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This collection comes from the <a href="https://www.circle-economy.com/circular-jobs-initiative/" target="_blank">Circular Jobs Initiative</a>, an initiative of Circle Economy.

The workforce is an essential lever for transforming our economy from linear to circular. The Circular Jobs Initiative aims to maximise the employment opportunities offered by the circular economy. It provides practical support and insights to businesses and governments that want to adopt circular strategies that have a positive social impact.The Circular Jobs Initiative works through three focus areas: 

- Upskilling the workforce

- Quality of work

- Inclusive job opportunities 

CJI has defined circular jobs as any occupation that directly involves or indirectly supports one of the strategies of the circular economy. It distinguishes between three types of circular jobs: core, enabling and indirectly circular jobs.

**Core circular jobs** are all jobs that ensure the closure of raw material cycles, including jobs in repair, renewable energy, waste and resource management. 

**‍Enabling circular jobs** are jobs that remove barriers for and enable the acceleration and upscaling of core circular activities, including jobs that arise in leasing, education, design and digital technology. 

**Indirectly circular jobs** are jobs that occur in other sectors that do not play a direct role in furthering the transition to the circular economy but can still adopt circular strategies. They include jobs that provide services to core circular strategies, including jobs in information services, logistics and the public sector.

The Knowledge Hub Collection includes examples of circular jobs, publications, reports, case studies and policies different organisations, governments and businesses are already using to advocate for a person-centred circular economy. 

Visit the <a href="https://www.circle-economy.com/circular-jobs-initiative/" target="_blank">Circular Jobs Initiative</a>

Visit the <a href="http://jobsmonitor.circle-economy.com/" target="_blank">Circular Jobs Monitor</a>

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Circular Jobs Initiative

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Policy case

Impact on the quantity or quality of jobs, and shifts in the labour market

Jobs

Impact on the health and happiness of human populations

Well-being

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)

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

Engage with the government on circular policies and programmes

Government collaboration

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

Design for minimal waste

Designing products to remove any barriers to recycling and enable easy recyclability

Design for recycling

Roadmaps and strategies and targets

Advocate for circular change

Develop infrastructure to support resource cycling

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

Policies

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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

 South Africa has aligned its waste management policy and regulations to the concept of circular economy. Image: Pixabay South Africa’s national waste management policy has been aligned with the concept of circular economy. Addressing a webinar about circular economy in celebration of South Africa’s Recycling Week, the minister of environment, forestry and fisheries, Barbara Creecy, also pointed out the green economy is one of the four sectors prioritised by the national government to assist with the country’s economic recovery. “South Africa has realised that green industries can open up new possibilities for development and assist in creating much needed jobs. The waste management sector has strong potential to innovate and improve socio-economic conditions, and contribute to sustainable development and resource use,” Creecy said. Read more:South Africa’s waste management strategy promotes circular economyAccelerating the circular economy through waste to valueRepurposing waste as an alternative energy source Last week, the South African cabinet approved the National Waste Management Strategy 2020, which is meant to promote waste hierarchy and circular economy principles while achieving both socio-economic benefits and reducing negative environmental impacts. “Key to this are the three Pillars of the National Waste Management Strategy, which are promoting waste minimisation; efficient and effective waste services and awareness raising; and compliance monitoring and enforcement,” Creecy explained. Taking responsibility for the products you create The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries this year embarked on an extensive consultation process to kickstart the Extended Producers Responsibility for paper and packaging; electrical and electronic equipment; and lighting.  This gives effect to Section 18 of the National Environmental Management Waste Act of 2008 and also charts a new approach to the management of waste in the country. Sign up for the ESI Africa newsletter Creecy: “This will make a significant contribution to the diversion of waste from landfilling, thereby increasing the recycling rate to achieve the objectives of the National Waste Management Strategy. This programme will ensure that waste pickers are fully integrated in the recycling value chain.” Part of the new rules also ensure product design changes that embrace circularity for the manufacturing of plastic carrier bags. Closing the loop on plastic Creecy said the Department had received extensive comments on the amendments of the plastic carrier regulations. “Despite the setbacks faced in the Section 28 process for waste tyres, in November 2019, I commissioned the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – in term of section 29 of the Waste Act – to develop an industry waste management plan for the waste tyre sector. This process has not been without its difficulties but following recent interactions, we hope to issue a version which is fully compliant with the regulatory environment later this year.” Other initiatives the Department hope will promote the circular economy include the exclusion regulations which recognise material that can be used for beneficiation purposes without needing a waste licence. Creecy added: “I have approved 48 applications for the beneficial use of several waste material, thus unblocking obstacles and promoting the full implementation of the waste management hierarchy.” She said the Department will continue the implementation of programmes such as the Recycling Enterprise Support Programme and Chemicals and Waste Economy Phakisa initiatives that contribute to job creation while diverting waste away from landfills. “We are also taking time to rethink and reimagine how these programmes can further enhance the demand for waste materials in order to close the loop,” said Creecy. 

