Policy case

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

Ecological Impact

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

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)

Contributing to the improvement of biodiversity including species diversity, total number of protected species, and ecosystem health

Biodiversity

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

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

Replace energy sources with less impactful alternatives and enact energy efficiency measures

Regenerative energy

Designing to reduce waste during production and use

Design out waste

Using renewable energy like solar, wind, etc. or renewable fuels like biomass, etc.

Renewable energy, fuels

Designing products so they produce as little waste as possible during production

Design for minimal waste

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


Regulate

 Regulation

Environmental assessment & permits

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

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

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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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 Mzee Vedaste Hagiriryayo, 62, a resident of Kanombe Village in Karenge Cell, Jarama Sector of Ngoma District had until last year only known two sources of energy; firewood and kerosene. Today, this is a story of the past to the senior citizen and many others in his village after they were connected to solar energy in June last year, courtesy of Rwanda National Police. More than 34, 000 households were connected with solar energy across the country during the 2017 Police Week that focused on community development. “Police brought the sun to my house and my village; the sun that shines at night,” says Hagiriryayo. “Izo mpfura ntawazivuga nabi,” he says, loosely meaning that ‘no one can speak ill of our police.’ Located some 150km from Kigali in the undulating hills of Eastern Province, Kanombe is in many respects a throwback to times long passed. Shining corrugated iron-clad mud and wattle houses flank the narrow foot paths that run down the valley to the picturesque Lake Rweru. Despite the several hours of bright sunshine every day, all-year-round, Karenge is the only place that had never had electricity, of the 10 cells that make up Jarama Sector. Residents are progressively breaking away from pre-industrial era to commercial farming. The one-cow-per-poor-family scheme is also changing lives of some families that have shifted to use of biogas out of livestock wastes. With renewable energy, business activity booming and social infrastructures like the health centre being guaranteed of electricity, the welfare is steadily changing in Kanombe Village. Security, health, education and businesses are changing face for better while communication and information through more acquisition of TV sets and handsets keep residents informed on government development programmes. “Our children can now do their homework and revise at night; they are doing well in school,” says another resident. “Children used to go to bed at the same time as the rest...very early, now they have plenty of time to revise,” he adds. The solar power is also empowering villagers to create newer sources of income, or small enterprises. “The solar electricity also enabled entrepreneurs to establish groceries, people enjoy their drinks watching TV, and businesses are open for relatively more hours.” “Karenge, being a farming and fishing community, the use of cell-phones for communication with business partners is very important,” says Anita Mukasine, the cell executive secretary. Like Hagiriryayo, Jean Bosco Rutagwena, the village chief, says residents have reported incremental and significant savings because they no longer have to rely on expensive and dirty kerosene for home lighting, and they no longer have to move distances to charge telephone batteries. Lives saved The community is also seeing better health outcomes moving from archaic sources of energy, such as kerosene lamps. That there are advantages of environmental protection goes without saying. Pascal Kirusha, the head of Sangaza health centre, confirms that the arrival of solar power has significantly reduced the number of respiratory cases received at the centre. Sangaza is one of the 30 health centres that were also lit with solar energy during the RNP 17th anniversary activities, last year. Kirusha says that, with solar energy providing reliable electricity supply, the health centre can properly handle most emergencies, even at night, and has helped raise awareness on the availability of prenatal care. “Patients have since increased and have confidence in our services due to the differences brought about by lighting alone. For example, no case of an expectant mother delivering from home was reported last month in all the 24 villages served by the health centre,” says Kirusha. “Before solar was installed, patients used to go to a tertiary care hospital if they needed services, and that usually meant at least half a day’s journey; others would deliver from their homes.” Today, the centre, with seven health workers, serves a population of close to 15,000, and receives over 150 patients daily. Previously, the health centre would spend about Rwf800, 000 from its monthly gross income of Rwf2 million, on petrol to power the generator, according to Kirusha, which was saved with the coming of solar energy. “We now buy only 10 litres a month for sterilisation of medical tools and emergencies,” he says. “In cases when our generator would get faulty, we would use the light from our mobile telephones at our labour section, a potentially dangerous scenario, especially when the baby is in an awkward position, or while the mother’s cervix is small and you can’t see properly. Thankfully, with solar energy, our generator serves as backup,” explains Claudette Nambage, a midwife at the centre. Solar power makes it easy to deploy for multiple rural applications, impacting key facets of rural population such as productivity, safety, health benefits, and livelihood. It is evident that adoption of solar power as an alternative source of energy could alter the socio-economic fabric of rural Rwanda, for the better and if this pace is maintained, rural Rwanda is indeed headed for ‘sunny days’. editorial@newtimes.co.rw 

