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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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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

Impact on the health and happiness of human populations

Well-being

Direct and indirect reduction in economic costs

Cost Savings

Direct and indirect effects that increase revenues or the potential for new revenues, for example from new products, customer segments, partnerships or business models

Revenue Potential

Scalability

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

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

Reduce Material Consumption (SDG12)

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)

Producing and providing business and consumer goods and services

Goods and Services

Providing specialist services to support consumers, businesses, andgovernments

Professional Services

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


Construction and Infrastructure

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

Construction Materials and Products

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

Use waste as a resource

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

Reuse, repurpose, and recycle waste streams within other industries

Valorise waste streams - open loop

Designing to reduce waste during production and use

Design out waste

Collection programmes that process products and parts for reuse or recycling within other industries

Open loop collection

Transforming waste products, materials for reuse within other industries

Open loop upcycling

Designing products so they use as little materials, water, energy, etc. as possible during use

Design for resource efficiency

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

Manage

Infrastructure

Develop infrastructure to support resource cycling

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

Ensure that infrastructure and built assets in the city are designed and upgraded to be as resource-efficient as possible.

Design infrastructure and the built environment for resource efficiency

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

Cycle strategies aim to cycle and reuse materials at their highest value: they maximise the volume of secondary materials re-entering the economy, ultimately minimising the need for virgin material inputs and therefore also narrowing flows. Of course, virgin materials will always be needed to a degree: all materials degrade and can’t be cycled infinitely, use energy, and require blending with virgin materials to maintain strength and functionality.

Cycle

Impacts

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Industries

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A framework of policy instruments that enabled and encourage the transition to the circular economy

Policy Instruments

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A framework of policy instruments that enable and stimulate the transition to the circular economy

The principles of a circular economy concern designing out waste, regenerating ecosystems and keeping items in use. Decoupling the economy from material flows—improving the rate of resource productivity faster than the economic growth rate—is also a consistent guide. By evolving with the growing number of applications of circular economy principles, and consolidating these strategies across thematic areas, Circle Economy’s Key Elements Framework (KE) renders the elements of the circular economy salient and serves as a basis to derive contextual strategies and interventions. 


The Framework consists of:
- Core Elements: Activities directly handling product or material flows; and uniquely,
- Enabling Elements: those that remove obstacles for core actors.


Key elements of the circular economy

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Circle Economy's framework of strategies and activities that define the circular economy

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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 It has become trendy to refuse single-use plastic straws. Paper straws now line the shelves of supermarkets, some cafes now use paper straws, and some convenience stores have swapped to lids. But the goal to eliminate all single-use plastic isn’t helped when those paper straws sit in plastic cups and the lid replacements are also plastic. 

 In Japan, there’s often a gap between idea and implementation for reducing plastic waste. In May, the government announced “Japan’s Resource Circulation Policy for Plastics,” to be presented at the G20 summit held in the country in June. The core concept is quite clear: that we follow the 3R (Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle) direction plus “Renewable,” which includes implementing bio-based plastics and expanding the recycled plastic market. But it also has an unclear target to reduce single-use plastic by 25% by 2030 without explaining how specifically the country will do so. 

 The Japanese government also framed the regulation, to be in force from April 2020, to mandate charging customers for single-use plastic bags at stores, as an ambitious policy during the meeting of G20 energy and environment ministers held on June 15. While we can recognize that these moves represent advanced action of the Japanese government compared to past policies, they are unadvanced compared to the ambitious policies set by other countries, including Kenya, where it is illegal to manufacture or use plastic bags, and the United Kingdom, which has a specific plan to end all avoidable plastic waste by 2042. 

 Japan’s regulation, unfortunately, does not directly control the number of plastic bags used. It does not include specific responsibilities for businesses, nor does it specify a roadmap to reduce the production of existing plastic products. And while the plastic bag might be a symbolic single-use plastic product, it consists of just 2% of the plastic production in Japan.
    Plastic  What is Loop?   More than 90% of plastic is never recycled, and a whopping 8 million metric tons of plastic waste are dumped into the oceans annually. At this rate, there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans by 2050. 