 Featured image: Stock During a recent webinar, sector development agency GreenCape launched its annual Market Intelligence Reports. During the discussion, circular economy programme manager Saliem Haider pointed out that these reports focus on waste beneficiation as a driver of investment. While the lockdown caused by COVID-19 is having an effect on the South African waste sector, Haider said the local recycling market was already going through a massive dip and not faring well for two reasons.  Read more about:Recycling The Chinese ban on importing recycling material affected the paper and cardboard recycling sector in South Africa, and to a certain extent the metal and electronics recycling sectors as well.  The other reason was the drop in the oil price having an impact on the plastics sector: “The demand for replacing virgin material was then lowered,” explained Haider. “COVID-19 and the lockdown was not the cause, it just exacerbated the difficulty the sector was facing. Some of the companies that were teetering on the brink could have been pushed over the edge. Whereas the downturn in the market affected a lot of the waste handlers, COVID-19 impacted the recyclers as well,” said Haider. Still, he feels the lockdown would merely delay the investment opportunities which could come to fruition in the waste sector, and therefore the circular economy, over the next few years. Sign up for the ESI Africa newsletter National waste management strategy “COVID-19 highlighted the sensitivity of the market in terms of recycling in its own right. While landfills are filling up, bans are coming and the government is taking this seriously so I think the opportunity to invest and start doing things different is there and that favours investment in this sphere,” said Haider. He pointed out that the South African government’s national waste management strategy will compel major metros to include and integrate the informal sector into the waste management space by 2021, and all secondary cities to do so by 2023. On the policy side in the Western Cape, the Department of Environmental Affairs has announced an organics ban: “Fifty percent diversion from landfills by 2022 and 100% by 2027. That lends itself to the opportunity for investment into anaerobic digestion, composting etc.  “The fact of the matter is when it comes to 2027, no banana peel [in the Western Cape] may end up in your black bag anymore so we have to have mechanisms in place to deal with it. Again, it will change the way each and every person views waste and will start valuing waste,” said Haider. Listen to the full recording. Sector development agency GreenCape specialises in understanding and unlocking opportunities in the green economy. Their annual Market Intelligence Reports (MIR) reveal a range of opportunities currently emerging in the South African Greentech sector. 

