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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

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

Social Impact

Impacts on the financial condition of a company, as well as the the economicconditions of its stakeholders and on economic systems at local, national, andglobal levels.

Economic Impact

Impact on the health and happiness of human populations

Well-being

Contribution to social parity, or impact on social disparity

Equality

Direct and indirect reduction in economic costs

Cost Savings

Impact on the ease of innovation, and facilitating uptake of innovations

Innovation

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)

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

Reduce Energy Consumption

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

Transportation and Logistics

Producing and providing business and consumer goods and services

Goods and Services

Societal Services

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

Use digital, online platforms and technologies that provide insights to track and optimise resource use, strengthen connections between supply chain actors, and enable the implementation of circular models



Incorporate digital technology

Replace energy sources with less impactful alternatives and enact energy efficiency measures

Regenerative energy

Working together with customers to jointly create products fit for them

Co-creation

Other

Develop infrastructure to support sustainable lifestyles

Institutional design to enable circularity

Living labs

Site planning for circular material use

Put enablers in place that allow circular businessesto grow, thrive and innovate (e.g. incubators, start-up funding, partnerships, innovation deals, business capacity building and testing groundsfor new business models).


Support circular and resource-efficient business innovations

Increase efficiency and promote local economic growth by shortening supply chains and connecting local producers to consumers.


Support local low-impact circular economies

Cities consume about 75% of global energy and emit between 50% and 60% of global greenhouse gases (UN-Habitat). To reduce the negative impact of their energy consumption, cities need to shift away from fossil fuels and move towards renewable energy sources. Such a shift will help cities work towards their climate change mitigation and adaptation action plans. Renewable energy technologies such as wind, water, solar, and geothermal can also help improve access to energy in vulnerable and marginalised neighbourhoods through, for example, decentralised, off-grid solutions.

Renewable energy technologies can harvest the energy in nature’s processes, such as wind, and solar radiation and geothermal heat, that can be replenished within a human lifespan. In contrast, fossil fuels are materials that are not replenished within a human lifespan and are combusted for energy, losing the fuel material and resulting in emissions.

Local governments can develop sustainable energy plans, considering different energy resources and requirements, to develop a robust strategy for the development of renewable energy technologies and infrastructure throughout the city. They can also institute specific legislation and tax systems to regulate energy production and consumption, incentivise research and development of cleaner, more efficient technologies. Via Power Purchase Agreements cities can buy renewable energy from green energy providers and fix the price in order to provide security to financial institutions to finance renewable energy infrastructure. Furthermore, increasing awareness and facilitating capacity-building on planning urban sustainable energy projects can help the uptake of clean energy across the city by different stakeholders—from citizens to businesses and institutions. Facilitating collaboration, then, will be crucial, since private companies operate most of the world’s energy systems.


⚡ Energy Systems

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

The demand for transport is rising globally—but current modes are heavily material- and fossil-fuels-intensive. Emissions from the transport system could grow by 60% by 2050, and transport is the number-one user of oil worldwide. GHG emissions result not only in warming global temperatures, but also in ocean acidification, which has severe consequences for entire ecosystems and further destabilises our climate. The transport system also drives land-use change and biodiversity loss through the development of infrastructure—also releasing harmful pollutants into the ocean. Key circular solutions:

- Embrace and enable car-free lifestyles
- Invest in high-quality public transport
- Rethink unnecessary air travel
- Electrify remaining vehicles

