small_iclei.png

thumbnail_iclei.png

iclei.png


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>




large_Circular-City-Actions-Framework-infographic-scaled_gray background.jpeg

medium_Circular-City-Actions-Framework-infographic-scaled_gray background.jpeg

small_Circular-City-Actions-Framework-infographic-scaled_gray background.jpeg

thumbnail_Circular-City-Actions-Framework-infographic-scaled_gray background.jpeg

Circular-City-Actions-Framework-infographic-scaled_gray background.jpeg

Circular Cities

large_eugene-kuznetsov-swmakc2l4EM-unsplash_2.jpeg

medium_eugene-kuznetsov-swmakc2l4EM-unsplash_2.jpeg

small_eugene-kuznetsov-swmakc2l4EM-unsplash_2.jpeg

thumbnail_eugene-kuznetsov-swmakc2l4EM-unsplash_2.jpeg

eugene-kuznetsov-swmakc2l4EM-unsplash_2.jpeg

Policy case

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

Jobs

Direct and indirect reduction in economic costs

Cost Savings

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 transporation equipment and providing services for thetransportation of goods and people

Transportation and Logistics

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

Providing air, water, rail, and land transportation and related services for the distribution of goods, such as air freight, air courier and logistics services, maritime freight, marine courier and logistics services, rail freight, rail courier and logistics services, land freight, land courier and logistics services, including package and mail delivery and customs agents, as well as storage and warehouse facilities

Logistics Services

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

Construction Materials and Products

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

Chemical and Plastic

Designing products to resist damage and wear, and serve a long and useful life.

Design for physical durability

Grant funding

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

Develop infrastructure to support resource cycling

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

Design and regulate for extended use

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

Globally, 13% of global resources consumed relate to mobility. This includes transport infrastructure, from roads, to rail, to cycle routes ([Ellen MacArthur Foundation](https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy-opportunity-and-benefit-factsheets)). Virgin materials sourced to build mobility infrastructure often include cement and asphalt, which are responsible for a significant portion of global greenhouse gas emissions (cement—a constituent component of concrete—is responsible for an estimated 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions) ([BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46455844)). 

The materials that are required for the construction of transport infrastructure can be sourced from residual materials, to offset the demand for virgin resources. Construction techniques that utilise residual material are often less intensive in relation to greenhouse gas emissions, and can help to lower the material footprint of mobility infrastructure. A range of residual materials can be used within mobility infrastructure. These can come from conventional materials, such as cycled concrete and other stones and aggregate. As well as other residual materials such as plastics and rubber from end of life tyres. 

Local governments can support the cycling of materials for mobility infrastructure by mandating a certain proportion of recycled material input in tenders for new developments or renovations of existing infrastructure. For example, criteria could stipulate that all residual materials within renovations must be cycled back into the project, for example as aggregate. Alternatively, criteria could stipulate a minimum proportion of material inputs from cycled sources, or ban the landfilling of certain residual materials. Collaboration and engagement with local businesses can help local governments to identify the most appropriate criteria that the local market is able to satisfy, and support the most effective transition towards a more circular economy. 


large_andrew-kliatskyi-P46Fz8onsbs-unsplash.jpg

medium_andrew-kliatskyi-P46Fz8onsbs-unsplash.jpg

small_andrew-kliatskyi-P46Fz8onsbs-unsplash.jpg

thumbnail_andrew-kliatskyi-P46Fz8onsbs-unsplash.jpg

andrew-kliatskyi-P46Fz8onsbs-unsplash.jpg

🚌  Cycled materials for mobility infrastructure

Impacts

small_climate-4803653_640.jpg

thumbnail_climate-4803653_640.jpg

climate-4803653_640.jpg

Industries

small_coast-wind-turbine-sea-sky.jpg

thumbnail_coast-wind-turbine-sea-sky.jpg

coast-wind-turbine-sea-sky.jpg

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

Policy Instruments

medium_image-20160922-22514-1aqaw5j.jpg

small_image-20160922-22514-1aqaw5j.jpg

thumbnail_image-20160922-22514-1aqaw5j.jpg

image-20160922-22514-1aqaw5j.jpg

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

large_photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

medium_photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

small_photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

thumbnail_photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

photo-1515534238346-fb9ae3e399d0.jpg

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

![Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png](https://goldilocks-images.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Screen_Shot_2024_10_21_at_16_53_12_12858da6aa.png)