This article has been modified - Original article published on the South Africa Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries website  South Africa has recently approved three key actions that will contribute to an environment that is not only healthy for all South Africans, but also able to contribute effectively to sustainable economic development and job creation.  During its meeting in September 2020, the Cabinet approved the revised National Waste Management Strategy 2020, the Low Emissions Development Strategy, and the Presidential Climate Change Coordinating Commission (PCCCC). The approved National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS) 2020 is broadly focused on preventing waste and diverting waste from landfill by leveraging the concept of Circular Economy to drive sustainable, inclusive economic growth and development in the waste sector, while reducing the social and environmental impacts of waste. Its implementation plan is designed to facilitate the creation of jobs in the waste sector and increase awareness and compliance around waste. Building on the successes and lessons learned from the 2011 strategy Among the significant strategic shifts from the 2011 strategy in the NWMS 2020 include addressing the role of waste pickers and the informal sector in the Circular Economy, promoting product design packaging that reduces waste or encourages reuse, repair and preparation for recycling, and support markets for source separated recyclables. NWMS 2020 also investigates potential regulatory or economic interventions to increase participation rates in residential separation at source programmes, alongside investing in the economies associated with transporting of recyclables to waste processing facilities and addressing the skills gaps within the sector. IUCN MARPLASTICCs initiative Through its MARPLASTICCs initiative, IUCN supported the strategy development process by sharing knowledge and lessons derived from its activities addressing marine plastics and advocating for the integration of the marine plastic pollution dimension which had been missing in the previous strategy. “South Africa’s vision and commitment in addressing waste is commendable, as articulated through its new waste management strategy that puts great emphasis on waste prevention and minimization, and enshrines the concept of circular economy,” said Peter Manyara, the Regional Project Coordinator, MARPLASTICCs project. IUCN is supporting National governments and stakeholders in the Eastern and Southern Africa region to integrate a circular economy approach in addressing and reducing plastic pollution. This is achieved through its multipronged approach that contributes to strengthening national knowledge on plastic leakage at all stages of plastics life-cycle, including co-shaping recommendations on appropriate interventions and policy instruments to address the problem.  Overarching pillars of the National Waste Management Strategy 2020
There are three overarching pillars of the revised National Waste Management Strategy 2020:

South Africa

Government of South Africa

The South African cabinet created the National Waste Management Strategy 2020 to promote waste hierarchy and circular economy principles while achieving both socio-economic benefits and reducing negative environmental impacts. Their goal is 50% diversion from landfills by 2022 and 100% by 2027 with investments such as anaerobic digestion and composting practices. Part of the new rules also ensures product design changes that embrace circularity for the manufacturing of plastic carrier bags, as a way to achieve closing the loop on plastics.

South Africa's Circular Waste Management Policy

Providing electricity and gas services, including traditional and renewable energy generation, natural and manufactured gas and operating gas networks

Energy Utilities and Independent Power Producers

Develop regenerative infrastructure

Monitoring & enforcement

Bans

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Decommissioning coal-powered energy plants in Komati, South Africa is essential if&nbsp;the government is to meet its commitment to&nbsp;reach net-zero&nbsp;carbon-dioxide emissions by 2050, and yet these closures also put tens of thousands of jobs at risk. Potentially destabilizing around the whole country, it’s a recipe for a dangerous&nbsp;economic and political upheaval&nbsp;that’s prompted the government and industry to sign on to the concept of a “just energy transition”—an attempt to create new employment and win public buy-in for the impending change. Despite the upheaval and future potential effort for improvement, for now, it is still unclear how these issues will be solved in Komati. South Africa's struggle highlights how circular practices need to come hand in hand with circular social change such as creating secure circular jobs.

Need for Circular Jobs in Circular Transitions- South Africa's Upheaval after Turning to Renewables

Article / Report

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

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 increased knowledge and understanding as a result of the case study

Increase Awareness

Impact on the ease of innovation, and facilitating uptake of innovations

Innovation

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

Operating networks and software that enable the exchange and broadcasting of information, such as entertainment and internet software, television, cable, satellite or radio broadcasting systems, and cellular, wireless and/or fixed-line telecommunications services

Software and Communications

Consider opportunities to create greater value and align incentives that build on the interaction between products and services

Rethink the business model

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

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

Engaging in discussions with government bodies and policymakers to push for regulations that support the circular economy

Advocacy for circular economy policy

Participating in government programmes that support and advance the circular economy

Government programmes

'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

Data, knowledge & information sharing

Conduct research

'Mobilise' sets the direction of and builds momentum towards long-term change, while also determining how this direction is determined and governed.

