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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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Policy case

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

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

Reduce Energy Consumption

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


Construction and Infrastructure

Engage with the government on circular policies and programmes

Government collaboration

Enacting measures that optimise energy use

Energy efficiency

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

Renewable energy, fuels

Develop regenerative infrastructure

Roadmaps and strategies and targets

Metrics and indicators to measure progress

Review and update regulation

Performance standards

Do better with less by using and supporting infrastructure, processes and products that are designed to minimize material, water and energy use and waste generation from production to end of use


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Reduce

Put enablers in place that allow circular businessesto grow, thrive and innovate (e.g. incubators, start-up funding, partnerships, innovation deals, business capacity building and testing groundsfor new business models).


Support circular and resource-efficient business innovations

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

Governments

Buildings house all production activities, and also are where people spend the majority of their time. Consequently ‘buildings’ consume  resources, namely energy and water, and produce large amounts of waste. 

The use phase of buildings represents the largest resource flows during their lifecycle. Optimised operations for different types of buildings—such as offices, industrial and commercial facilities or houses—can reduce energy, water and waste consumption, as well as operating costs, and enhance the wellbeing of users. 

Local governments can support Information and communication technology (ICT) innovation for the circular management of building operations for instance, by adopting new technologies, digital services and systems that can help with the monitoring and evaluation of (water and energy) efficiency. At the local level, policy can also set new building standards that can scale up net-zero waste, energy and water buildings. Then, the uptake of  ‘green contracts’—agreements that require the contractor to develop and implement a site management plan and favour certain types of resources—can also stimulate circular operations by legally ingraining circularity in the relationship between building owners, operators and users.


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🏢⚡  Optimised facility management

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

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

 
  
The Johannesburg City Council has approved a draft policy to introduce the development of green, low energy consumption buildings.
The Green Building policy is part of the city’s efforts to achieve low to net-zero carbon performance for all new buildings in Johannesburg by 2030 while achieving a total net-zero performance compliance standard by 2050.
The policy will guide the development of green, low energy consuming buildings within the city powered by cleaner and renewable energy sources.
“Although the City of Johannesburg has continuously been improving service delivery in key sectors, including energy, waste management, water and sanitation, as well as public transport, the challenges are exacerbated by rapid urbanisation and population growth, in a city that is still struggling with the legacy of apartheid spatial planning,” it said in a statement.
“The urgency of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts, together with increasing non-renewable resource scarcity, is therefore driving the change to a more sustainable built environment.”
The draft policy stems from a partnership with C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) and  a programme aimed to support cities to go above and beyond current building energy performance plans, through the accelerated implementation of low to net-zero carbon actions within the built environment.
Development policy
Johannesburg also passed a draft Development Contributions Policy, which seeks to speed up the rate of development in the city by providing greater clarity around an existing capital funding instrument,
The purpose of the proposed new policy is to simplify and integrate the development contributions process and charges for the provision of engineering services to meet the demands of new developments, the city said.
“The draft policy is further intended to speed up the rate of development by providing greater clarity around an existing capital funding instruments that allow for the timely provision of essential bulk infrastructure required to service the needs of new developments.
“Engineering services are services consistent with the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA), namely: water, sanitation, electricity, municipal roads, stormwater and transport.”
‘Development contributions’ are a once-off charge levied by a municipality on the landowner, as a condition for approving land development application.
They are levied to cover the costs incurred by the municipality when installing new infrastructure or upgrading an existing infrastructure.
The city said it currently has a fragmented way in which it determines and calculates engineering service contributions for engineering services.
“Each of the city’s municipal entities responsible for the provision of engineering services have their own internal policy and approach to determine engineering service contributions and figures, which are often not simple to understand with varied approaches and complex technical input mechanism.
“This lack of a uniform approach in the determination and calculation of development contributions unfortunately resulted in general confusion and concern raised by the city’s development partners and potential investors.” Read: Move to clean energy may threaten over 120,000 jobs in South Africa: economists
 

   
 