 The World Economic Forum has played a crucial role in connecting TerraCycle, a global waste management and recycling company, with logistics giant UPS and some of the world’s leading retailers and consumer goods companies (including Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Carrefour, Tesco, Mondelēz, PepsiCo, Danone, Mars, Nestlé and Unilever) to develop and pilot a revolutionary zero-waste e-commerce system called Loop.

 Loop promotes responsible consumption and eliminates waste by introducing a new way for consumers to purchase, enjoy and recycle their favorite products. Instead of relying on single-use packaging, it delivers products to consumers’ doorsteps in durable packaging that is collected, cleaned, refilled and reused, sometimes more than 100 times.
      The Loop Model.      The Forum is helping the Loop Alliance bring the Loop model to cities around the world. Read more in our Impact Story.

 Partner with us and join the global mission to end plastic pollution. 
   
 Too often in the creation of environmental policies in Japan, policymakers are influenced by demands to protect businesses. But are such policies really the way to protect businesses in a changing world? 

 Many European countries are already implementing policies that regulate plastic production and support the Circular Economy. If Japanese businesses are not ready for such production requirements, they won’t succeed in the region. And that will probably not end with Europe, as European policy makers are aiming to make action on plastic pollution the global standard. Thus, if Japan sticks with the business-as-usual approach, Japanese industries will lose.

 Therefore, if the Japanese government aims to lead the global society with its “Plastic Smart” policy, its campaign showcasing Japanese plastic-reduction practices, it also needs to commit to domestic policymaking. Many businesses are aware of the global trend and are willing to take the necessary steps forward. The government could provide good reason for them to act by initiating a policy mix of not only regulations like the plastic bag policy, but also incentives or subsidies for better solutions to reduce single-use plastics. 

 There are some mindful businesses that have already started to implement alternatives to single-use plastic products that are commonly provided for free at stores. My organization, Zero Waste Academy, organizes a system to support such businesses to shift in the direction of waste reduction, or “Zero Waste.” The system is called the “Zero Waste Accreditation.” 
         We provide support for businesses to reduce their waste by not only stopping providing single-use items or finding alternatives for them, but also by working together with their suppliers and customers. Businesses receive clear direction and training and benefit from branding themselves as sustainability conscious. By engaging stores, we aim to show policymakers, producers and society that there is a clear demand for sustainability-conscious products and supply-chain models.

 The Zero Waste Academy has worked within a community for many years to achieve a zero-waste policy, and we have already proved that more than 80% of resource recovery is possible by a community effort. However, with the goal to achieve Zero Waste by 2020, we know that the remaining 20% cannot be achieved unless there is systemic change in policies and production.
  To bring about such systemic change in Japan, we strongly believe multi-stakeholder partnership involving policymakers, businesses, NGOs, and members of the community is the key. We must understand what can be done within each stakeholder's capacity and learn from each other to establish practical infrastructure for the circular economy. 

 The G20 summit is expected to conclude with a plan to address waste. Yet waiting for policymakers to direct us will take time. Each of us must take ownership in shaping a sustainable future, as urgently as possible. Our initiatives could create the basis to bring everyone to the table and shape better policy.
   How UpLink is helping to find innovations to solve challenges like this   UpLink is a digital platform to crowdsource innovations in an effort to address the world’s most pressing challenges. 

 It is an open platform designed to engage anyone who wants to offer a contribution for the global public good. The core objective is to link up the best innovators to networks of decision-makers, who can implement the change needed for the next decade. As a global platform, UpLink serves to aggregate and guide ideas and impactful activities, and make connections to scale-up impact.
  Hosted by the World Economic Forum, UpLink is being designed and developed in collaboration with Salesforce, Deloitte and LinkedIn. 
   
