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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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Business case

Direct and indirect reduction in economic costs

Cost Savings

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)

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

Extracting and gathering wood through forestry and producing wood and paper products

Wood and Paper

Collection programmes that process products and parts for reuse or recycling within other industries

Open loop collection

Transforming waste products into materials and lower value products within other industries

Open loop downcycling

Transforming waste products, materials for reuse within other industries

Open loop upcycling

Generating energy from waste through processes such as anaerobic digestion, gasification, incineration, etc.

Generating energy from waste

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

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

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

Impacts

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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

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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 Whether from construction, renovation and demolition sites and projects, waste sorting plants and materials recovery facilities and landfill sites, tree cutting and pruning operations, urban land clearing and leftover scrap wood from sawmills and other primary and secondary wood processing operations, we make it our business. Brainchild of company president Gérard Quenneville, a licensed professional engineer specializing in the design, fabrication and maintenance of wood and residual waste processing machinery in the mid 1990s, BIOMASS RECYCLE Canada Inc. collects waste wood and lumber from manufacturers, recycling plants, waste transfer and sorting stations and landfill sites, as well as waste materials from the care and maintenance operations of urban green spaces and forwards them to processors for conversion to energy, wood pellets, horticultural mulch, particleboard or compost. BIOMASS RECYCLE Canada Inc. diverts over 250,000 metric tonnes of waste wood and lumber annually from landfill sites which it then forwards to industrial processors to turn into energy and other added value organic materials for agriculture and horticulture uses such as composts, mulch, animal litter, gardening soils and landscaping.  A local eco-responsible business BRC is a serious, reliable and socially responsible partner in the eyes of governments and waste wood and lumber generators, as our company is there for the long haul. We encourage sustained mutual cooperation with our partners ensuring their common interest and the environment are equally served. This business model allows us to literally “starve” landfill sites while generating local economic activity. Our turf Our firm serves the vast area comprised within the triangle formed by the Outaouais region, the Laurentians, Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and New York State, using existing common carriers already serving this region delivering various bulk freight who would otherwise be returning empty to their home base. Guaranteeing these carriers with full loads of waste wood and lumber on return trips ensures their profitability and contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. BIOMASS RECYCLE Canada Inc. is a member in good standing of the Regroupement des récupérateurs et des recycleurs de matériaux de construction et de démolition du Québec (3RMCDQ). Gérard Quenneville is a member of Professional Engineers Ontario. Our suppliers Our supply of waste wood and lumber is provided directly by recyclers or generators of waste wood materials — manufacturing facilities, sawmills, wood processing plants, general contractors and their subcontractors in construction, renovations and demolition, recycling businesses, residual waste transfer stations and sorting operations, municipal materials recovery facilities, landfill sites and operators, land clearing contractors, and more recently, tree harvesting contractors responsible for cutting trees infested with the emerald ash borer and other forest diseases. Wood residues constitute almost half of the residual waste materials slated for landfill sites. By ensuring their safe removal and disposal, we allow our suppliers to save considerable landfill costs and to put their waste materials to good use as energy generating residues and other useful materials in our local economy. Our suppliers are counting on us to obtain and maintain their LEED credits. We accept all types of waste wood materials, including compact and high pressure wood laminates and plywood but not pressure treated wood or creosote treated wood. 

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BIOMASS RECYCLE CANADA INC. (BRC) SPECIALIZES IN ECO-RESPONSIBLY RECYCLING AND REUSING WASTE WOOD AND LUMBER RESIDUES FROM ALL SOURCES.

BIOMASS RECYCLE Canada Inc. 

Wood residues constitute almost half of the residual waste materials slated for landfill sites in Canada. BIOMASS RECYCLE Canada (BCR) Inc.&nbsp;collects waste wood and lumber from 100% urban sources, like manufacturers, recycling plants, waste transfer and sorting stations and landfill sites, as well as waste materials from the care and maintenance operations of urban green spaces. Over 250,000 metric tonnes of waste wood and lumber are diverted annually from landfill sites and then forwarded to industrial processors to turn into energy and other added value organic materials for agriculture and horticulture uses such as composts, mulch, animal litter, gardening soils and landscaping. The company accepts almost all types of waste wood materials, including compact and high pressure wood laminates and plywood, with the only exception of pressure treated wood or creosote treated wood. The areas served covers a vast area including the Outaouais region, the Laurentians, Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and New York State. BCR encourages sustained mutual cooperation with its partners, such as governments and waste wood and lumber generators, ensuring their common interest and the environment are equally served. Their business model allows to literally “starve” landfill sites while generating local economic activity. By ensuring the safe removal and disposal of wood and lumber waste, BCR allows suppliers to save considerable landfill costs and to put their waste materials to good use as energy generating residues and other useful materials in the local economy. Additionally, suppliers are counting on these services to obtain and maintain their LEED certification credits.