  South Africa’s buildings account for 40% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. 
South Africa’s buildings account for 40% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. But the City of Johannesburg’s new draft green buildings policy aims to change that. The policy is driving the change to a more sustainable built environment through, for example, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The aim is to achieve low to net zero carbon for all new buildings  by 2030.  “Buildings have a relatively long lifespan of 40 to 120 years, and the building stock in cities is growing rapidly. Significant opportunities exist for decreasing emissions from buildings through reducing energy demand and then supplying remaining energy demand with energy generated from renewable energy sources, such as rooftop solar panels,” says the report. Although retrofitting buildings with new technologies, such as efficient lighting, can help to reduce energy demand, the actual design of a building can reduce the number of energy services required.  The draft policy details how residential development is the biggest contributor to Johannesburg’s carbon emissions and to the annual increase in carbon emissions. Buildings consume energy and water and are also waste producers. They are essential to tackling service-delivery problems if developed in a way that minimises resource consumption. Buildings whose water and power use do not comply with the regulations will be subject to fines and penalties. Liana Strydom, the  director of regional planning at the City of Johannesburg, said there is urgency in future-proofing the city’s buildings.   The policy had been developed in a partnership between Sustainable Energy Africa and Cape Town, Jo’burg, eThekwini and Tshwane. The cities signed the 2018 global net-zero carbon buildings declaration as part of a C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group South Africa Buildings Programme.  eThekwini recently had its draft green building policy approved by the council for public comment. 
 
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Johannesburg

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City of Johannesburg

The Green Building policy is part of the city’s efforts to achieve low to net-zero carbon performance for all new buildings in Johannesburg by 2030 while achieving a total net-zero performance compliance standard by 2050.&nbsp;The policy aims to guide the construction of green, low-energy and resource efficient buildings in the city that are powered by cleaner, renewable energy sources.

Green Building Policy in Johannesburg commits to achieve Net-Zero Carbon Performance through resource efficiency and renewable energy

CAT Africa

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)

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

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

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

Generating energy from waste

Develop circular criteria for public procurement of assets

Circular use of public-owned assets (land, buildings and equipment)

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

Process waste into valuable industrial inputs or consumer products; distribute processed waste to users.

Process waste and ensure its re-entry into industry at its highest value

Residual organic and food wastes can offer a quasi-renewable and low-carbon source of energy. By processing organic wastes, often under high temperatures, pressures and in the absence of oxygen, organic wastes can be transformed into fuels, which can be used for heating, electricity generation, as well as transportation. A variety of technologies have been developed to generate biogas from organic materials, for example, anaerobic digestion. Such facilities can vary in scale from single units that can process the waste of a single building or neighbourhood, to large-scale facilities that can process the majority of the organic wastes generated from the entire city. 

Cities have a key role to support the utilisation of organic materials as biofuels due to their close oversight and influence on the urban waste management system. In particular, cities can support the financing of large-scale facilities to help to overcome the investment costs, as well as develop relationships with businesses to operate such facilities. 


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🍏  💧  Biogas from organic materials

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

 Lead Organization Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ GmbH). Partners Tunisian Ministry of the Interior; General Directorate for Local Government (DGCPL, Tunisia); General Directorate for Local Government (DGCL, Morocco); Center for Training and Support to Decentralization (CFAD, Tunisia); National Institute for Urban and Territorial Planning (INAU, Morocco); Germany’s Association of Cities (DST); Morocco’s association of mayors (AMPCC); Tunisia’s FNVT (National Federation of Tunisian Cities); and around 40 partner cities. Members of the orientation committee.   Challenges  High urbanization rate in the Maghreb countries increase expectations towards urban municipalities to deliver better urban services and ensure good living conditions. Municipalities need to develop local democracy and strengthen citizen participation in the context of the ongoing social and economic transformation processes.  Program Objective To strengthen cities as key players in national, regional, and local development and reinforce their capacities, structures, and urban services through exchanges among cities in the Maghreb region. To increase the diffusion of sustainable solutions in the urban sector and encourage the use of instruments and good practices existing in other contexts (peer-to-peer). To support the development of networks of cities on several themes by facilitating discussion and exchange of solutions. Selected Results  Informed policy/involved stakeholders: Development of learning networks on different urban topics or issues and services such as solid waste management, public transport, energy efficiency, and rehabilitation of medinas:  Technical assistance to Morocco’s recently created association of mayors (AMPCC) and support in the ongoing public debate on the new decentralization law. Funding of four thematic city networks involving a total of 30 municipalities in Morocco. Implementation of seven city development projects in cooperation between civil society and the municipalities. In Tunisia, the network on waste management, involving 20 cities, signed an agreement with the National Federation of Tunisian Cities (FNVT) as the network's national partner.     Increased capacity: Reinforcement of local democratic structures in Tunisia, with CoMun providing several kinds of support to the partner cities:  In Tunisia, one-stop shops providing municipal administrative services were established in 8 cities by end of 2014, 7 more are being planned. The délégations spéciales of the cities of Touzeur, Gabes, La Marsa, and Menzel Bourguiba adopted their municipal budget and approved the projects that had been prioritized in a participatory approach. A series of workshops on local democracy and citizenship, provided in partnership with the Center for Training and Support to Decentralization (CFAD) between May and October 2014, mobilized more than 100 representatives from municipalities. They were supported by a training of trainers approach in order to develop moderator capacities in different regions of Tunisia. A youth project initiative, Contest of Ideas for Youth, was organized in three cities in Tunisia to support youth participation. Institutional development at the FNVT in order to promote and protect the interests of cities.     