Mobilise

Visions and Ambitions

Govern the Transition

Institutional design to enable circularity

 Convene Towards Action

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

Communication and awareness

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


Strengthen and advance knowledge

 Conceived at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Kigali in 2016, and launched at COP 23 in Bonn, the Alliance was founded by three countries Rwanda, Nigeria and South Africa along with UN Environment and the World Economic Forum. The 17th Ordinary Session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), which took place in Durban, in November 2019, called for the widespread adoption of the circular economy on the continent. AMCEN is committed to replicate, scale-up and use circular approaches as part of Africa’s transformation efforts, in line with African Union “Agenda 2063”, and to support the work of the Alliance.  Ambition of the African Circular Economy Alliance To spur Africa’s transformation to a circular economy which delivers economic growth, jobs and positive environmental outcomes at the national, regional and continental levels. Context African countries with their vast untapped natural resources and fast-growing population, have the chance to leapfrog to a low-emission and climate-resilient development model by adopting circular economy principles that enhance social inclusivity. An effective circular model for Africa must emphasize green innovations and job creation to seize local and cross-border market opportunities, as well as enhancing climate resilience through economic diversification.    Objectives  Share best practices for the creation of legal and regulatory frameworks, the building of partnerships and the financing and creation of circular economy projects. Advocate for and raise awareness of the circular economy at a national, regional and global level. Bring about new projects and partnerships within individual or multiple countries.
 Activities  Facilitate seminars, trainings and workshops in the Member Countries on the topic of circular Economy. Encourage partnerships and sister projects in the Member Countries. Facilitate partnerships and sister projects in African and non-African countries. Develop a group of African leaders who champion the circular economy. Create coalitions to implement on the ground projects on the circular economy and initiate pilot projects in Member Countries.
 Membership & Eligibility The Alliance is open to membership from national institutions and public sector entities, international organizations, funding institutions and research centers. Current member countries include: Governments of Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa. Current strategic partners include the African Development Bank, Africa Circular Economy Network, Global Environment Facility, Government of Finland, PACE, UN Environment, UN Development Programme and World Economic Forum. Private sector membership will not be sought in the initial phase, although the Alliance will work closely with the private sector by way of consultation and collaboration on specific projects or activities. Contact Information ACEA Secretariat: acea@dalberg.com   

It is essential for Africa to revalue its waste in order to reduce the effects of the pollution it generates, which in turn has an impact on the health and well-being of populations and economic growth. Not to mention the economic interest in recovering material resources available at the places of consumption and production, whose recycling almost systematically generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions and pollution in general than production from the extraction of virgin raw materials. This observation guided the second summit of the African Circular Economic Alliance (ACEA), which was held on the 14th of November 2019 in Durban, South Africa. The work focused in particular on the adoption of the charter that the organisation wishes to adopt.
The text sets out the terms and conditions for membership and eligibility to join the Alliance (reserved only for public sector organisations). It also shows the provisions concerning the ACEA management board. The organisation has two co-chairs who serve for a five-year term. Currently held by the Environment Ministers of Rwanda and South Africa, this function consists of overseeing the strategy and direction of the Alliance, leading the secretariat and technical committee, and guiding the process of identifying and welcoming new members.
South Africa and Rwanda launched ACEA in November 2017 at COP23 in Bonn, Germany. The two countries will be joined in June 2018 by Nigeria at the first ACEA Summit in Helsinki, Finland.
Africa could save up to $186 billion a year through the circular economy
The vision of the ACEA is to build a restorative African economy that generates the well-being and prosperity of all its people through new forms of economic production and consumption, which maintain and regenerate its resources. Taking part in a public conference at Félix Houphouët-Boigny University in Cocody, Ivory Coast, on October 17, 2019, the co-founder of ACEA, Alexandre Lemille, said that the circular economy could save Africa over $186 billion, just by changing the way we consume.
Also present at the conference was Michel Benoît Coffi, Secretary General of the Abidjan Autonomous District Council Bureau, representing the Governor of Abidjan in Ivory Coast. He presented the plans for a circular economy project in his district. “The transformation of organic waste into agricultural substrate or bio-methane and the recovery of 16% of dry waste should create 42,000 new jobs”. He also pointed out that 35 to 45% of water bills can be saved if shower water is used to evacuate faeces…
Boris Ngounou


