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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

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

Ecological Impact

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

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


Construction and Infrastructure

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

Prioritise regenerative resources

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

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

Manage

 Public Procurement

Develop circular criteria for public procurement of assets

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

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

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

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

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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 City of Portland’s 2016 Sustainable Supply Chain Analysis identified construction services as the top spend category contributing to the City’s supply chain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  Within construction services, concrete is one of the most GHG-intensive materials typically used on City construction projects. As a result, in 2019, after gathering both internal and external stakeholder input, the City established its Low Carbon Concrete Initiative to reduce the overall carbon intensity of the concrete mixes used on City projects.   This Initiative will be carried out in phases, with the first few phases focused on gathering the data needed to inform the final phase of establishing concrete mix requirements that will lower the overall carbon intensity of concrete mixes used on City projects.Phase 1: Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) RequirementsBeginning January 1, 2020, the City added the following requirements to the approval process for the supply of Portland Cement Concrete (PCC), including: Commercial Grade Concrete (CGC), Plain Concrete Pavement (PCP), and High-Performance Concrete/Structural Concrete (HPC) for City construction projects.All Portland Cement Concrete submitted to the City of Portland Materials Testing Lab for inclusion on the City’s (Pre)Approved Concrete Mix Design List will need to have a product-specific Type III Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) that is 3rd party verified and within its 5-year period of validity.All Portland Cement Concrete not on the City’s (Pre)Approved Concrete Mix Design List that are proposed for use over 50 yd3 on a City-owned or solicited construction project will need to have a product-specific Type III Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) that is 3rd party verified and within its 5-year period of validity.Phase 2: Data Collection, including Lower Carbon Concrete Pilot ProjectsThe City, in collaboration with Oregon DEQ's Materials Management Program, will spend time in 2020 collecting baseline data on various concrete mixes used in the Portland Metro Area to better understand current mix designs, applications, and associated environmental impacts.  This data will come from a variety of sources, including EPDs, historical project usage, and pilot projects.In order to understand how lower-carbon concrete mixes perform compared to traditional 100% cement mixes, the City is performing pilot tests of different lower-carbon concrete mixes.  First up is a pilot project testing low-carbon concrete mixes on sidewalk applications with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT).  Work began on this pilot project in the Spring of 2020 and results of this pilot project are presented in the following case study.  The Sustainable Procurement Program is currently working on starting another pilot test for another concrete application.Phase 3: Establishing Global-Warming Potential (GWP) ThresholdsBy April/May 2021, the City intends to publish maximum global-warming potential (GWP) thresholds for concrete on City construction projects (by type of concrete and strength class).  Data collected throughout 2020 will inform a stakeholder engagement process to develop these thresholds in early 2021.  The goal is to require concrete used on City construction projects to meet the GWP thresholds starting in 2022, so that over time, the City's concrete carbon footprint is reduced.Related LinksClean Air Construction Regional InitiativeTo improve the air quality in Portland Metro area, the City of Portland, Multnomah County, Port of Portland, Metro, and Washington County are working together to include Clean Air Construction Requirements in their construction contracts.  You can find more information on the Clean Air Construction Regional Program website. Contractor Code of ConductThe City of Portland’s Sustainable Procurement Program is developing a Contractor Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct will be used as part of a robust assessment of a vendor’s “responsibility” prior to contracting with the City of Portland. To be eligible to do business with the City, Contractors will agree to be responsible by following the principles and guidelines in the Code of Conduct that demonstrate social and environmental responsibility.  "Responsibility" will be assessed through an associated Vendor Responsibility Questionnaire.  From October-December 2019, with the help of neutral consultants, the City gathered input from subject matter experts and stakeholders on initial drafts of the Contractor Code of Content, Vendor Responsibility Questionnaire, and related program elements.  This work comprised the first round of stakeholder engagement.  Feedback obtained during round one will be used to update the proposed program elements and draft documents.  While the COVID-19 pandemic delayed work on this initiative, program staff plan to reengage on this work during Fall 2020 and hold additional rounds of stakeholder engagement.  Updates will be posted to this page as they are available. Sweatshop Free ApparelThe City's Sustainable Procurement Policy requires the City to purchase apparel products from manufacturers that comply with the City's Code of Conduct for Apparel Contractors [Attachment 1 of the Sustainable Procurement Policy].  The Code of Conduct requires that contractors, and their supply chain partners utilized to supply apparel to the City, comply with labor and health & safety standards that ensure workers are not subjected to sweatshop conditions.Sweatshop Free Forms for Apparel ContractorsThe City discloses the "cut and sew" factory locations where apparel items on City contracts are made.  This information is available via the Sweatfree LinkUp database.