 The Johannesburg landfill gas-to-energy project, initially conceived as a carbon reduction project, aims to mitigate greenhouse gases from five landfill sites in Johannesburg, through converting its landfill gas to electricity. The five sites have a combined potential capacity of 18,6 MW of electricity, and the project will be by far the largest municipal-driven renewable energy development in South Africa to date.
In many South African cities it is common practice to vent landfill gas which negatively affects the air quality of surrounding communities.
The City of Johannesburg (CoJ) identified that methane emissions at some of their landfill sites were in excess of the prescribed air quality licensing thresholds. The city embarked on consultations with industry and found that harvesting the landfill gas to produce electricity would solve the air quality problem. An ambitious landfill gas-to-electricity project was initiated. The electricity produced will be sold to Eskom through the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

Table 1: Indicative electricity potential for CoJ’s landfill.


Landfill site

Expected waste (t/year)


Planned capacity (MW)



Robinson Deep

400 000


5,5



Marie Louise

530 000


6,0



Linbro Park

360 000


3,3



Ennerdale

90 000


0,5



Goud Koppies

270 000


3,3




The CoJ’s Environment, Infrastructure and Service Department initiated the project and was assigned to manage the site and provision of the gas (the feedstock) to the project. Ener-G Systems has been awarded a 20-year design, build, own and operate contract for the five landfill sites. The operation will be run under a profit sharing agreement with the CoJ. At the end of the 20-year contract the plant will be transferred to CoJ.
Johannesburg’s electric utility, City Power, was unable to buy the electricity from Ener-G at rates above Eskom’s Megaflex, so Ener-G submitted bids to the IPP office and was selected as one of the preferred bidders in October 2013. At financial closure, reached in August 2015, a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) was signed with Eskom at an indexed price of 94 c/kWh. This is the first municipal-driven project to participate in the REIPPPP.
Technical description
The total potential electricity capacity of the CoJ sites, based on the expected waste per day, is estimated to be 18,6 MW. The average electricity output for all sites combined is anticipated to be 150 GWh/year.
By the end of 2014, the construction of the wells and piping systems at Robinson Deep and Marie Louise landfill sites were complete. Gas is being flared until the electricity generation equipment is ready for use.
The construction at Robinson Deep started in February 2011 and was completed after three months, with a total installation of 68 gas wells – the daily pumping capacity at Robinson is
1400 m3/h. The project was initially conceived as a carbon development mechanism (CDM) project and the Robinson plant generates 6000 verified emissions reductions (VER) per month.
Construction at Marie Louise was also completed in three months with a total installation of 28 wells – the daily pumping capacity is 500 m3/h to date and will be increased when the electricity generation equipment is commissioned.
Landfill gas (mostly methane and carbon dioxide) is produced during the anaerobic decomposition of organic waste in landfill sites. Landfill gas is extracted continuously from the landfill body through a network of pipes. These pipes are perforated tubes which have been drilled into the landfill. In the first stage, landfill gas is captured and destroyed by using a flare, while in the second stage the captured gas is fed to a modular electricity generation plant.
Fig. 1: Gas piping network for collecting landfill gas at Marie Louise (Ener-G).
The generator combusts the methane in the landfill gas to produce electricity for export to a local power purchaser. Excess gas, and all gas collected during periods when electricity is not produced, is flared. The purpose of flaring is to dispose of the flammable constituents, particularly methane, safely and to control odours, health risks and adverse environmental and climate impacts.
Compliance with MFMA
Once the initial concept and feasibility of the project had been established, a series of legal opinions were sought to ensure that the project complied with the regulations stipulated in the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA, Act 56, 2003).
Section 33 of the MFMA stipulates a public consultation process for any contract with financial obligations longer than three years. CoJ sought legal opinion to determine whether the municipality was able to proceed with a request for proposals (RFP) towards a long-term contract prior to conducting a public participation process.
The city was advised to proceed with the RFP. Once a preferred bidder had been selected, the city undertook the required public participation process before signing the contract with Ener-G.
The city engaged extensively with legal opinion and National Treasury’s Private Public Partnership (PPP) unit around the issues of the disposal of municipal assets (section 14 and 90 of the MFMA) and PPP (section 120 of the MFMA).
Two legal opinions obtained by CoJ confirmed that landfill gas is not a municipal asset. It is a municipal liability and municipalities budget to manage the gas. It was thus concluded that the project did not involve the disposal of municipal assets and did not constitute a PPP.
Fig. 2: Extraction of landfill gas to be used for electricity generation (Ener-G).
Licensing and permitting
The licensing and permitting process for the plant was the responsibility of the contractors, although CoJ did assist in the process. Several departments were involved in both the licensing and contract development processes, including Environment and Infrastructure Services Department , City Power, Johannesburg Property Company, Pikitup, and the Legal and Contracts Department.
