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

Increase Awareness

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

Impacts

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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

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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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  Access individual Standards or the entire consolidated set for free, provided in English and 11 other translations  

In the face of a growing global waste crisis, new corporate reporting disclosures are being developed by Global reporting Initiative (GRI) to help organizations better understand and communicate their waste impacts.
 
International recognition of the need for action on waste is increasing. The scale of the issue – from the effect of plastics in marine ecosystems to the mounting disconnect between food waste generation and global hunger – illustrates why businesses and other organizations need to play their part by improving waste management practices.
 
It is in this context that the GRI Waste Standard is under development, and open to public consultation and comment until 15 July 2019.
 
The draft Standard recognizes the importance of the transition to a circular economy and includes:
A fundamental shift in the perception of waste – from an unwanted burden to a source of valuable materials;
Greater emphasis on how decisions on procuring and using materials relate directly to waste generation and waste quality;
New disclosures to understand how discarded waste has been created and the significance of this impact;
Recognition of an organization’s impacts in the value chain and reporting how this is managed.
The draft GRI Waste Standard recognizes that our linear, ‘take-make-waste’ approach is contributing towards a global waste crisis. As the world moves to a more circular economy, in which we treat waste as an input material for production, a new approach to reporting is needed. 
This Standard will help companies better understand and measure their waste impacts, disclosing reliable and comparable data that ultimately supports better decisions. It also encourages creativity and lateral thinking – something that’s needed to tackle the issue internationally.

Judy Kuszewski, Chair of the GRI Global Sustainability Standards Board
The draft Standard will update GRI 306: Effluents and Waste 2016. It has been developed by a multi-stakeholder Project Working Group, appointed in 2018 by the GRI Global Sustainability Standards Board to review, revise or expand the content of waste disclosures.


  Published date: 08 February 2021      Organizations can now link the world’s leading sustainability reporting standards with an innovative tool for measuring their progress towards the circular economy.
GRI 306: Waste 2020 is the first globally applicable reporting standard for companies to provide a complete picture of waste impacts along their value chain. Circulytics from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation – the global thought leader for the circular economy – is a tool that enables any business to assess circular economy performance in its operations.
The Circulytics and GRI 306 linkage document provides an overview of the disclosures in the GRI Waste Standard and maps them against the relevant Circulytics indicators. This enables companies to use the data they already collect for their GRI reporting to complete a Circulytics assessment, providing results that can enhance sustainability reporting. Access to the GRI Standards and Circulytics are both free of charge.   “The GRI Standards enable organizations to communicate their impacts in a way that is globally comparable, creating information that can be used by companies and their stakeholders for multiple purposes. When it comes to understanding waste impacts, circularity is a central focus of the GRI Waste Standard. There are strong parallels between GRI 306 and the Circulytics tool. We would encourage organizations to assess the benefits that come from adopting circular economy practices, as supported by combining GRI reporting on waste with the metrics and insights from Circulytics.” Anna Krotova, Senior Manager – Standards, GRI   “We think it is important that Circulytics users can collect relevant data from the reporting they already do, to avoid added workload. Therefore, since many companies globally use the GRI Standards in their non-financial reporting, we decided it was important to map the Circulytics indicators to GRI 306 and will continue to do so with other GRI Standards where there is an overlap.” Nikki Kapp, Project Manager, Data and Metrics, Ellen MacArthur Foundation  How does Circulytics work? 
Circulytics was developed as a comprehensive measurement tool for the circular economy, looking beyond products and material flows
A company submits responses against a set of indicator questions, leading to a scorecard on circular economy performance, at the company level
The results can inform decision making and strategy development on circular economy transition, with opportunities to share the scoring with investors and customers
 What are the key features of GRI 306? 
This Standard supports reporting on the waste-related impacts of activities, products and services, enabling organizations to identify circularity and waste prevention opportunities
Companies are encouraged to assess waste throughout the value chain, identifying management decisions and actions that lead to a fundamental re-design of their business model and operations
Published in May 2020, it updates previous GRI disclosures on waste, responding to global concerns about increases in waste generation and the associated sustainability impacts
 

 GRI 306: Waste 2020, which published in May 2020, introduces a stronger relationship between materials and waste by assisting reporters in identifying and managing their waste-related practices, and impacts, throughout their value chain.
The Standard changes how companies measure and understand waste, responding to global concerns about increases in waste generation and the impact on the environment, society and the economy. It encourages companies to prevent waste at source and unlock opportunities for circular business practices.
By including updated disclosures, circularity and waste prevention concepts, the Waste Standard reflects global best practices on waste management. The Waste Standard updates previous GRI disclosures on waste and is now freely available as part of the GRI Standards.
GRI 306: Waste 2020 is available now for download.  

Global Reporting Initiative 

<p>The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an independent organization that helps businesses and other organizations take responsibility for their impacts, by providing them with the global common language to communicate those impacts. Companies are assessed by the GRI Standards, which are the world’s most widely used standards for sustainability reporting. Several indicators also help to measure the circularity of a company, such as water, material, energy, and waste management along with their emissions and biodiversity. With the addition of a new approach to their waste standard, Waste 2020, achieves to reflect the importance of creating value from waste, instead of treating it as a burden.</p>