   A weekly update of what’s on the Global Agenda   

Kamikatsu is a rural mountain town in Japan with a serious social issue: its population is both ageing and shrinking. Once a town of more than 6,000 people, now there are 1,717 (as of April 2015) – and this is expected to dwindle to two-thirds that number over the next five years.
However, for the past 30 years – even before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe introduced “regional revitalization” in 2014 – the town has been developing its own unique and fun solutions. It has had remarkable successes, among them the implementation of a “zero waste” policy.
What is zero waste?
Zero waste is the vision to build a society that enjoys a sustainable rubbish-free lifestyle, with no need for incineration or landfill. The three Rs – reduce, reuse and recycle – are central to discussions about waste management, as are the four Ls – local, low cost, low impact and low tech. The science of waste management must be based on everyday life – and that’s why a small town such as Kamikatsu, which implemented 34 categories of waste separation and became a zero-waste pioneer, offers an example of best practice.
How did it all begin?
Kamikatsu is the smallest town on Shikoku Island, and the fifth-smallest town in Japan, at least in terms of population. Once, the townspeople burned rubbish outside their houses or dumped it on their farms. That was when there were no plastics to worry about and no culture of waste collection.
Once the Japanese economy changed and consumption of packaged, disposable goods was widespread, residents set up a landfill and open incineration space in the town. Everyone brought their rubbish, whatever it was, to the burning hole; a practice that continued until the late 1990s.
However, the town was under strong pressure from the national government to stop burning rubbish on an open fire and start using an incinerator. So the town built one. However, the model was soon banned following health concerns about the dioxins it produced. Not only did the town lose out by building a useless incinerator, but it lost money by having to pay large sums to use the facilities of a nearby town.
Degrees of separation
Kamikatsu had to come up with a new solution. It researched cases around the world and eventually focused on recycling, because by separating waste into categories, the residents realized they could turn it into a resource.
The town started with nine categories of waste separation; in 2002, the number of categories grew to 34. It’s the largest number in Japan, and most probably in the world. What is also significant is that all organic waste is managed within each household and recycled 100%. Many residents own their farms and make their own fertilizer; others buy the local compost, four-fifths of which is subsidized by the town office.
There are no rubbish trucks in Kamikatsu; people take their waste to the town collection centre and separate it into the various categories by themselves. Inside the centre, 60 different spaces and boxes help people to improve their sorting skills. Each space or box is labelled to show where it will be recycled, what it will become and how much it will cost (or earn) in doing so. The centre is visited not only by elementary and junior high schools but also students and organizations from all over the world. The town’s visitor numbers have shot up to more than 2,500 per year, as of 2014.
Recyclable versus burnable
Japan’s primary waste divide is between burnable and non-burnable. Considering the limited land space and concerns over sanitation, incineration is the nation’s preferred method of disposal. Thanks to its rapid technological development, Japan now has the world’s safest and cleanest incineration technology.
However, the development of a high-tech incinerator is encouraging the continuous production and consumption of “disposable” products. If we are to create a society with sustainable resources, we must find a way to prioritize recycling over burning. As well as, of course, expanding the range of action towards reuse and reduce initiatives.
The next challenge
In 2003, Kamikatsu declared its Zero Waste Ambition. Besides preserving the natural environment for future generations, the town aimed to:

Raise the ecological consciousness of individuals
Be producing no waste for incineration or landfill by 2020, by accelerating the reuse and recycle model
Forge links with like-minded communities around the world.