Sierra Leone

African Development Bank

 Government of Sierra Leone

<p>In cooperation with the African Development Bank, the government of Sierra Leone developed a strategy towards green growth. The strategic plan includes proposals for energy policies, for instance solutions based on developing a rational energy mix and minimizing transmission and distribution losses while making maximum use of renewables, especially hydroelectric power and biomass energy.</p>

Green Growth Strategy of Sierra Leone

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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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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

Reuse, repurpose, and recycle waste streams within other industries

Valorise waste streams - open loop

Transforming waste products, materials for reuse within other industries

Open loop upcycling

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

Manage

Infrastructure

Develop infrastructure to support resource cycling

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 circular potential of organic wastes is dependent on the quality and low contamination rate of the residual stream that is collected. Food and organic wastes are difficult to sort and separate post-collection, and as such, collecting organic wastes through a mixed collection are often limited to incineration or landfill. Therefore, collecting organic wastes through a separate collection system is key to unlock potential high-value management practices, for example, composting and anaerobic digestion.

Due to the strong influence over the operation of local waste management systems, local governments have a key role in the provision of separate organic waste collection systems throughout the city. Collections systems can vary to suit the specific characteristics of particular neighbourhoods and areas of a city. For example, areas with detached homes have more space for bins, while for apartments with less space, a communal receptacle may be more appropriate. Communication campaigns can help to raise awareness and encourage participation of residents to separate their organic wastes. 


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🍏  Separate organic waste collection infrastructure

The food system nourishes populations and employs 50% of the global workforce, but:
- it currently drives a quarter of the overshoot on the climate change planetary boundary due to its greenhouse gas (GHG) production, 
- animal farming alone uses over one-quarter of all land, equivalent to the size of the Americas,
- nearly a quarter of freshwater resources are lost due to rampant food waste, and
- it is the single largest driver of biodiversity loss.

A circular food system must address the whole value chain, from production to consumption to waste management. The four key solutions for the food system are:
- Put healthier, satiating foods first: Prioritise satiating and healthy foods with a lower environmental impact—ideally shifting calories from meat, fish, and dairy towards cereals, fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
- Go local, seasonal, and organic: Prioritise the production and consumption of local, seasonal, and organic produce (sometimes in combination with GMO to reduce pests and disease loss on crops), which can lead to a significantly reduced need for chemical inputs, fuels, and processing services that contribute to environmental impacts.
- Mainstream regenerative agriculture: Scale up agricultural practices that regenerate ecosystems, recirculate nutrients and sequester carbon by design. 
- End avoidable food waste: Minimise food loss and valorise waste following the food waste hierarchy along the supply chain and at the consumer level through better management of transport and storage, more refrigeration and smart planning, and technology at the consumer and food service levels.



🍏 Food Systems

Governments

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

                This is the Safisana recycling plant, located in Ashaiman, a densely populated settlement in the Greater Accra Area, serving over 250,000 inhabitants, 90 percent of whom lives below the poverty line. Commissioned by the Municipality of Ashaiman and the Ghanese National Ministeries of Energy and Agriculture, and financed primarily by the AfDB and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the plant opened its doors in 2017. It was the result of a long journey that had started back in 2010 and that had brought us on the sometimes bumpy road of trial and error. With the circular economy being firmly still in the theoretic phase, we invested in our relationships with the critical partners, and we learnt what was needed to achieve a truly local approach. Today the Ashaiman facility has grown into an economically stable locally managed company – run by a team of 28 highly skilled local specialists, and a ready-made blueprint for replication.          To date the recycling plant has improved the lives of thousands of people living and working in Ashaiman, generating social, economic, and environmental benefits for the local community as a whole. Improved sanitation services and waste collection have led to a cleaner and healthier living and working environment. The production of clean energy, nutrient-rich soil (fertiliser) as well as clean irrigation water has lowered carbon footprint and improved food security and safety. In addition, the plant generates direct employment for local staff as well as for related local businesses such as energy companies, waste collecting companies, toilet operators, and local farmers.             tonnes faecal wastetreated per year         tonnes of organic wastetreated per year         MwH energy produced per year                            Miss Agyeiwaa,  Food Vendor atlocal Ashaiman Food Market            Mr. Kwaku YahayaToilet Operator                     Kwabena Ampadu Otu - DanquahFormer Director of Renewable Energy at the Energy Commission                    If you are reading this, it is because your browser does not support the HTML5 video element.                    

Ashaiman

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Municipality of Ashaiman

Ghanese National Ministeries of Energy and Agriculture

<p>The Safisana recycling plant in Ashaiman collects sewage from public toilet blocks and organic waste, from which it generates biogas and compost for an on-site seedling nursery. The plant has been commissioned by the Municipality of Ashaiman and the Ghanese National Ministeries of Energy and Agriculture, and financed primarily by the AfDB and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.</p>