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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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Policy case

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

Ecological Impact

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

Social Impact

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

Increase Awareness

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)

Societal Services

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

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

Use waste as a resource

Work together throughout the supply chain, internally within organisations and with the public sector and communities to increase transparency and create joint value

Team up to create joint value

Reuse, repurpose, and recycle waste streams within the same industry

Valorise waste streams - closed loop

Reuse, repurpose, and recycle waste streams within other industries

Valorise waste streams - open loop

Engage with the government on circular policies and programmes

Government collaboration

Engage with the local community where facilities or offices are located

Community collaboration

'Inform' increases the overall levels of awareness and builds the necessary skills and knowledge around the circular economy to foster long-term change.

Inform

Integrate principles of circularity into primary, secondary and tertiary curriculum and conduct workplace trainings

 Education and Curriculum

Circular Economy in school programmes

Extra-curricular education

Raise awareness and run information campaigns about  strategies for and impacts of the circular economy in different contexts.

Communication and awareness

Awareness raising events

Information campaigns

 Develop research, structure knowledge, encourage innovation networks and disseminate findings with integrity


Strengthen and advance knowledge

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

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Rethink

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

Enable sustainable lifestyles

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

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




👕📱 Consumer Goods

Communities

Governments

Cycle strategies aim to cycle and reuse materials at their highest value: they maximise the volume of secondary materials re-entering the economy, ultimately minimising the need for virgin material inputs and therefore also narrowing flows. Of course, virgin materials will always be needed to a degree: all materials degrade and can’t be cycled infinitely, use energy, and require blending with virgin materials to maintain strength and functionality.

Cycle

Impacts

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Industries

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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 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

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

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

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

More thematic areas are coming soon...

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



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



Circular City Actions Framework

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

Thematic Areas

City Stakeholders

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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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 Types of programs  Students who learn about waste avoidance and litter reduction at school develop positive environmental habits that are brought home and impact the entire family. We've partnered with environmental educators with the aim to increase waste literacy in the classroom and help empower young leaders to inspire others.   ​​​​​​​ City Farmer is a non-profit organization that operates the Vancouver Compost Demonstration Garden in Kitsilano. Since 1978, City Farmer has been teaching Vancouver residents how to grow food in the city, compost their waste and take care of their home landscape in an environmentally responsible way. City Farmer provides composting education to adults and children.   

  Creating a zero waste community requires everyone living and working in the city to change the way they view and manage waste. We provide outreach and education programs aimed at fostering positive and sustainable behaviour changes towards the goal of zero waste. As we embark on becoming a zero waste community, public education and outreach are important parts of achieving success. Our dedicated outreach team is focused on raising awareness and providing education on various waste-related programs and initiatives. Our objectives  Build up waste literacy of the general public, with emphasis on students and newcomers to the City Collaborate internally with other departments and externally with like-minded groups and organizations Foster positive and sustainable behaviour changes towards waste avoidance and reduction, reuse and recycling Encourage residents and organizations to take action through various programs and events Ensure the public understands and complies with regulations and by-laws
 Our programs  

 Zero Waste 2040 is a long-term strategic vision for Vancouver to achieve the goal of zero waste by 2040. It will help guide future decisions and investments relating to solid waste and provides a framework to continue the work and success of current zero waste policies and programs. The plan includes forward looking policies and actions to help stimulate, support, and allow Vancouver to become a zero waste community. Some of these actions can be implemented right away, while some will lay the ground work to progress over time.
 As a city we will:  Conserve resources Prevent waste of all types, including wasted food at all points between farm and table Compost inedible food or convert it into fuel Repair and maintain products and materials to extend their lives Share, reuse, and refurbish products and materials before recycling them
 The pursuit also contributes to other Greenest City goals, including:  Producing renewable energy Keeping pollution out of the environment Ensuring everyone has access to healthy food Diversifying and grow our economy



Vancouver

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Vancouver is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The Greater Vancouver area had a population of 2.6 million in 2021, making it the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada.

City of Vancouver

The City of Vancouver has launched a ‘Zero Waste 2040’ plan, within which it conducts outreach and education activities.

City of Vancouver waste education and outreach

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 health and happiness of human populations

Well-being

Direct and indirect reduction in economic costs

Cost Savings

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

Producing building materials and providing services to create residential and non-residential infrastructure and real estate


Construction and Infrastructure

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

Regenerative materials

Solidify definitions and create frameworks to support the understanding of the circular economy across contexts and maintain cohesive systems of data sharing, processing and storing.


 Knowledge Management

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

Manage

'Regulate' changes the rules of the systems to achieve compliance through enforcement. 


Regulate

 Regulation

Environmental assessment & permits

 Spatial Planning

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

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

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



🏢 Built Environment

Businesses

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 green buildings policy for rezoning developed by the city of Vancouver requires a Whole Building Lifecycle Assessment (WBLCA) and to disclose the results as part of their rezoning submission. The policy offers two pathways to compliance, A) Near Zero Emissions Buildings, and B) Low Emissions Green Buildings.To comply with the first pathway, projects shall be designed to meet Passive House requirements and apply for certification, or to an alternate near zero emissions building standard, such as the International Living Building Institute’s Net Zero Energy Building Certification, as deemed suitable by the Director of Sustainability.Whilst the low emissions green buildings pathway represents City priority outcomes, establishing limits on heat loss, energy use, and greenhouse gases, and drawing on industry best practices to create more efficient, healthy and comfortable homes and workplaces. (From C40's Clean Construction Policy Explorer)

Green building policy for rezoning - Vancouver, Canada

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

Prioritise regenerative resources

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

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

Visions and Ambitions

Roadmaps and strategies and targets

   Our plan builds on our previous climate plans and focuses on cutting carbon pollution from our biggest local sources - burning fossil fuels in our vehicles (39%) and in our buildings (54%). This plan means change. It means residents, businesses and the City doing our part to transition off fossil fuels. It is designed to make it easier for you to live a carbon-free life. We'll continue to gather public input on the actions as we move forward to make this an effective and equitable climate plan.      Nearly 40% of Vancouver’s carbon pollution comes from burning gasoline and diesel in our vehicles. We need to move people and goods around Vancouver in a climate-friendly and equitable way. Learn more      Over half of Vancouver’s carbon pollution comes from burning natural gas to heat space and water in our buildings.  We're working to make sure Vancouver’s buildings are constructed and operated in a climate-friendly, healthy, and resilient way. Learn more      By burning fossil fuels, we have put too much carbon into our atmosphere and it is causing climate change. We can make a difference by capturing carbon from the air and storing it in forests, kelp beds, and soils. Learn more​​​​​​​      We're striving to respond to the climate crisis with ambitious carbon reduction policies and equitable implementation of those policies to make sure our climate actions work for everyone. Learn more​​​​​​​        Watch this video to learn more about what climate change and bold climate action mean for Vancouver.        Find out how we’ll be tracking progress towards our climate targets and what we’ll include in our annual update.        Learn more about the initiatives helping us reach our goals and targets.    We need your ongoing input and action, as we move forward with this bold climate plan. Sign up to stay connected on ways to get involved.     Tweets by @greenestcity   

Canada

The City of Vancouver aims "to reduce the embodied emissions in new buildings and construction projects (new buildings &amp; infrastructure) by 40% by 2030 compared to a 2018 baseline - one of the big 6 moves that Vancouver has put forward as part of their emergency climate response" (Source: C40's Clean Construction Policy Explorer)