Portland

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City of Portland

The city of Portland established that "for city projects, all concrete must, starting 1st January 2020, come with a product-specific Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)". Moreover, a maximum limit of global warming potential to be set in April 2021. (Source: C40's Clean Construction Policy Explorer)

Low carbon concrete in public procurement - Portland

Impacts on the social fabric of the community and well-being of the individuals and families.

Social Impact

Impact on the health and happiness of human populations

Well-being

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

Transportation and Logistics

Societal Services

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

Participating in government programmes that support and advance the circular economy

Government programmes

 Spatial Planning

Compact city development

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

Communities

The mobility choices and behaviours of residents and businesses can vary greatly depending on the structure and design of the city. A sprawling city covering large areas with wide highways and no bike lanes discourages cycling and increases dependence on private vehicles, which contribute significantly to resource demand and GHG emissions. Meanwhile, a more compact city with mixed use developments, accessible public transport and extensive and appealing pedestrian and cycle networks enables and encourages walking, cycling and other non-motorised, low-carbon forms of mobility. Combined with urban planning that incentivises higher densities along major public transport routes, transit-oriented development can help to slow the outward expansion of cities into the surrounding countryside. 

Compact city planning can help local communities build and create more efficient, safe and viable cities. This concept includes ideas such as the 15-minute city or ‘complete neighbourhoods’, whereby all of the basic needs and services of a resident can be accessed within 15 minutes by walking, cycling or public transport. This concept has also attracted attention as a way to reduce inequality by ensuring that all neighbourhoods have access to affordable mobility options.

Local governments can support the development of compact and low-carbon cities by integrating such concepts into the city’s urban plans, and ensuring that all residents are easily able to conduct their day-to-day lives using non-motorised or public transport. Cities can also ensure that necessary and facilitating infrastructure is provided, such as cycle lanes, pedestrianised areas and public transport options, to enable the shift away from dependency on personal vehicles.


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🚌  Compact city planning and development

A considerable resource footprint is taken up by our need for mobility. In particular, two resource types are used: the materials to build transport technologies and vehicles like cars, trains and airplanes; plus, predominantly, the fossil fuels burned to power them.



Mobility

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

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

The Office of Sustainable Development in Portland, Oregon, has decided that one of the best ways to cut down on greenhouse-gas emissions is by fostering what it calls the “20-minute neighborhood.” Since 1993, when Portland became the first large city in the US to adopt a plan aimed at preventing global warming, the city has made substantial progress on reducing damage to the environment, at least on a per capita basis. Carbon dioxide emissions in Portland and Multnomah County in 2007 were estimated to be slightly under those in 1990, even though the population grew by approximately 18 percent during that 17-year span. Per capita, emissions have dropped by 16.2 percent since 1990.The improvement reflects a growing use of light-rail transit, an increase in commuting by bicycle, and the addition of housing and retail in walkable neighborhoods. It also reflects a local energy conservation ethic, the urban growth boundary, a healthy central city, and local political leadership, says Eliot Allen of Criterion Planners in Portland.“SmartTrips,” a transportation options education and outreach program administered by the Transportation Department, has reduced single-person auto trips by 9 to 12 percent in each of five target areas since 2004, says Denver Igarta in the Portland Department of Transportation. The city now offers $30 a month in “Bike & Walk Bucks” as an incentive for municipal employees to commute by bike, on foot, or by other nonmotorized means. (Even skates and skateboards qualify.) Blueprint for American Prosperity, an initiative of Brookings Institution, says that in 2005, the average resident of metropolitan Portland emitted 1.446 tons of carbon through highway transportation and residential energy use. By comparison, the average resident of America’s 100 largest metro areas emitted 2.24 tons — a difference of 35 percent.Walking to amenitiesNow the talk in Portland is about the 20-minute neighborhood, which The Oregonian recently defined as “one where you can walk to essential amenities and services in 20 minutes.” The center of the city already has neighborhoods matching or surpassing that description. In areas such as southeast Portland, however, neighborhoods fall short of that standard. The aim is for Portland to upgrade neighborhoods as part of the city’s comprehensive plan, which is being completely rewritten for the first time since 1980. Portland’s Local Action Plan on Global Warming calls for “changing the pattern of urban development to be more compact, more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly, to provide for mixed uses, and to offer a range of mobility choices,” says Chris Dearth, sustainability planning manager in the city’s Planning Bureau. The images on this page and the next show the greenhouse gases emissions of Portland neighborhoods — those that meet the 20-minute standard fare better, especially when looking at transportation.Twenty-minute neighborhoods will come about in part through redevelopment, infill construction, less parking, more frequent bus service, more light rail, and other transportation improvements, according to Dearth. The city envisions a growing mix of activities on major transit and transportation routes, along with higher residential density near transit routes and commercial centers.“Greenhouse-gas modeling for various urban planning scenarios” will aid the updating of the comprehensive plan, Dearth says. Criterion Planners has been hired to do the gas modeling for the city and for Metro, the regional government. Allen says Criterion will be carrying out “a micro-analysis of the pedestrian environment,” including factors such as traffic safety and night-time illumination. The goal of the micro-analysis is to help people understand how places can be altered to make them more walkable, convenient, and comfortably organized. Rewriting the comprehensive plan is expected to take three years. Michael Armstrong, deputy director of the Office of Sustainable Development, says the city wants to “make it possible for people to live a successful, vibrant life at one-third of the VMT [vehicle miles traveled] of today.”Among major US cities, Portland has the highest percentage of residents who travel to work mainly by bicycle — 4.4 percent, according to the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey in 2006. (The City of Portland’s Survey Efforts and Accomplishments Report — a self-selecting, and thus less reliable mail survey conducted by the city auditor in August of each year— put the figure somewhat higher. It found that 6 percent of Portlanders in 2006 used bicycles as their primary means of commuting.)Igarta says the only city more enthusiastic about bicycles is Boulder, Colorado, where 9.6 percent of residents biked to work in 2006, according to the American Community Survey.