🚌 Mobility Systems

Businesses

Communities

Governments

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

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

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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   A smart city is not just a technologically innovative city. It also takes its users (residents and employees etc.) into account, which means that their use of the city is essential to the process of creating beneficial and sustainable developments.   Without this process, there is a great risk of building costly constructions and implementing complex systems that will ultimately be poorly used, or never used at all. Lyon Confluence is aware of this challenge and is committed to building a neighbourhood that not only responds to current needs but answers future ones too. This aim means that we take a much broader approach to sustainable development than a traditional developer. Broadening expertise While developing the district, SPL Lyon Confluence has been committed to making an impact on the three pillars of sustainable development: the environment, the economy and social issues. This approach meant that its role as a redeveloper had to adapt and progress. The architecture, environment and diversity quality requirements detailed in the specifications, were complemented by Lyon Confluence's desire to improve the services on offer to users of the district. Lyon Confluence notably provides services such as the option of connecting to the urban heating network that is offered to co-ownership associations. This development embodies Lyon Confluence's desire to provide solutions that respond to the new way the city is being used, i.e. the production and distribution of renewable energy (the urban heating network), or the development of shared parking schemes. Lyon Confluence also has to manage the data for the new connected city. Creating links to understand needs These new areas of expertise have evolved out of listening to and exchanging ideas with the neighbourhood's users, and the close relationship that Lyon Confluence has always fostered. These exchanges notably take the form of questionnaires, completed once the facilities and public spaces have opened and enabling any potential changes to be made. It also involves paying close attention to contributions made during consultation meetings. The social networks Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram are also important as they provide a forum for close contact with communities. 

Lyon

Municipality of Lyon

A smart city is not just a technologically innovative city. It also takes its users (residents and employees etc.) into account, which means that their use of the city is essential to the process of creating beneficial and sustainable developments. Without this process, there is a great risk of building costly constructions and implementing complex systems that will ultimately be poorly used, or never used at all.Lyon Confluence is aware of this challenge and is committed to building a neighbourhood that not only responds to current needs but answers future ones too. While developing the district, SPL Lyon Confluence has been committed to making an impact on the three pillars of sustainable development: the environment, the economy and social issues. This approach meant that its role as a redeveloper had to adapt and progress. The architecture, environment and diverse quality requirements detailed in the specifications, were complemented by Lyon Confluence's desire to improve the services on offer to users of the district. Lyon Confluence notably provides services such as the option of connecting to the urban heating network that is offered to co-ownership associations. This development embodies Lyon Confluence's desire to provide solutions that respond to the new way the city is being used, i.e. the production and distribution of renewable energy (the urban heating network), or the development of shared parking schemes. Lyon Confluence also has to manage the data for the new connected city. These new areas of expertise have evolved out of listening to and exchanging ideas with the neighbourhood's users, and the close relationship that Lyon Confluence has always fostered. La Confluence now has 12,000 residents, 15,000 employees and millions of visitors. Setting up and investing in La Confluence has thus become a strategic move for trade and business.

Lyon Confluence - Smart urban district to enable circularity

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 other industries

Valorise waste streams - open loop

Transforming waste products, materials for reuse within other industries

Open loop upcycling

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

Manage

Infrastructure

Develop infrastructure to support resource cycling

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

Managing municipal food wastes at scale may require complex and costly infrastructures to collect, transport and process these residual materials. Large-scale composting facilities are challenging to place and zone appropriately in space-scarce cities.

Community-based initiatives, for example, community composting, can provide a localised solution to managing urban food wastes. Community composting initiatives are small(er)-scale solutions that are distributed throughout the city, located close to the sources of food waste, reducing the need for complex logistics and collection systems. Community composting schemes can take a variety of forms, for example, in-vessel composting (IVC), as well as vermicomposting (which utilises insects to break down organic materials). Community composting initiatives can generate valuable by-products for use in (urban) agriculture, in gardens and in parks, as well as support community building. 

Local governments can support the development and implementation of community composting schemes through the provision of equipment and infrastructure, for example,  composting boxes. The formation of public-civic partnerships can help formulate the relationships and validate the valuable role such activities can play in the management of organic waste streams. Awareness raising can be facilitated through collaboration with schools. 