Power purchase agreement
It was initially foreseen that City Power would buy the electricity produced at the landfill sites. Negotiations started but an agreement could not be reached as the minimum price proposed by Ener-G of 71c/kWh was substantially higher than the average price of Eskom’s electricity tariff (52 c/kWh) at the time. In terms of the MFMA requirement to procure services at best value for money, City Power decided not to accept the proposed price offered by Ener-G.
The company submitted bids to the REIPPPP instead, and in October 2013 the project was selected as one of the preferred bidders. A PPA was signed with Eskom at an indexed price of 94 c/kWh at financial closure in August 2015.
Fig. 3: Project timeline.
Grid integration
Of the five landfill sites, three landfill sites will be connected to the Eskom grid and two to City Power’s grid. For these two sites and as per the REIPPPP processes, no wheeling arrangements were needed. This particular metering point on the network becomes an Eskom point of supply, delivering electricity directly to City Power. Eskom and City Power amended their delivery supply agreement to cater for this additional point of supply on the network.
Challenges, enablers and lessons learnt
The project is ambitious and pioneering. It represents the biggest municipal renewable energy project to date and the first landfill gas to electricity project in the REIPPP programme. As such, there have been delays and lessons learned. In particular, the REIPPPP contracting process and electricity price negotiations caused a series of delays in implementing the project.
Permit and licensing processes
Obtaining the project’s waste license took longer than expected as there was an amendment to the National Environmental Management: Waste Act which needed attention.
Procurement and contracting
The main challenges faced by the municipality were questions relating to the MFMA which governs financial management of municipalities and the development of the PPA between Ener-G and Eskom. A project of this nature had not been done before and required clarification around the legal status of the waste stream and the contracting.
Initially much time and effort went into negotiating a PPA between the service provider and City Power. The particular sticking point was the issue of the price of electricity. The price of the production of electricity from landfill gas was still marginally higher than the average purchase price of electricity from Eskom.
The MFMA states that service must be procure at best value for money. Where electricity may be procured more cheaply from Eskom, municipalities have interpreted this as essentially ruling out purchase of higher cost renewable-sourced electricity.
Turning to the REIPPPP was an innovation arising out of necessity, but has proved an important step in the project. However, the REIPPPP is a bidding process, and being selected into the programme cannot be counted upon during project development by a municipality. It is also a lengthy process, and added to the time delays on the project.
Since the project is the first landfill gas-to-electricity project approved under the REIPPPP and the first project with connection both to Eskom and municipal grids, finalising the contractual arrangements between Eskom, the DoE and the municipality have taken time. The concept of the point of intake into the City Power grid becoming a new Eskom intake point (embedded now within the City Power redistribution area) was an important innovation, bypassing cumbersome and unnecessary wheeling arrangements.
Fig. 4: Gas piping network for collecting landfill gas at Marie Louise (Ener-G).
Financing
The approach taken by the municipality was innovative and led to a risk-sharing concept beneficial for the city. The municipality undertook only high level feasibility studies, transferring the technical risks to the service provider. Ener-G was also tasked with financing the investment, thus avoiding burdening the municipal budget. In so doing, the municipality avoided any financial risk in this project and successfully implemented the relevant conditions in Section 33 of the MFMA without much difficulty.
Delays in implementation largely relating to securing a willing buyer has had financial implications for the project. As operations will start later than initially planned, there are delays in the accrual of revenue from electricity sales and this increases the payback period of the project, pushing up financing costs.
Despite these challenges, the new direction of being selected as preferred bidder in the REIPPPP has enabled the project to reach the desired financial sustainability.
Carbon finance
The project was registered as a CDM project with United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December 2012; it can thus sell carbon credits or certified emission reduction (CER) units, which were accrued from date of commissioning of the sites, in the compliance market. Prior to certification, the city may sell verified emission reduction (VER) units in a voluntary market.
Unfortunately, the international carbon market has collapsed. If carbon markets do not recover, the CDM would yield a disappointing outcome. Indeed the project hoped to gain additional financial co-benefit of its emission reduction efforts. Project financers are hoping for a reprieve with the introduction of a carbon tax in South Africa and the associated carbon offset programme, still to be implemented.
Contact Aurelie Ferry, SALGA, Tel 012 369-8000, aferry@salga.org.za  South African Government COVID-19 Corona Virus Resource Portal   Ministerial determinations propose 13813 MW of new-build by IPPs, none by Eskom   Crunch time for South Africa’s national nuclear company, Necsa   Dealing with the elephant in the room that is Eskom…   Interview with Minerals & Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe  