  The World Economic Forum is playing a crucial role in spurring Africa’s transformation to a circular economy that delivers economic growth, jobs and positive environmental outcomes.  Conceived by the World Economic Forum and the Government of Rwanda in 2016 and then launched in 2017, The African Circular Economy Alliance (ACEA) is a country-led platform, that aims to lead advocacy projects, undertake policy research and support high-impact circular-economy projects. Co-chaired by the environment ministers of Rwanda, Nigeria and South Africa, with 10 member countries from across the African continent, the ACEA has given rise to a multi-donor trust fund with initial capital of €4 million. The Africa Circular Economy Support Programme (ACESP) will fund circular economy entrepreneurs and circular economy activities in countries that have joined the alliance.    In a circular economy, all resources are used to their highest value and reused continuously rather than being thrown away.  The size of the economic opportunity from rethinking how resources are used is vast. For example, there is 100 times more gold in a tonne of smartphones than a tonne of gold ore, but many phones are not properly recycled, wasting these resources. Accenture has valued this global opportunity at $4.5 trillion.  Africa is well placed to profit from this opportunity. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reports that there are 200 million people aged between 15 and 24 on the continent. This number is expected to double by 2045, providing a potential demographic dividend for fast economic growth if enough jobs are created.  The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) calculates that for every 10,000 tonnes of used goods, putting them in landfill would create six jobs, recycling them would create 36 jobs, and reuse and repair could create up to 296.    The ACEA was first conceived in collaboration with the Rwandan Ministry of Environment at the World Economic Forum on Africa in 2016. Rwanda has long been a leader in circular economy and was one of the first countries in the world to ban plastic bags. At the World Economic Forum on Africa in 2017, South Africa and Nigeria joined the alliance as co-chairs and ACEA was born. The Forum used its multistakeholder platform to bring the parties together and continues to provide financial and in-kind support. However, the ACEA is a country-led programme fully governed by the co-chairs. It is supported by a number of strategic partners including the Forum, the AfDB, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Government of Finland and the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy, with financial support from the Danish and Finnish governments and the Nordic Council.  The ACEA secretariat has already begun researching how circular economy approaches can aid sustainable economic growth across Africa and the findings will be presented to all environment ministers as part of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment in 2021.    One ACEA project is a collaboration with the Forum’s Regional Action Group on Africa and the Africa Plastics Recycling Alliance, a coalition which includes Diageo, Unilever, The Coca-Cola Company and Nestlé. This collaboration will spark collaboration between companies and policy-makers working on building a PET bottle-to-bottle recycling industry on the continent, which will reduce waste and also create jobs.  If your organization is undertaking research on the circular economy in Africa, or if you have a high-impact project with ambitious growth targets, consider reaching out to the ACEA using the link below. You can also use the links below to find out how the World Economic Forum’s Circular Economy Initiative brings together private, public, civil society, and expert stakeholders to accelerate the circular economy transition.  
   
    
    
 
 

Nigeria

Rwanda

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system, and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment.

Our mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.

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United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Government of Rwanda

Government of Nigeria

The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.

The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

It was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests. The Forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance. Moral and intellectual integrity is at the heart of everything it does.

World Economic Forum

PACE is a global community of leaders working together to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. Our focus is on the areas that require deep collaboration between business, government and civil society, creating a space for leaders to work in partnership and overcome challenges together.

PACE - Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy

The Alliance was founded by three countries: Rwanda, Nigeria and South Africa along with UN Environment and the World Economic Forum which is a country-led platform, that aims to lead advocacy projects, undertake policy research and support high-impact circular-economy projects. One objective of this alliance is to share best practices for the creation of legal and regulatory frameworks, the building of partnerships and the financing and creation of circular economy projects which is done, for instance, by facilitating seminars, trainings and workshops in the member countries on the topic of the circular economy.