A diverse group of city stakeholders are collaborating to make "20-minute neighborhoods" in the city of Portland, Oregon, with the goal of having 90% of Portland’s residents able to walk or bicycle to meet daily necessities by 2030. They plan to achieve this by improving cycling and light-rail transit infrastructure as well as creating neighbourhoods that include both housing and retail services within walkable distances.

Portland's plan for 20-minute neighborhoods

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

Producing and gathering crop and animal products from land and water through farming, hunting, and fishing

Agriculture

Processing and producing food and beverages for consumption

Food and Beverage

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

Use waste as a resource

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


Regulate

Bans

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

Incorporate extended use in project planning phases; create or update city policies to allow for extended use.


Design and regulate for separation and recovery

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

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



🍏 Food Systems

Governments

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

 Approximately 40 percent of food in the United States goes uneaten. Most of this wasted food ends up in landfills, and food is the largest single component of municipal solid waste in landfills, according to the 2019 report, “Bans and Beyond: Designing and Implementing Organic Waste Bans and Mandatory Organics Recycling Laws.”As more businesses, states and municipalities roll out sustainability initiatives, such as San Diego’s Zero Waste Plan that includes a 75 percent waste diversion goal by 2020, organic waste bans to reduce or divert food scrap from landfills are gaining momentum across the country.Some states—California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont—and municipalities—Austin, Texas; Boulder, Colorado; Hennepin County, Minnesota; Portland, Oregon; New York City; San Francisco; and Seattle—have passed organic waste bans or mandatory organics recycling laws. Other states, such as Maryland, and localities are looking to pass similar legislation.“The issue is getting attention. I don’t think we’re done seeing these types of policies come into place,” says Lorenzo Macaluso, director of Green Business Services at Massachusetts-based environmental nonprofit Center for EcoTechnology (CET), which authored the Bans and Beyond report in collaboration with the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic.The legislative landscapeConnecticut was the first state to pass a commercial organic waste law in 2011, followed by California, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont in 2014 and New York in 2019.Connecticut requires food waste generators, including supermarkets and food manufacturers, to divert their food waste to an organics processing facility. In January, the law extended to other businesses, which can comply by donating surplus food, using food scraps for animal feed, processing food scraps on-site or sending food scraps to a composting or anaerobic digestion (AD) facility.California’s mandatory commercial recycling law requires certain businesses to subscribe to organic waste recycling services. Massachusetts established its disposal ban through regulation. In 2014, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) added “commercial organic material” to a list of several materials already barred from landfills.“Some of the bans are legislatively driven. Those often result more in a law [being passed]. Some are regulatory in nature,” Macaluso says. “New York went through a more legislative process, where it went through the governor’s office.”Rhode Island’s law requires certain businesses and institutions to divert organic waste to authorized composting or AD facilities, or a “facility that uses any other authorized recycling method, including on-site treatment and animal feed.”While Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law passed in 2012, the phased-in food scrap disposal ban began in 2014. By July, all individuals, businesses, corporations and public entities, in addition to commercial food waste generators, will be banned from disposing of food scraps. Prior to 2020, businesses and households were exempt from the law if they weren’t located within 20 miles of a processing facility.“We have over 100 transfer stations now across the state that offer food scrap collection,” says Josh Kelly, materials management section chief for the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, which is part of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). “That was required because if you’re going to have a ban on something, you need to make it convenient for people.”New York’s food scrap recycling requirement passed in 2019 as part of the state’s 2020 budget process. The law, which will take effect in 2022, requires food scrap generators that produce more than two tons per week to donate food scraps. It also requires certain food scrap generators to divert food scraps to organic processing facilities.