CAT Africa

Business case

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

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)

Extracting resources and processing them to produce materials for use bysociety

Materials and Fuels

Producing basic and specialty chemicals, inks, agricultural chemical such as fertilisers and pesticides, plastics including packaging, and rubber

Chemical and Plastic

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

Designing to enable multiple uses and lifecycles of a product and its materials

Design for cyclability

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

Design for recycling

Slow strategies aim to keep materials in use for as long as possible, for example through design for durability and repairability. A more circular economy is also a slower one: materials, components, and products—and even buildings and infrastructure—that we lock in stocks are made to last. This will lower material demand in the long run, in essence also serving to narrow resource flows.

Slow

Archetypes

CE Materials

Impacts

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Industries

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Materials

Nace Sectors

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

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)

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

Browse case studies by type of implementing stakeholder.

Implementing stakeholders

It is 2050.  Full systems change has taken place. This wouldn’t have been possible without the immediate action and radical steps taken from 2020 onwards. Many targets had to be identified in the early 2020s and achieved by 2030 to ensure that the 2050 goal happened in full. A sense of urgency, turbo stakeholder collaboration, supportive government regulation and clear, data driven targets enabled the mindsets and systems change needed to transform to a fully circular textiles ecosystem.

A circular economics model underpins what we have created. It reflects and supports a living organism made up of makers, users and restorers, interacting across vibrant and interconnected networks. Checks and balances, alongside transparency and accountability, ensure a healthy system. Financial, environmental, and social metrics have the purpose of serving communities and the planet. There is shared ownership of profit and loss – across all three metrics – throughout the value chain.

This is what we’ve achieved over the last 30 years:

WCTD Themes

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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

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An action-based framework for local governments working towards circular cities

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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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The Nigerian company Onward Paper Mill, which specialises in the manufacture and marketing of paper, now wants to use beverage cartons (juice and beer) as raw material. It will benefit from the expertise of Tetra Pak, with whom it has just signed a partnership. “We have helped to increase the number of cardboard recycling facilities worldwide from 40 in 2002 to 170 today,” says Aruna Oshiokamele, managing director of Tetra Pak West Africa.
Currently, Onward Paper Mill uses wood to manufacture its paper, board and other tissue products. Its annual production capacity is 20,000 tonnes. Through its partnership with Tetra Pak, the Nigerian company hopes to increase its production. Onward Paper Mill will thus contribute to the achievement of sustainable development objectives (SDO) in Nigeria by reducing deforestation. According to AARC (Action Alliance for Recycling Beverage Cartons), recycling one tonne of waste beverage cartons saves 17 trees, 1060 litres of oil, 4000 kW of electricity and more than 25 m3 of water.
The used beverage cartons that will be used as raw material in the Onward Paper Mill will come from landfills and other waste disposal sites in Nigeria. They will be recycled at Tetra Pak facilities. “We will conduct awareness campaigns in communities and schools for targeted waste collection, including beverage cartons,” says Kunle Obagun, Executive Resident of Onward Paper Mill.
A difficult product to recycle
According to Véolia, a French company specialising in water and waste treatment, beverage cartons are made up of around 75% cardboard, 20% plastic and 5% aluminium foil. This makes it a difficult product to recycle, but very special. The pulp of beverage cartons offers long, high quality fibres, which can replace primary paper pulp. “More than 70% of our boards are made from long, strong paper fibres that can be recycled several times. Through our network of production facilities, we also supply packaging material to more than 8,800 packaging machines worldwide. Our ambition is to provide packaging that contributes to a low carbon circular economy, without ever compromising on food safety requirements. ”says Tetra Pak.
Inès Magoum


The first trial maize crop was planted in December and benefited strongly from organic fertilizers including chicken litter, green waste and biochar, which improved yield and soil quality. Using sophisticated IoT technology-enabled weather stations, soil probes, time lapse cameras and drone flyovers, researchers monitored crop performance both above and below the ground. AgBioEn Executive Director Lubey Lozevski said early indicators for the project were very promising. “The organic fertilizers have already improved soil yield, reduced water use, and increased the amount of carbon captured in the soil – which is exactly what we hoped to achieve with these trials,” said Lozevski. “Importantly, the quality and amount of the agricultural waste also improved, which is vital for the next stage of the project.” AgBioEn will now buy, lease or share farms that will be part of a supply chain for growing food crops, such as maize, oaten hay, barley and wheat. The grains will be sold as food, while the crop residue will be used to produce renewable energy and fuels at the Katunga facility. La Trobe researchers will analyze data from the trials, and three industry PhD students will work closely with AgBioEn over the next four years. La Trobe University Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Capability), Professor Ashley Franks said he was pleased that the project was already on the right track to delivering tangible outcomes for consumers across regional Victoria, and globally. “We are excited to utilize the University’s strong industry partnerships, and expertise in regenerative agriculture, to not only provide a better return on production for farmers, but to also maintain soil health and sustainability in the long term,” Franks said. “Most importantly, our research will happen in the field, to ensure the project directly benefits farmers.” LAB3 Director of Data and AI, Alain Blanchette, said the project was a strong example of how the agricultural industry is forging ahead in terms of technological maturity. "To collect data, LAB3 has harnessed the power of the cloud to deploy Internet of Things devices – such as soil probes, weather stations and multi spectral imagery drones – to measure everything that is happening in real time above and below ground. "Once in the cloud, we apply data science techniques to deliver the collected data in a way that is clearly set out and makes sense, for the La Trobe University researchers to analyze," Blanchette said. AgBioEn is Australia’s first fully integrated, carbon negative, renewable energy and fuels project. The Katunga facility is the first of its kind in Australia. Image: Professor Ashley Franks, Dr. Jen Wood, Lubey Lozevski, The Honorable Damian Drum MP and Cr Libro Mustica