Landfill gas is mainly made up of&nbsp;carbon dioxide, oxygen methane,&nbsp;and methane gas, which is the most harmful gas on the ozone&nbsp;layer. Initially conceived as a carbon reduction initiative, the Johannesburg landfill gas to energy project aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from five landfill sites in Johannesburg by converting landfill gas to electricity.

Process landfill waste to energy project by the City of Johannesburg

Business case

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

Increase Awareness

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

Jobs

Contribution to social parity, or impact on social disparity

Equality

Engage with the local community where facilities or offices are located

Community collaboration

Collection programmes that process products and parts for reuse or recycling within the same industry

Closed loop collection

   26 June 2019 - Wits University  A Johannesburg-based pilot will formally integrate reclaimers (waste pickers) into the recycling economy of South Africa for the important service they provide. On World Environment Day, observed on 5 June 2019, Unilever South Africa, the African Reclaimer Organisation (ARO) in partnership with  Wits University announced their upcoming pilot project: ‘Building an inclusive circular economy: recycling with reclaimers. The Johannesburg-based pilot will formally integrate reclaimers – also known as waste pickers – for the important service they provide and is designed to demonstrate the benefits reclaimers provide with their separation at source services.
The recycling rates across South Africa are on the rise, due to the great focus on recycling by government, industry, reclaimers, corporates and conscious consumers. The latest statistics released by the national industry body PET Recycling Company (PETCO), have shown that, “98 649 tonnes of post-consumer PET plastic bottles were recycled in 2018 alone (a 6% increase from 2017), saving 612 000 cubic metres of landfill space and lessening the country’s carbon emissions footprint by 148 000 tonnes. An average of 6.2 million PET plastic bottles were collected for recycling across South Africa every day last year, creating 68,000 income-generating opportunities for small and micro-collectors.”