“Comparing where we are today to several years ago, there’s very significant advancement in the level of activity and awareness about food waste in a handful of states in the Northeast and California. There are also a rising number of jurisdictions either on a county or city level that have similar policies in place,” Macaluso says.Organic recycling ordinances have popped up in Hennepin County, Minnesota, which adopted new commercial organic recycling and new residential collection requirements in 2018. In Portland, Oregon, a city council ordinance will require businesses to separate and divert food waste in 2020.“I think across the board where these bans are happening, there’s significantly increased economic activity,” Macaluso says."I think across the board where these bans are happening, there’s significantly increased economic activity.” –Lorenzo Macaluso, director of Green Business Services at the Center for EcoTechnology.According to a MassDEP survey targeting organic waste haulers, processors and composters, all three sectors reported “significant growth” over the last decade. The ban supported more than 500 additional jobs across the sectors from 2010 to 2016 and nearly $175 million in industry activity. Processors planned the highest average capital investments for 2017, followed by haulers, and the analysis projects that growth to continue in Massachusetts.For haulers, organic waste bans by nature create increased demand for food waste collection services. According to a hauler survey conducted by CET, commercial haulers in Massachusetts reported their customer base grew from 1,350 in 2014 to 2,300 in 2018.Driven by the marketIn 2017, Vermont composting facilities collected more food scraps than ever before, a 9 percent increase from 2016, according to a 2019 Universal Recycling status report.In 2018, the legislature also made reasonable changes to the law to “address some concerns of different stakeholders,” Kelly says. The modifications included removing the hauler requirement to collect leaf and yard debris and postponing the food scrap hauling requirement to 2020.“There was a lot of debate around the food scrap hauling requirement,” says Kelly, whose team at DEC oversees implementing the ban. “We surveyed haulers and our municipalities and districts. We came back with results that showed haulers overwhelmingly don’t want to offer food scrap collection.”Another modification requires haulers to only provide pickup services to businesses and apartment buildings, unless another hauler can provide the service, Kelly says. The state now has more than 20 haulers offering food scrap pickup services.“If somebody is wanting to get into this market, then that could exempt the other haulers, but I will say they don’t really love the idea of another hauler providing a service, so they start to compete with each other,” he says.Before the ban went into effect, three of the state’s largest haulers—Casella Waste Systems, Gauthier Trucking and Myers Container Service—offered waste, recycling and food scrap collection services.Since the ban, new hauling companies, especially those focused on providing residential food scrap pickup services, have sprouted up. Starting in the summer of 2020, Got Trash and Ruggiero Trash Removal will debut food scrap collection services to residents across several Vermont counties. No Waste Compost, a rising hauler in the commercial and residential space, also reports doubling its customer base from 2018 to 2019, Kelly says.Vermont has also seen an increase in composting and AD facilities as well as in “traditional solid waste haulers owning and operating these facilities,” he says. Casella, Rutland, Vermont, is opening an organics recovery facility. Vanguard Renewables, Wellesley, Massachusetts, is also developing an anaerobic digestion facility in Salisbury and the construction of the Wyman Frasier Compost Facility is also underway in the state. These facilities didn’t exist before the ban, Kelly notes.“In Vermont’s experience with the food waste ban, it leads to businesses springing up to meet the demand,” Kelly says. He adds food rescue has increased 50 percent in Vermont since the ban went into effect.When Vermont passed its Universal Recycling Law, stakeholders worked with the state to develop a set of standardized recycling symbols residents and businesses could recognize, Kelly says, including an apple core on a green background to encourage composting and a whole apple on a purple background to encourage food donation and rescue. Since these symbols were released, haulers and solid waste companies have started displaying them on their trucks and collection bins.“We’re hopeful that the symbol is used universally for food scrap recycling,” Kelly says. “I hope 20 years from now, you see that apple core everywhere.”This article originally ran in the March issue of Waste Today.  

United States

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New York

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New York City government

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City of Seattle

City of Boulder

Hennepin County

Several municipalities in the US (Austin, Texas; Boulder, Colorado; Hennepin County, Minnesota; Portland, Oregon; New York City; San Francisco; and Seattle) have passed organic waste bans or mandatory organics recycling laws. In Portland, Oregon, a city council ordinance will require businesses to separate and divert food waste in 2020.