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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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Article / Report

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

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)

Reduced use and withdrawal of water and rate of recycling and reuse of water

Save Water (SDG6)

Reduced use of fossil fuel energy sources and/or increased use of renewable energy

Reduce Energy Consumption

Contributing to the improvement of biodiversity including species diversity, total number of protected species, and ecosystem health

Biodiversity

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


Construction and Infrastructure

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

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

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

Industry collaboration

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

Cross-industry projects, pilots

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

Manage

 Spatial Planning

Redesign systems to lay the foundation for circular activities and enable the transition to a circular economy 

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Rethink

Facilitate cross-collaboration by engaging city departments, industries and businesses on ambitious, closed-loop circular projects.

Support closed-loop systems and cross-sectoral synergies

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

Communities

Governments

Cities are responsible for 60% of global resource consumption, and with increasing urbanisations, there are growing concerns about forthcoming shortages (water, food, energy). Urban sprawl is costly, damages the environment and affects quality of life. Making cities sustainable will need rethinking of every element of urban living, including the neighbourhood-scale. 

Self-sufficient and socially inclusive neighbourhoods are centralised, self-contained communities, organised in a way that minimises dependency on inputs from outside the system and maximises interaction between its inhabitants. They often produce their own energy and treat their own wastewater, improving security and efficiency of materials, while offering new livelihood opportunities and local value creation.

Local governments can adopt more sustainable and efficient practices in constructing these areas. Through direct and indirect economic incentives, they can push the true costs of infrastructure onto developers and create a favourable real estate climate that helps with empty land in inner-city neighbourhoods. Then, cities can implement circular land planning through urban renewal projects. Building more self-sufficient and circular neighbourhoods will require, however, multi-stakeholder collaborations between municipalities, land developers, construction and waste industries and building owners.

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🏢⚡  Self-sufficient neighbourhoods 

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

   Voor het industrieterrein Achtersluispolder zijn grootse plannen in de maak. Het is momenteel een ruig terrein met havenactiviteiten en maakindustrie. Daar gaat de komende dertig jaar verandering in komen. De Achtersluispolder transformeert naar een gemengd werk-woongebied, met stedelijke voorzieningen en in dichtheden die aansluiten op Amsterdam. Een circulair Achtersluispolder, op zijn minst zelfvoorzienend met energie is één van de uitgangspunten zoals deze nu wordt geformuleerd.  Een aantal vragen waar we dieper op ingaan tijdens de Cirkelstad Community of Practice voor Zaanstad op 29 september zijn: Welke kansen liggen er voor circulariteit in een transformatiegebied als Achtersluispolder?Hoe kan nieuwbouw zo circulair mogelijk worden gerealiseerd?Welke materialen zijn er eigenlijk meer circulair en waar kies je dan voor?  Om in 2050 een circulaire stad te zijn wil de gemeente Zaanstad ervaring op doen in circulaire gebiedsontwikkeling in Achtersluispolder om circulariteit beter ter borgen in alle toekomstige gebiedsontwikkeling. Er wordt verkent hoe in toenemende mate voor circulariteit kaders te stellen en circulair uit te vragen, te ontwerpen en te bouwen. De gemeenteraad beslist dit jaar over de strategische uitgangspunten. Na een korte toelichting van de gemeente presenteert Chandar van der Zande (Metabolic) de mogelijkheden voor circulaire gebiedsontwikkeling en woningbouw op de Achtersluispolder. Welke materialen zijn er al aanwezig? En wat zijn de mogelijkheden voor duurzame energie? Zo is er mogelijk gebruik te maken van aquathermie voor een lokaal warmtenet. Ook vraagt de rioolwaterzuiveringsinstallate van het Hoogheemraadschap Hollands NoorderKwartier (HHNK) om goede inpassing van woningbouw gezien een geurcontour. Ook is in de Achtersluispolder de tijdelijke Maakgemeenschap De Hoop gekomen. Een lege loods werd circulair getransformeerd tot een compleet atelierdorp dat ook weer uit elkaar te halen is om ergens anders weer op te bouwen. Aanmelden: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdipYQSTiQPonTO2ywvZMaADxgUh_u1WQC-9T_9TvOVklJzA/viewform Beton versus hout Daarna is die dag een bloedstollende battle tussen circulair beton en houtbouw. Op de Achtersluispolder is namelijk de Rutte Groep gevestigd die het circulaire beton Freement produceert. Aan de andere kant is momenteel veel te doen rondom houtbouw als circulair materiaal voor woningbouw. Zaanstad heeft een lange historie met houtbouw: de Zaanse huisjes waren van hout. Wat is een betere optie voor de geplande woningbouw? Wie zal er winnen? Regionaal programma Cirkelstad  De gemeente Zaanstad is ambitieus op het gebied van circulariteit op de Achtersluispolder, maar daar blijft het niet bij. Zo is de gemeente Zaanstad deelnemer van bij het Regionaal Programma Cirkelstad MRA. Een samenwerking met marktpartijen, overheden en corporaties op het thema Circulaire Woningbouw. Een programma waarbij de basis ligt bij concrete projecten waarover we kennis en praktijkervaringen delen. Zo leren we van elkaar en werken we samen om de ambities in de deze regio te bereiken. Meer lezen: https://c-creators.org/rpc Agenda Zaanstad 8 juli Masterclass Circulair Aanbesteden en contracteren door AT Lawyers aanmelden: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Lb9qMVzWUBFyIARvpNhaDTBZvDy093iY-66LT21xxWU/edit?usp=redirect_edit_m2 29 september CoP Zaanstad – Circulair bouwen in Achtersluispolder – aanmelden: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdipYQSTiQPonTO2ywvZMaADxgUh_u1WQC-9T_9TvOVklJzA/viewform 


Zaanstad

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Metabolic’s overarching mission is to transition the global economy to a fundamentally sustainable state.

A new economic model is necessary: one that ensures the wellbeing of all people and allows organizations to thrive without transgressing the safe boundaries of the earth’s natural systems.  And we don’t have much time. Metabolic advises governments, businesses, and NGOs on how to adapt to a fast-changing global context, while creating disruptive solutions that can dramatically shift how the economy functions. We crunch data, provide strategies and tools, build pilots, and create new ventures that develop scalable solutions to critical problems. Core to achieving our mission is the transition to an economy that is regenerative and ‘circular’ by design.

Metabolic 

Municipality of Zaanstad

<p>Housing availability and affordability in the Netherlands is a well-known issue. Prices are high, there is a shortage of existing homes, and few new homes are coming onto the market. The Dutch Minister of Home Affairs has set a new target to avoid critical consequences: 845,000 homes must be built by 2030. The need for housing is particularly high in the Randstad region, comprising the four largest Dutch cities – Amsterdam, Rotterdam, the Hague, and Utrecht – and their surrounding areas. Leading by example, Zaanstad’s Achtersluispolder business district in Amsterdam aims to become a “future-proof” mixed-use neighborhood, offering new sustainable homes and jobs in the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam. The area,&nbsp;currently an industrial business park, will become a mixed-use working and residential area with about 8,000 homes and more than 3,000 additional jobs.&nbsp;The district will be self-sufficient with a fully renewable, locally-generated energy supply, and waste-free, with materials being continuously recycled at high quality. The neighborhood’s design focuses on green areas too, to give residents space to walk and cycle, promoting health and social cohesion, as well as biodiversity. Finally, the neighborhood’s design supports the creation of strong social networks in which social initiatives flourish.</p>