The announcement was made at a panel discussion which key stakeholders including the Department of Environmental Affairs, the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan, the recycling industry (Packaging SA) as well as project partner representation from consumer goods company (Unilever South Africa), ARO, WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment, Globalizing and Organizing) and Wits. Hosted by ARO members (reclaimers), the discussion explored the impact reclaimer integration could have on South Africa’s ‘circular economy’, a restorative and regenerative model where materials constantly flow around a ‘closed loop’ system, rather than being used once and then discarded.
The panelists reviewed the industry wins and also discussed a major gap within the South African circular economy – which is the need to recognise, support and value the 60,000 – 90,000 informal reclaimers who sift through waste to salvage the recyclable materials that many throw away. These reclaimers earn their livelihood by collecting and selling recyclable material to recycling companies and together, collect approximately 80-90% of postconsumer paper and packaging collected in South Africa for recycling companies to reuse and have extended the life of landfills and saved municipalities up to R750 million a year in landfill airspace.
Dr Melanie Samson, Senior Lecturer in the Wits School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies said that “reclaimers are already central to the recycling economy. Integration isn’t about bringing them in; rather it is about integrating reclaimers into our understanding of the recycling economy.”
Samson says that the pilot project is significant as it is the first time that reclaimers will be paid. “This is the first concrete step to implement the Guideline on Waste Picker Integration for South Africa,” she added.
The core aim of the pilot project, headed up by ARO and due to launch in September 2019, is to work closely with reclaimers and residents in the Brixton and Auckland Park communities to demonstrate that reclaimers can provide an efficient, cost effective separation at source service.  The project will aim to increase collection rates of recyclable material from households and offices, improve the livelihoods for the reclaimers through recognition and compensation for their collection work, as well as overall community behaviour change on waste management and perceptions of reclaimers.
Unilever has collaborated in this pilot because they believe in the long-term opportunities for building a more inclusive circular economy. Luc-Olivier Marquet Executive Vice President of Unilever South Africa said that “the backing and funding of this pilot project forms part of Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) that has ambitions to reduce the company’s environmental impact by half by 2030 (across various areas including Greenhouse gases, water use, waste & packaging as well as sustainable sourcing),” he added that “Unilever has committed to 100% reduction in our single use plastic packaging by 2025, with our flagship brand, Sunlight Dishwashing Liquid, leading the way for this ambition having recently launched their 100% recycled and recyclable bottles.”
Luyanda Hlatshwayo, Reclaimer and Organising Committee Member from ARO, said, “reclaimers work long hours in tough conditions to collect recyclables. But we receive only a small income from the sale of the materials we collect. We believe that if reclaimers are recognised and compensated for our collection work, and if households’ separate recyclables from their waste, we will together achieve higher collection rates of recyclable material as well as improved livelihoods for reclaimers. We hope this project will be the start of a leap forward for reclaimers.”
In addition to funding the reclaimer service fees Unilever and Sunlight will be focused on supporting the reclaimers and ARO in the ongoing need to educate and encourage the pilot project communities to play their part in sustainability practices and to support the project. The long-term benefits and goals for Unilever are to encourage South Africa to recycle and understand the role of reclaimers to help drive the system forward in order to increase recycling while reducing waste to landfills. 

     We are waste reclaimers. We collect, sort, transport and sell materials, saving the state and private industry millions and extending the life of landfills. We perform a vital environmental service, removing thousands of tons of discarded materials every year. We are men and women with families who work hard to make a living. We support our children to fund their schooling, we feed and clothe them and we never collect waste. We collect that which is of value but is discarded by many in society. We look forward to meeting residents, industry and government and to make our struggles and contributions to society known. With ARO we are no longer in the shadows and we look forward to meeting you.        We want South Africa to increase its recycling rates and for informal recyclers to be paid for the free labour they provide, which is the foundation of the recycling economy worth hundreds of millions of rands. We also want to work with residents to make ourselves known as people who share your streets and also want to remove the stigma that our work brings.    Click Here To Donate Or Contact Us To Get Involved   Support our cause by following our social media pages & inviting your friends to follow our social platforms so we can spread awareness on the reclaimer’s valuable role.   We are passionate about our cause, and teaching our youth about recycling is vital for a greener future. Make a booking with us to come do a talk at your local school.   Please show your support for our valuable reclaimers by donating to the Back-A-Buddy campaign set up to support reclaimers during the COVID-19 Lockdown.                                

South Africa

Unilever 

African Reclaimers Organisation

Waste pickers will be officially integrated into South Africa's recycling economy as part of a pilot project called the African Reclaimers Organisation (ARO), based in Johannesburg. The program aims to enhance the collection of recyclable materials from homes and offices, boost reclaimers' livelihoods by reimbursing them for their work and change public attitudes toward waste management and reclaimers.

