Article / Report

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

Increase Awareness

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

Communication and awareness

Impacts

small_climate-4803653_640.jpg

thumbnail_climate-4803653_640.jpg

climate-4803653_640.jpg

The principles of a circular economy concern designing out waste, regenerating ecosystems and keeping items in use. Decoupling the economy from material flows—improving the rate of resource productivity faster than the economic growth rate—is also a consistent guide. By evolving with the growing number of applications of circular economy principles, and consolidating these strategies across thematic areas, Circle Economy’s Key Elements Framework (KE) renders the elements of the circular economy salient and serves as a basis to derive contextual strategies and interventions. 


The Framework consists of:
- Core Elements: Activities directly handling product or material flows; and uniquely,
- Enabling Elements: those that remove obstacles for core actors.


Key elements of the circular economy

large_photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

medium_photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

small_photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

thumbnail_photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

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

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

Based on the work of [Bocken et al. (2016)](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309699661_Product_design_and_business_model_strategies_for_a_circular_economy), the Four Flows Framework serves as a simple framework for managing resource flows in a circular economy by using less (Narrow), using for longer (Slow), using again (Cycle), and using clean, regenerative materials and energy (Regenerate).

These different principles of circular economy can be applied to our socioeconomic metabolism: we can design stocks like buildings, infrastructure, machinery, and vehicles to be rich resource mines for the future, and design manufactured goods and consumables to be cycled and made regenerative. Furthermore, the focus must also centre on getting more value out of fewer materials. Achieving the aims of a circular economy—minimising material use, regenerating the Earth, and preventing material losses—can be done through these four key strategies mentioned above.

Source: Circle Economy. (2023). *[The circularity gap report 2023](https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023)* (p.22). Amsterdam: Circle Economy. 

Four Flows Framework

medium_Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png

small_Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png

thumbnail_Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png

Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png

Our global society is not sustainable. We all know about the challenges we’re facing: waste, climate change, resource scarcity, loss of biodiversity. At the same time, we want to sustain our economies and offer opportunities for a growing world population. This course is about providing solutions we really believe in: a Circular Economy.
In this course we explore the Circular Economy: how businesses can create value by reusing and recycling products, how designers can come up with amazingly clever solutions, and how you can contribute to make the Circular Economy happen.
You will learn to re-think the economic system you’re experiencing every day, and act upon it. Be a leader in this major paradigm shift! Shape a more circular future together with our global network.
The course is led by TU Delft and co-created with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Sustainability.Episode 1: What is the circular economy?
How can the circular economy provide solutions to the challenges our current, linear economy brings? We explore the roots of the circular economy together with experts in the fields of industrial ecology, cradle to cradle and biomimicry.
Episode 2: Business value in a circular economy
Through closed loop supply chains and reversed logistics, new opportunities for business are created. This episode explores value creation andnew business modelsin a circular economy.
Episode 3: Longer lasting products
The smaller the loop, the greater the profitability of the system. We look at product life extension through the eyes of designers and entrepreneurs. Join us in our repair café!
Episode 4: Remanufacturing
Remanufacturing enables companies to recapture value on a product or component level. It is currently being rediscovered as a promising business opportunity. We’ll explore the topic together with researchers and entrepreneurs.
Episode 5: Waste equals Food
This episode discusses how we can take inspiration from nature, when redesigning the way we deal with waste. We’ll present a fascinating circularcase study. Can you identify opportunities for change in your own area’s?
Episode 6: Thinking in systems
The shift from linear to circular should not be underestimated. This episode will discuss the extent and duration of the transition. It will also ask, is the circular economy really sustainable?
Episode 7: Giving back
We end the course with a webinar. Your teachers will be available in a live session to discuss some of the thorniest issues and to answer your questions. This is also the week of the final exam.Receive an instructor-signed certificate with the institution's logo to verify your achievement and increase your job prospectsAdd the certificate to your CV or resume, or post it directly on LinkedInGive yourself an additional incentive to complete the courseedX, a non-profit, relies on verified certificates to help fund free education for everyone globallyLICENSEThe course materials of this course are Copyright Delft University of Technology and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC-BY-NC-SA) 4.0 International License.

We’re a charity committed to creating a circular economy, which is designed to eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature. It’s an economic system that delivers better outcomes for people, and the environment.

thumbnail_blob

blob

Ellen MacArthur Foundation

TU Delft 

Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Sustainability

<p>TU Delft offers an online free course, which is co-created with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Sustainability to enrich people's knowledge about the circular economy. The material provides an introduction into the circular economy and touches upon subjects such as how businesses can create value by reusing and recycling products, how designers can come up with amazingly clever solutions, and how anyone can contribute to make the circular economy happen. It is a great tool for raising awareness and diving deeper for anyone who is interested in the topic. </p>

Online Circular Economy Course

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

Prioritise regenerative resources

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

Use waste as a resource

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

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


Strengthen and advance knowledge

Skilling and re-skilling of the workforce through the integration of circularity into education and training programmes and support from government to enable access to these programmes for everyone.

Upskilling the workforce

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

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

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

Circular Jobs Initiative Pillars

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

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

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

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

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

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

  

  Let op: U gebruikt Internet Explorer. Vanaf 31 maart 2021 wordt Internet Explorer 11 niet meer ondersteund als browser door dit portaal. Wij adviseren u om gebruik te maken van Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome of Mozilla FireFox.     

TNO, the Netherlands Organisation for applied scientific research, was founded by law in 1932 to enable business and government to apply knowledge. As an organisation regulated by public law, we are independent: not part of any government, university or company. Please read more about our organisation below. 

OUR MISSION IS TO ACCELERATE THE PRACTICAL AND SCALABLE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

At Circle Economy, we believe in a visionary future for our planet — one in which we do not have to compromise in order to achieve economic, social, and environmental prosperity. As an impact organisation, we connect and empower a global community to create the conditions for systemic transformation. With nature as our mentor, we work alongside businesses, cities and governments to identify opportunities to make the transition to the circular economy, and provide a powerful combination of practical and scalable solutions to turn these opportunities into reality.
‍
Our mission is to empower a global community of businesses, cities and governments to accelerate the transition to the circular economy through practical and scalable insights and solutions that address humanity’s greatest challenges.

thumbnail_circle-economy.jpg

circle-economy.jpg

Circle Economy

<p>The Hague strives towards a circular economy. The circular economy has important aspects that promote economy and employment, whilst reducing carbon emissions as well as the dependence on raw materials. This is achieved through integrating new ways of producing, consuming and creating waste. This can be achieved through a just transition to a circular economy that integrates processes around the 8Rs</p>