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

medium_Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png

small_Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png

thumbnail_Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png

Screen Shot 2024-10-21 at 16.53.12.png

"The City of Thousand Oaks is quite pleased with its experience with RAC. We've been using RAC for over a decade and encourage the use of this product in other California cities. If we can see the benefits of RAC, so can you." Tom Pizza, P.E., Engineering Division Manager, City of Thousand Oaks Construction and Right of Way Management"The Sacramento County Department of Transportation has had routine use of asphalt rubber since 1990. Since that time, we have placed over a half million tons of asphalt rubber and recycled more than 1.5 million waste tires. We now choose the product from a life-cycle savings and environmental mitigation perspective. Our investment in the use of asphalt rubber, through our maintenance overlays and capital improvements projects, has helped stem the tide of an ever increasing backlog of deteriorated pavement in our system. We feel that with asphalt rubber's performance in rut and reflective crack resistance, coupled with the longevity, traffic noise reduction and use of a recycled product is the right choice." Michael Penrose, MSA, County of Sacramento 

  Margo Reid Brown is chairperson of the California Integrated Waste Management Board.
  California currently generates more than 40 million scrap tires annually. These are tires that have lived out their purpose and can potentially threaten California’s environment and our health if not managed properly. While more than 75 percent of this amount is recycled, the state still faces the challenge of handling more than 10 million surplus tires annually, the majority of which end up in landfills or, in some cases, illegal stockpiles.

 What can be done to reduce and recycle our remaining tire scraps?

 The good news is that due to the passage of AB 1843 (Escutia — Chapter 838, Statutes of 2000) and the establishment of the Tire Recycling Management Act, the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) is leading the way in the effort to recycle tire materials. One of the ways CIWMB provides assistance is by promoting the use of rubberized asphalt concrete, commonly known as RAC and affectionately referred to as “rubber roads.”

 Rubberized asphalt concrete, a paving product made from aggregates, asphalt cement and reclaimed tire rubber, is:

  Cost effective. A two-inch-thick rubberized asphalt concrete overlay can save as much as $22,000 per lane mile when compared to a four-inch-thick conventional asphalt overlay. RAC also offers lower maintenance costs in the long run because it is more resistant to cracking than conventional asphalt concrete and, therefore, lasts longer.   A noise suppressant. One of the most compelling arguments for using RAC is the potential to quiet our roadways. Studies have shown that tire-pavement interface noise accounts for 75 percent of the noise generated from highways. RAC can reduce the noise at the source better than other materials, and research conducted in California and Arizona has shown that noise can be reduced by as much as 85 percent in some instances.   Long lasting. The durable pavement resists reflective cracking. Case studies have demonstrated over and over again that when designed properly, RAC lasts much longer than conventional, unmodified asphalt materials. These studies are supported by Caltrans’ testing.   Environmentally friendly. A two-inch-thick resurfacing project uses more than 2,000 waste tires per lane mile. This means that for a one-mile section of a four-lane highway, more than 8,000 tires can be used in creating a safer, quieter, longer-lasting road. 

 Success Stories

 The best proof that RAC works are numerous success stories.

 Thousand Oaks knows firsthand the benefits of using RAC. The city has been using the product since 1992. To date, Thousand Oaks has used rubber from 1.3 million discarded tires to resurface hundreds of miles of surface streets. The city found that the improvements — increased skid resistance, reduced road noise, improved riding qualities and imperviousness to water — have made the use of RAC cost effective and more desirable than traditional asphalt concrete.

 The City of San Clemente is another jurisdiction that has taken advantage of the properties of RAC to maintain and improve its roadways.

 Thousand Oaks and San Clemente are not the only cities that have used RAC. The CIWMB awarded more than 60 grants totaling $4.2 million between January and April of this year alone. Many of these grants help first-time or limited-RAC users, including Fremont, Rancho Cordova, Brea, San Fernando, Galt, Ripon and Nevada City, to name just a few.

 Grants Available

 The CIWMB also understands that making RAC grants easier to get is important for cities. Because of this, grants are now available on a monthly basis. To learn more about RAC and how your city can benefit from using this product, contact the Waste Tire Grants Hotline at (916) 341-5062 or e-mail the tire grants staff at Grants@calrecycle.ca.gov or visit the CIWMB grants website at www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Tires/Grants.

 CIWMB’s mission is to keep valuable resources from becoming a plague on our landfills by sharing information and providing assistance. Using specific recycled-content products, such as RAC, can help California cities go beyond the 50 percent diversion goal and reach our shared vision of zero waste.
  This article appears in the July 2006 issue of Western City Did you like what you read here? Subscribe to Western City
 

Thousand Oaks

large_blob

medium_blob

small_blob

thumbnail_blob

blob

California's Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) brings together the state's recycling and waste management programs and continues a tradition of environmental stewardship.

Carlifornia Integrated Waste Management Board

City of Thousand Oaks

<p>California generates millions of scrap tires every year. With the Tire Recycling Management Act, the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) is leading the way in the effort to recycle tire materials and&nbsp;provide a longer lasting, more durable surface course than traditional asphalt paving. One of the ways CIWMB provides assistance is by promoting the use of rubberized asphalt concrete, commonly known as RAC and affectionately referred to as “rubber roads.”</p>