As of the beginning of 2015, Kamikatsu has been achieving a recycling rate of almost 80%. This is based on the waste coming into the collection centre, not the waste in all households, which would make the percentage even higher. The town also has a kuru-kuru shop (“circular” in Japanese), where residents can bring in used items and take things home for free. It also has a kuru-kuru factory, where local women make bags and clothes out of discarded clothes. The centre and these facilities are managed and operated by a local non-profit organization called Zero Waste Academy.
The next step is to prevent waste production altogether. This should involve not only the townspeople but also businesses, both in and out of town, involved in material production and supply. In 2015, the people of Kamikatsu created a roadmap for achieving zero waste by 2020. In working together and coming up with innovative solutions, they are already well on their way.
Author: Akira Sakano is Co-Founder and Communication Director of RDND LLC and a Global Shaper.
Image: Different coloured trash cans are seen in Brasilia June 14, 2014. REUTERS/Paul Hanna 
  License and Republishing World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.   The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.     A weekly update of what’s on the Global Agenda   

 The town of Kamikatsu is located in the Tokushima prefecture in Japan, and is known for its successful commitment to zero waste living. According to Business Insider, residents sort their waste into 34 categories at the town's waste center, a pretty tedious task that took some time to adjust to. But it has worked out so well for the citizens of Kamikatsu that they've extended their zero waste ethos into the brewing business.

 Treehugger reports on the birth of the Kamikatz Public House, one of several community-oriented buildings in the town, built by architecture firm Hiroshi Hakamura & NAP. The brewery is also a pub that sells general supplies and food to local residents (and lucky tourists). It is largely built from recycled materials, including its facade, which is made from reclaimed double-pane windows.

 The firm made an effort to reclaim pieces of the town itself to create the interior and exterior of the building, lining the walls with newspapers, using tiles from other buildings, and creating a custom chandelier from bottles salvaged from the area. In a statement, they refer to the declining population of Kamikatsu, but also its enduring values:

 "We gathered windows that illuminated the town in the past and dedicated our wish that they would serve as a lantern of hope to shine upon the town struggling with a declining population. The space is full of improvisation and discoveries with this creative combination of waste material for this architecture. The locals who gather at this pub are beginning to truly realize that their actions are fun and creative."
      Image: Green Matters      Rise & Win Brewing is just one of the latest to join the craft beer boom in Japan. Though craft breweries have long been trendy in the U.S., Japan's only recently taken interest in the industry over the past few years. And although they're relatively new at it, they're experiencing huge success. Osaka’s Minoh Brewerywon the World’s Best Imperial IPA award in 2013. The Coedo Brewery in Kawagoe won a silver in the “American-style amber lager” category at the 2014 World Beer Cup. 

 Rise & Win Brewing's eco-conscious twist makes it a little more unique and could bring a tourism boon to Kamikatsu, which has already put itself on the map with its careful stewardship of resources. You can watch more about how they do it here:
  Or visit the town yourself and have a beer.
   License and Republishing World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.   This article is published in collaboration with Green Matters The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.     A weekly update of what’s on the Global Agenda   

Japan

Tokushima

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A not-for-profit environmental organization that is helping the small Japanese town of Kamikatsu to become waste-free.

Zero Waste Academy

It was established with the mindset that the only way of get rid of waste is dispensing with the excess packaging and wrapping added to products during manufacturing, distributing and selling.
The Kamikatsu bulk store that used to sell by volume and deal with recycled products has now been remodelled into a general store where you can learn about the environment for the future.

Rise & Win Brewing

On the premise that a paradigm shift for production and sales processes is essential in achieving zero waste, a private-sector business inspired by the principles of this town launched this project with the concept of integrating a shop that sells household sundries, food, and beer by weight with a brewery and a pub. 
As the word “pub” comes from “public house,” we decided to bring the principles of the community, the wisdom and ways of the people towards waste to form through architecture. Our aim was to create a public house so that the community could feel pride in their actions.

Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP, architects

<p>Kamikatsu town, at Tokushima prefecture, Japan, is known for its commitment to zero waste living. Residents sort their waste into categories at the town's waste center. Despite the tedious task, it has worked out so well for the citizens that they've extended their zero waste ethos into the brewing business.</p>