The African Circular Economy Alliance (ACEA)

Direct and indirect reduction in economic costs

Cost Savings

Reduced use of virgin materials and/or an increase of the use of secondary and bio-based materials

Reduce Material Consumption (SDG12)

Reduced use and withdrawal of water and rate of recycling and reuse of water

Save Water (SDG6)

Reduced use of fossil fuel energy sources and/or increased use of renewable energy

Reduce Energy Consumption

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

Biodiversity

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


Construction and Infrastructure

Producing building materials and finished and semi-finished building products for construction

Construction Materials and Products

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

Prioritise regenerative resources

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

Regenerative materials

Enacting measures that optimise material use such as 3D printing, etc.

Material efficiency

Using <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/raw-materials/specific-interest/critical_sv" target="_blank">materials that are not considered critical</a>.

Non-critical materials and inputs 

Using <a href="https://echa.europa.eu/information-on-chemicals" target="_blank">materials that are not toxic or hazardous</a>.

Non-toxic materials and inputs

Using materials that can be easily reused or recycled after use

Reusable, recyclable materials and inputs

Legislation

Performance standards

Technology standards

Other legislation

  The main process difference between traditionally-used cement and hybrid cement, however, is that normal cement relies on a high-energy manufacturing process that imparts high potential energy to the material via calcination.
This means the activated material will react readily with a low energy material such as water.
On the other hand, hybrid cement uses very low energy materials, like Fly Ashes, Slags and other industrial wastes and a small amount of chemical activators which may be in the form of neutral salts or alkali and acidic activators, or specific combinations of the above to bring about reaction at the surfaces of particles to act as a glue.
This approach allows the use of measured amounts of chemicals to tailor the product to a particular specification, rather than using an amount of very high-energy material, regardless of whether the material is used to build strength.
This approach results in a very large energy saving in the production of hybrid cement, amongst other benefits.  

Gauteng

South Africa as Party to the Kyoto Protocol has taken up the responsibility to peak, plateau and reduce GHG emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets. By reducing the GHG's emitted by the built environment, through necessitating the use of hybrid cement in all infrastructure build projects, South Africa can accelerate it advance towards achieving its emission reduction targets.

Hybrid cement, a necessary partial Portland cement replacement in South Africa's built environment. 

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This collection features a selection of case studies, based on the global *Circularity Gap Reports*, that can mitigate climate breakdown by reducing virgin material consumption, waste and greenhouse gas emissions. The latest **[Circularity Gap Report 2023](https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023#download)** reveals that the global economy is now only 7.2% circular and outlines how circular solutions across four sectors can bring global planetary boundaries back within safe limits. 

In the six years of the *Circularity Gap Report*, the global economy has extracted and used unprecedented amounts of materials. The first edition of the *Report *in 2018 found that global circularity was 9.1% and it has decreased every year since—leaving a Circularity Gap of over 90%. If this trend continues, we will have to find more and better solutions to combat the negative effects of climate change. This is why we have identified case studies from across the globe—based on the needs of society and planetary health—that serve as real-world examples of the circular economy in action.

Circle Economy is a not-for-profit organisation working to accelerate the circular transition. Through the *Circularity Gap Reporting Initiative*, our mission is to deliver an annual global Circularity Metric that measures the state of the world economy and identifies key levers to transition to global circularity. With nature as our guide, we work alongside cross-sector stakeholders from academia, businesses, NGOs and governments to provide a powerful combination of practical and scalable interventions that transform circular opportunities into realities. 


To learn more about these interventions to accelerate the circular transition, read the latest [Circularity Gap Report 2023](https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023#download), as well as previous editions of the global [Circularity Gap Reports](https://www.circularity-gap.world/global).

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Global Circularity Gap Report 2023

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Replace freshwater with less impactful alternatives and enact water efficiency measures

Regenerative water

Using bio-based materials such as bioplastics, mushroom-based materials, etc.

Alternative bio-based materials and inputs

Replacing freshwater use with rainwater, fogwater, seawater, etc.

Alternative water use

Build countries consume 13% of the global material footprint, while they account for almost 50% of the population. 

Examples include countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia such as: 
- Bangladesh
- Ethiopia
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- The Philippines
- Some small island states, ...

