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This collection comes from the <a href="https://www.circle-economy.com/circular-jobs-initiative/" target="_blank">Circular Jobs Initiative</a>, an initiative of Circle Economy.

The workforce is an essential lever for transforming our economy from linear to circular. The Circular Jobs Initiative aims to maximise the employment opportunities offered by the circular economy. It provides practical support and insights to businesses and governments that want to adopt circular strategies that have a positive social impact.The Circular Jobs Initiative works through three focus areas: 

- Upskilling the workforce

- Quality of work

- Inclusive job opportunities 

CJI has defined circular jobs as any occupation that directly involves or indirectly supports one of the strategies of the circular economy. It distinguishes between three types of circular jobs: core, enabling and indirectly circular jobs.

**Core circular jobs** are all jobs that ensure the closure of raw material cycles, including jobs in repair, renewable energy, waste and resource management. 

**‍Enabling circular jobs** are jobs that remove barriers for and enable the acceleration and upscaling of core circular activities, including jobs that arise in leasing, education, design and digital technology. 

**Indirectly circular jobs** are jobs that occur in other sectors that do not play a direct role in furthering the transition to the circular economy but can still adopt circular strategies. They include jobs that provide services to core circular strategies, including jobs in information services, logistics and the public sector.

The Knowledge Hub Collection includes examples of circular jobs, publications, reports, case studies and policies different organisations, governments and businesses are already using to advocate for a person-centred circular economy. 

Visit the <a href="https://www.circle-economy.com/circular-jobs-initiative/" target="_blank">Circular Jobs Initiative</a>

Visit the <a href="http://jobsmonitor.circle-economy.com/" target="_blank">Circular Jobs Monitor</a>

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Circular Jobs Initiative

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Article / Report

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

Jobs

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

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

Use waste as a resource

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

Valorise waste streams - closed loop

Reuse, repurpose, and recycle waste streams within other industries

Valorise waste streams - open loop

Make collected and sorted recyclables available for use by citizens, small businesses up to large scale industrial processes. 

Use recyclables

Implementation of strategies to collect recyclable waste in order to make it accessible and available to be used as an input in industrial processes (big or small). These are door-to-door collection (higher recovery rates but more costly intensive), drop-off schemes (cheaper but less effective, more common in cities with high housing density), or a combination of the two, and their corresponding incentive schemes. 

Collect recyclables

Infrastructure for citizens or cities to sort waste and extract recyclables, including incentives and pay-as-you-throw policies, as well as clear and targeted communications campaigns.

Sort recyclables

Collection of waste arising from commercial and industrial actors

Collect non residential

Collect organic waste generated by households and related businesses for use in, for example, composting and anaerobic digestion facilities.

Collect organic

Develop infrastructure to support resource cycling

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

Urban Opportunities

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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 recycling industry has grown quickly in recent decades, and this boom has translated into social, environmental, and economic benefits for society. One of these is the creation of jobs in the recycling industry, as well as recycling self-employment opportunities. There are also several training options available for those interested in pursuing a career in the recycling industry.
  
Solid waste management is a highly mechanized process that is achieved with a modest amount of labor. Recycling, on the other hand, can be much more labor-intensive. It involves the collection, sorting, and processing activities, ISRI, as well as other supporting roles such as facilities operations, sales, and logistics support.
 
Recycling is an integrated process that begins with recyclable material collection from locations such as households, drop-off points, construction, and demolition centers and businesses. After collection, these recyclable materials go through a thorough sorting process to separate various materials as well as different quality goods. For example, in textile recycling, a percentage of used clothing can be utilized without further processing. The reusable clothing can be resold or distributed after washing.
 
For plastic, paper, metal, and glass recycling, collected items go through a rigorous process to be usable as a raw material for the production of new goods. From the collection of materials to selling them, recycling businesses need varying degrees of skilled and semi-skilled employees to perform recycling industry jobs. Many recycling companies and associations play a significant role in building social awareness by providing recycling training services. 
 
Recycling Industry Job Statistics
 
According to ISRI, the U.S. scrap industry generated over 150,000 direct jobs and 323,000 indirect jobs in 2015.According to the REI, the US recycling industry employed 1.25 million people whereas the US solid waste management industry used only 0.25 million people. The REI study says that there are more than 56,000 reuse and recycling establishments in the U.S. REI also states that on average the recycling industry pays higher average wages than the solid waste management industry.According to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), the systematic removal of every 10,000 tons of solid waste creates only six jobs while the same amount of waste if recycled can create recycling jobs for as many as 36 people.Another report stated that wider government focus on the recycling industry could create 10,000 new jobs in the UK by 2020.A study by “Friends of the Earth” said that over 51,000 recycling jobs could be created in the UK, if 70% of collected waste was recycled. If industrial and commercial waste were recycled at the same rate, another 18,800 additional job would be created. The study suggested that the government must be ambitious in setting yearly recycling rates. Sufficient actions to stop the production and selling of products that can’t be reused and recycled can take recycling rate to 75% by 2025.On an EU level, if a goal of 70% recycling of the main recyclable materials was met, estimates suggest that up to 322,000 direct recycling jobs could be created in the 27 EU countries. EU countries would recycle an extra 115 million tons of textiles in the process, including woods, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, plastic, paper, bio-waste, and glasses. Recycling this amount of wastes and material could create another 160,900 indirect and 80,400 induced jobs. Therefore, the total potential is more than 563,000 net new jobs.
 
Given the capacity of recycling to generate jobs, it is important to take the necessary steps to create an environment that stimulates recycling and recycled material markets.
 

The Balance

<p>Solid waste management is a highly mechanised process that is achieved with a modest amount of labor. In contrast, recycling, on the other hand, can be much more labor-intensive. _Recycling and Jobs Statistics_ * The US recycling industry employs 1.25 million people whereas the solid waste management industry employs only 0.25 million people. * The systematic removal of every 10,000 tons of solid waste creates only six jobs while the same amount of waste if recycled can create recycling jobs for as many as 36 people * On an EU level, if a goal of 70 percent recycling of the main recyclable materials was met, estimates suggest that up to 322,000 direct recycling jobs could be created in the 27 EU countries. Read more at:</p>