Circular Waste Management Initiative in Johannesburg Employing Waste Pickers 

Scalability

Providing air, water, rail, and land transportation for passengers, such as airlines, airports, ferries, cruise-ships, tour boat operators, marine ports, railways, train stations, tour bus operators, vehicle rental, and taxi companies, travel agencies and related services

Passenger Transport Services

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

Living labs

Awareness raising events

Redesign systems to lay the foundation for circular activities and enable the transition to a circular economy 

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Rethink

Includes a variety of actions (e.g. campaigns, information sharing, public events) that encourage city residents and visitors to build sustainable practices into their daily lives

Enable sustainable lifestyles

The demand for transport is rising globally—but current modes are heavily material- and fossil-fuels-intensive. Emissions from the transport system could grow by 60% by 2050, and transport is the number-one user of oil worldwide. GHG emissions result not only in warming global temperatures, but also in ocean acidification, which has severe consequences for entire ecosystems and further destabilises our climate. The transport system also drives land-use change and biodiversity loss through the development of infrastructure—also releasing harmful pollutants into the ocean. Key circular solutions:

- Embrace and enable car-free lifestyles
- Invest in high-quality public transport
- Rethink unnecessary air travel
- Electrify remaining vehicles

🚌 Mobility Systems

     
  The EcoMobility World Festival series by ICLEI shows that an ecomobile lifestyle can be promoted in cities around the world. The Festival transforms a neighborhood or a business district in a city into carfree and ecomobile area for a month. Implementing the Festival demonstrates the possibilities of an innovative and forward-thinking urban mobility culture.
The EcoMobility Congress series provides a platform for international actors, united by a shared interest in sustainable mobility, to share best practices and spark synergies in a setting that promotes creative collaboration, local initiatives, and the EcoMobility agenda. 
     
 The EcoMobility World Festival (EMWF) concept was initiated by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.
The EMWF is a month-long presentation of an innovative and forward thinking urban transportation culture. It is organized as a community-based mise-en-scène, during which one neighbourhood is temporarily converted into an “ecomobile neighbourhood” to present a real-life vision of car-free urban living for the future. The neighborhood will turn car-free and its community will experience an ecomobile environment and lifestyle for one month, a once-in-a life time opportunity to explore choices by living through a different scenario. The project is framed as a Festival so that it is perceived as fun for all people involved.
      
     
   © City of Johannesburg  
   © Suwon City  
   © MunichTramSpotter / CC BY 2.0 / Flickr  
 The EcoMobility World Congress series complements  the EcoMobility World Festival to attract international experts to the Festival for them to witness the unique experiment and to discuss and share their experiences and opinions on car-free development.
    © Kaohsiung City  
   © City of Johannesburg  
     
     
   EcoMobility World Festival 2017 Report  
   EcoMobility World Festival 2015 Report  
   EcoMobility World Festival 2013 Report  
     
     
     
 


Suwon

Kaohsiung City

City of Suwon

City of Kaohsiung

Cities that host an EcoMobility Festival, an ICLEI-led initiative, make one of their neighbourhoods car-free for one month to encourage behavioural change. The three cities of Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Suwon, Republic of Korea, have participated to date.

The EcoMobility Festival

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 the health and happiness of human populations

Well-being

Direct and indirect reduction in economic costs

Cost Savings

Efficiency gains on operations or transactions either through cultural or technological shifts

Productivity

Producing transporation equipment and providing services for thetransportation of goods and people

Transportation and Logistics

Societal Services

Participating in government programmes that support and advance the circular economy

Government programmes

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

Manage

Infrastructure

Develop infrastructure to support sustainable lifestyles

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

Mobilise

Govern the Transition

The city of Johannesburg is implementing what they call 'Transit-Oriented Development,' which focuses on creating compact, walkable, mixed-use, mixed-income communities centered around high-quality public transportation. The city's new Bus Rapid Transit system, called&nbsp;Rea Vaya, now connects low and high-income areas of the city, while new "Corridors of Freedom" connect via public transport lines poorer districts and townships to the city center. The city has also seen an increase of bike lanes and sidewalks, social facilities like libraries, community centers, clinics and parks, and mixed-income developments.