. The gardens include rainwater harvesting systems, greenhouses and surficial wells and drip irrigation systems. Groups also received livestock, training in organic farming practices, and access to new markets and micro-enterprises to boost incomes and food security. We’re also worked with local government authorities on land planning for urban agriculture and the design, implementation and evaluation of interventions on food security. Who did we work with? Farm Africa was working in a consortium with Amref Health Africa and Kenyan government partners to reduce malnutrition, increase incomes, and promote sustainable farming and soil conservation. Amref Health Africa funded the project and expanded it to support a further 3,900 people. 

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Nairobi

City of Nairobi

Kenyan Government

Farm Africa

Amref Health Africa

Case study about an urban gardening project in Nairobi, that provides residents with necessary tools, shares knowledge, installs rainwater harvesting systems and the like.

Urban gardening project in Nairobi

Article / Report

Kenya

Report on climate smart agriculture and opportunities for its development in the horticulture sector in Kenya

Climate-smart agriculture and opportunities for its development in the horticulture sector in Kenya

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

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

Reduce Energy Consumption

Engage with the government on circular policies and programmes

Government collaboration

'Incentivise' sends market signals and support to businesses, citizens and governments to promote certain activities.

Incentivise

Impacts

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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

 NAIROBI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Kenya plans to promote construction of green buildings in order to enhance sustainability in the construction industry, a senior government official said on Tuesday. James Macharia, Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, told journalists in Nairobi that to support the use of green housing initiatives, the Kenyan government has embarked on the provision of enabling environment through development of policies and regulatory frameworks. "The Built Environment Bill 2017 and the Housing Bill 2017 when enacted will go a long way in ensuring safety and environmental sustainability in the building industry," Macharia said during the launch of the Kenya Building Research Centre Strategic Plan (2017-2022). He said green houses are ideal for the country as they use minimum water and energy resources. Macharia noted that the housing sector is responsible for a significant portion of the green house gas emissions in Kenya. In addition, Macharia noted that the widespread adoption of a green construction industry will enable Kenya to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015, which recognizes the crucial role the building and construction sectors play in climate change mitigation and adaptation processes. He noted that the government is keen to provide incentives for the private sector to uptake green buildings given that the construction industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. According to the ministry, the uptake of green houses is low due to the perception that they are very costly. "The truth is that green buildings are cheaper in the long run because they have lower maintenance costs," Macharia said.  

Kenya aims to promote the construction of green buildings in order to enhance sustainability in the construction industry. In order to do so, the government has created an enabling regulatory and policy environment along with encouraging the private sector through incentives. This effort will not only lower emissions but also be less depleting to water and energy resources, along with possibly making construction cheaper since these buildings have lower maintenance costs.

Kenyan government encouraging green construction projects

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)

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

Chemical and Plastic

Using bio-based materials such as bioplastics, mushroom-based materials, etc.

Alternative bio-based materials and inputs

Using materials that can be easily reused or recycled after use

Reusable, recyclable materials and inputs

Bans

Industries

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By Reality Check teamBBC Newsimage copyrightGetty Imagesimage captionKenya is trying to tackle the problems caused by plastic rubbishTwo years ago, Kenya introduced a ban on plastic carrier bags.Tens of millions of plastic bags were handed out in supermarkets every year in Kenya. They polluted the environment and clogged up drainage systems contributing to floods in rainy seasons.A study supported by the National Environmental Management Agency (Nema) found that more than 50% of cattle near urban areas were found to have plastic bags in their stomachs. So after years of promising to take action, the government made the manufacturing, sale and distribution of plastic carrier bags illegal.image copyrightGetty Imagesimage captionPlastic waste bags are a major environmental problem in many African countriesSince the ban, the government says 80% of the population have stopped using plastic carrier bags. Although this is encouraging, some of the alternatives have also been found to be environmentally damaging. Anyone found manufacturing, importing or selling a plastic carrier bag could be fined up to $40,000 (£32,000) or face a prison sentence of up to four years. Using the banned bags carries a fine of more than $500 or a jail term of up to a year.So far, fines of between $500 and $1,500 have been handed out to around 300 people.Others have been sent to jail, says Keriako Tobiko, Kenya's environment minister.Last year, 18 people who pleaded guilty in a court in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa were fined $300 or sentenced to eight months in jail for using the bags. In other cases, first-time offenders have been let off without punishment. "It is at the discretion of the courts to decide what penalty they will give. The judge has the discretion depending on the case," Mamo Mamo, the acting director general of Nema, told the BBC.The toughest penalty imposed so far has been on a manufacturer who was sentenced to a jail term of one year without the option of a fine, according to Mr Mamo.He says the ban is having a real impact - abattoirs are now finding fewer bags inside cows.There has also been praise from environmental charities. "It is good progress if what we see around is anything to go by. Previously, driving from Nairobi to a place like the Masai Mara you would see plastic bags hanging from trees like flowers after being blown away and getting stuck. We don't see them any more," says Nancy Githaiga, WWF Kenya's policy and research manager.image copyrightGetty Imagesimage captionThe government says fewer plastic bags are being found in cowsThe ban has largely been considered a success although some types of plastic bags have not disappeared entirely. While supermarkets and many shops are no longer handing out carrier bags, small traders have been using a smaller bag made of clear plastic. And there are signs these are being smuggled into the country from neighbouring Uganda and Somalia."There is a high probability for illicit products to enter the Kenyan market due to our porous borders and the country-specific policy decision on plastic bags that wasn't adopted at the regional level. Illicit trade is a huge challenge in the country," says the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (Kam).Smuggling across the border is a problem reported by Rwanda too, which banned plastic bags in 2008, and Morocco, which started enforcing a ban in 2017.Tanzania, which also used to be a source of plastics smuggled through the border, implemented a ban in June.Following the ban, polypropylene bags became a popular alternative.Polypropylene is a type of plastic that is easier to recycle than polythene, the plastic more widely used in bag production.image copyrightGetty ImagesHowever, Nema found that manufacturers soon started to reduce the quality of this type of bag, increasing the polythene content, so it couldn't be recycled. "The single usage of these bags will eventually lead to heavy environmental consequences due to poor disposal practices currently being experienced in the country coupled with the lack of requisite infrastructure to sustainably manage these bags," Nema says.The government then banned polypropylene bags in March 2019 until a quality standard was introduced. But manufacturers and traders challenged this and the ban was reversed, so that polypropylene is currently permitted. Kam claims the plastic bag ban led to a loss of jobs, investment and markets as some manufacturers closed their businesses and others relocated to other countries.But it has also brought new business opportunities. "The few remaining plastic bags manufacturing companies have diversified their operations to produce fabric-based bags, non-woven bags, pulp paper-based bags amongst others," Kam's communications officer Grace Mbogo told the BBC."However, the capacity for production remains low due to the limited supply of raw materials domestically."Reality CheckPlastic pollution

Government of Kenya

Kenya has long struggled with waste coming from frequent use of plastic bags all around the country, since it polluted, clogged drainage systems, and brought danger to animals as the plastic has been found inside the cattle's stomach. The Kenyan government, therefore, has decided to take a step towards better sustainability of the environment and nation and banned the manufacturing, sale, and distribution of plastic bags. Anyone, especially manufacturers, not obliging to the new rule, has been punished heavily. The tough ban overall showed a wide success, yet, the governing body is now facing some new challenges of damaging alternatives to plastic, losing jobs, and potential economic production as plastic manufacturers are moving their locations to other countries.