Minimal contribution to the overshoot of planetary boundaries: these countries contribute 20% of land use change, 30% of
freshwater use, 23% of phosphorus emissions to soil, and 11% of nitrogen emissions.

To find out what country profile your country belongs to, explore [this interactive story](https://circularity-gap.world) and search for your country on the final map.

Build

Grow countries globally account for 55% of all raw material extraction and 52% of the material footprint, while housing around 37% of the global population.

These are larger Southeast Asian countries and countries in Latin America and Northern Africa, as well as those with an economy in transition in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.

Examples include :
- China
- Indonesia
- Brazil
- Mexico
- Vietnam
- Myanmar
- Egypt, ...

Large contribution to the overshoot of planetary boundaries—largely due to the consumptions of local materials in higher-
income (Shift) countries: these countries contribute 50% of climate change, 62% of nitrogen, 60% of phosphorus, 53% of freshwater use and 42% of land use change.

To find out what country profile your country belongs to, explore [this interactive story](https://circularity-gap.world) and search for your country on the final map.

Grow

The need that represents the largest resource footprint, with 42.4 billion tonnes, is for construction and maintenance of houses, offices, roads and other infrastructure, especially in the developing world.

Housing

- Green roofs
- Passive houses
- Produce own renewable energy

Saving: 6.47 Gt emissions and 3.07 Gt material use 

🏠 Natural housing solutions

- Construction materials with recycled content
- Diversion of construction and demolition waste

Saving: 1.14 Gt emissions and 3.55 Gt material use 

🏠 Circular construction materials

Whilst no two countries are the same, there are still obvious similarities between some of them, with discernible development patterns and parallels in evidence. Common problems and shared solutions help place unique country identities and individual issues in context.

Whilst this classification is far from clear-cut and exhibits some overlap, it does underline how the discourse on transitioning to a circular economy needs to account for both differences and commonalities, if we are to arrive at a more strategic and instructive analysis. It also allows to highlight a set of key themes that are likely to be central to the countries that fall under the respective profiles. 

Country profiles (Build, Grow, Shift)

thumbnail_bgsimage 14.png

bgsimage 14.png

A framework to distinguish between different country profiles and their circular transition needs.

The framework consists of 21 complementary interventions, across six scenarios - one for each of the six societal needs we model. These interventions can mitigate climate impact by curbing GHG emissions

Note: interventions are currently focused on:
- 🏠 Housing 
- 🍎 Nutrition
- 🚗 Mobility
- 👚📺 Consumables
- 👩‍⚕️👨‍⚕️ Healthcare
-  🔊 Communication

These 21 interventions are spread across six societal needs and wants, with a set of solutions. Within these solutions are strategies on ’how to get there'.  

The framework moves beyond incremental action and provides solutions that will require behavioral change (dietary shifts towards less meat consumption, for example) and the adoption of state-of-the-art technologies in the industry to mitigate emissions in hard-to-abate sectors (such as steel manufacturing). It illustrates how continued globalisation can benefit from the uptake of digital solutions. The combined interventions showcase the mitigation potential that begins where the current country pledges end; illustrating the additional impact our interventions can bring to the NDCs. In short, the interventions provide input for a more profound fundamental transformation than the more current pathways that make up the vast majority of NDCs. 

Together, the combined interventions can almost double the current global Circularity Metric of 8.6%, bringing it to 17%. 

This results in:
• Shrinking global material use and extraction by 28%. 
• Cutting global GHG emissions by 39%—fully closing the Emissions Gap as defined in our report and taking into account the updated NDCs.
• Allowing the world to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping at 1.5-degrees of warming by 2032.

*This framework was developed in the Circularity Gap Report 2021. Read more about it [here](https://www.circle-economy.com/resources/circularity-gap-report-2021)*






Global Circularity Gap Report

An intervention-based framework for nations and stakeholders working towards circular countries

As build countries are still building up their basic infrastructure for public services, hospitals and transport, they have an opportunity to apply circular strategies such as modular, passive and flexible design and avoid, by design, the operational inefficiencies which characterise infrastructure in Shift countries.