Europe

Sweden

Africa

Nigeria

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Tetra Pak

Onward Paper Mill

<p>Forests are crucial for carbon storage and the production of oxygen, both of which are essential for human survival on the planet. They also aid in the management of the hydrological cycle, the purification of water, the provision of wildlife habitats, and the reduction of global warming by absorbing greenhouse gases, containing waste, and, most importantly, conserving soil. In Nigeria, deforestation became a huge problem in the last decades due to heavy land use and the illegal burning of forests. To help to decrease deforestation the Nigerian company Onward Paper Mill teamed up with Tetra Pak to recycle beverage cartons from juice and beer in Nigeria.</p>

Recycling paper to decrease deforestation in Nigeria
 

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This collection is part of Footprints Africa's work to build a comprehensive database of circular economy initiatives in Africa. 

This is a result of the collaboration with the <a href="https://www.acen.africa" target="_blank">African Circular Economy Network (ACEN)</a>, as part of the programme to support the circular economy transition in Africa. Footprints Africa's vision is that businesses can be a force for good at scale. Their mission is to advance sustainable, scalable and inclusive approaches to development of local African economies. Footprints Africa supports SMEs to adopt future-friendly practices, such as those inspired by the circular economy, to address the challenges of growth and create jobs. 

This open-source dataset features well over 500 cases and 200 examples of policies and laws and intent to collect inspiring examples of initiatives from across Africa, in order to inform the global dialogue, which is largely focused on the European and American context. 

To learn more about Africa's initiatives and content to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, visit https://www.footprintsafrica.co/



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Footprints Africa

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This collection is being created to regroup all case studies related to the packaging industry (CAT purpose)

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Packaging collection

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

Innovation

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

Wood and Paper

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

Prioritise regenerative resources

Utilise waste streams as a source of secondary resources and recover waste for reuse and recycling

Use waste as a resource

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

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

Regenerative materials

Reuse, repurpose, and recycle waste streams within the same industry

Valorise waste streams - closed loop

Industry peers to industry peer collaboration to create joint value and identify synergies

Industry collaboration

Using materials that can be easily reused or recycled after use

Reusable, recyclable materials and inputs

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

Closed loop collection

Working together with stakeholders and parties in other unrelated industries to implement circular economy strategies and opportunities

Cross-industry projects, pilots

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

Topics

Urban Opportunities

Thematic Areas

City Stakeholders

Test Framework

Challenges

Based on the ongoing ISO standardisation process, a taxonomy has been defined under which to cluster indicators to measure circularity. 

ISO Taxonomy

If managed well, the transition to the circular economy will have multiple benefits for the labour market, including the opening up of job opportunities, raising job standards and reducing inequalities through a global redistribution of value. But a positive transition to circularity for work and workers must be underpinned by three pillars: upskilling the workforce, quality of work and inclusive job opportunities. Find out more and explore cases that illustrate these pillars below.

Circular Jobs Initiative Pillars

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A positive transition to circularity for work and workers must be underpinned by three core pillars.

This is a survey that dives into understanding the policy environment around specific circular solutions. 

The survey is divided into five sections, based on the five key elements of the Circular Cities Action Framework. 
Each section asks 2-3 questions to explore which policies may or may not be present within your city to support a transition towards a circular economy. 

You are not alone! Each question provides some practical examples from cities around the world that have adopted a certain policy to support their transition. This can help to compare with your city - is your city doing something similar?

The survey answers should be based on your current knowledge, and not illicit additional research - ! Please make use of the Not sure option as appropriate.


Ganbatte Cities Policy Tracker [Food]

Ganbatte Cities - Policy tracker policy instruments

Policy Tracker - TEST

     We work with educational institutions, Federal and state governmenst to provide both private and public schools essential materials for students.        We provide the food industry with packaging solutions for all products         We supply solutions for medical apparatus and pharmaceutical products        We supply paper grades and materials used in packaging production.        We work with media houses and publications to produce unparalled quality prints        We create state-of-the-art print solutions, like transactional and official documents a for the finance industry.         We produce uncoated fine paper for offices and the professional and graphic printing industries.         We offer corrugated and flexible packaging solutions, extrusion-coated portion packs and lids for detergents, cleaning products, hair care and cosmetics.        We produce shelf ready packaging to and its efficiency in the shelf replenishment process no other packaging holds as many secrets to success.         Our packaging solutions for the agriculture industry stand out for their excellent performance even in the most challenging environments.    

Footprints Africa supports SMEs to adopt future-friendly practices, address the challenges of growth and create jobs, using supply chains as a tool for development. 

<p>Onward Paper Mill is a pioneering paper and print manufacturer that produces paper goods, labels, and packaging materials. To decrease deforestation in Nigeria, Onward Paper Mill has teamed up with Tetra Pak to recycle beverage cartons into new packaging materials. By offering this service, Onward Paper Mill prevents these recyclable materials from ending up in landfill.</p>