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🍏  Community composting

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

Composter, c'est un geste éco-responsable pour recycler une partie de ses déchets organiques. Le compostage, c'est la décomposition naturelle des déchets organiques (épluchures de légumes, fruits, marc de café ou de thé, déchets de jardin…) par des micro-organismes présents dans le sol comme des bactéries, des champignons, des vers, en présence d'eau et d'air. Le résultat du compostage est un produit organique comparable à du terreau, utile pour le jardinage, appelé compost. Un engrais 100% naturel et gratuit. 
L'installation d'un composteur partagé en pied d’immeuble, dans un quartier ou en cantine scolaire permet à toutes les personnes concernées d'en bénéficier pour réduire la part des déchets organiques qui terminent à la poubelle. Pour les uns, ce dispositif permet de créer du lien entre habitants, d'acquérir un savoir-faire et de produire un engrais naturel pour ses plantes. En milieu scolaire, ces sites permettent de composter les restes de la cantine ou des goûters. Le compost produit pourra être utilisé comme engrais pour le potager mis en place dans certaines écoles ou dans les jardinières.
Bien géré et entretenu, un site de compostage ne sent pas mauvais.

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 "Tous au compost" a lieu jusqu'au 10 avril. Pendant cet événement, la Métropole de Lyon accompagne les responsables de lieux de compostage pour faire découvrir à tous et toutes les bienfaits de cette façon de réduire ses déchets. Alors, le compost, pourquoi faut-il s’y mettre, et que fait la Métropole pour le développer ? On vous explique. Composter c’est laisser les déchets, notamment les déchets alimentaires, se dégrader naturellement. Ainsi, les épluchures de fruits et légumes, les coquilles d’œufs et le marc de café se transforment en engrais 100 % naturel ! Deuxième avantage : vous produisez 1/3 de déchets en moins.
Pourquoi composter ? Jules vous explique en vidéo

Compost : la Métropole en action
Depuis plusieurs années déjà, la Métropole de Lyon met en place des solutions de compostage. Lors du conseil métropolitain des 15 et 16 mars, les élus et élues ont décidé de passer à la vitesse supérieure pour toucher plus d’habitantes et d’habitants. Objectif : réduire notre production de déchets, et donc notre empreinte sur l’environnement. En plus, la loi prévoit que ces déchets soient triés partout en France dès 2024. Alors autant prendre les devants !
Voici, en bref, les principales actions mises en place par la Métropole de Lyon pour développer le compostage : 
1) Tous au compost, l’événement
Du 27 mars au 10 avril se tient l’événement national « Tous au compost », dans le but de mettre en lumière les bienfaits du compostage. Pour l’occasion, la Métropole de Lyon accompagne les responsables de composteurs pour organiser des visites et des ateliers pédagogiques.  2) Aide à l’installation de composteurs collectifs
La Métropole aide les personnes volontaires à installer des composteurs dans leur copropriété, dans leur quartier, à l’école… Concrètement, elle prend en charge financièrement du matériel, propose des formations et un accompagnement technique.  3) Le compostage de quartier
Avoir un composteur au coin de la rue quand on habite en centre-ville, c’est LA solution pratique. À l’heure actuelle, 500 lieux de compostage de quartier ont déjà été financés par la Métropole de Lyon. L’objectif est d’atteindre 1500 composteurs collectifs d’ici à 2026.

Trouver un site de compostage proche de chez vous 

4) Les points d’apport volontaire des déchets alimentaires
Sur le même principe que le container à verre où l’on amène ses bocaux et bouteilles pour les recycler, la Métropole va mettre en place des bornes où apporter les déchets alimentaires. Ce sera d’abord le 7e arrondissement de Lyon qui sera équipé, dès septembre 2021. Et en 2022 ce sera au tour des villes de l’est et de l’ouest lyonnais. L’objectif est de couvrir toutes les villes et les centre-bourg d’ici fin 2023.
5) La distribution gratuite de composteurs individuels pour les jardins
Le 16 mars, les élus de la Métropole ont aussi décidé la distribution gratuite composteurs individuels. A terme, la Métropole souhaite en distribuer 20 000. Ce système de compostage s’adresse aux personnes qui vivent dans des maisons individuelles avec un jardin où placer leur composteur. Les premiers exemplaires seront distribués à partir de juillet 2021.
Vous pourrez effectuer une demande à partir du 26 avril sur Toodego.
6) Formations gratuites au compostage individuel et à l’éco-jardinage
Vous avez un jardin ? La Métropole propose des formations gratuites de deux heures pour apprendre à composter dans son jardin et à jardiner avec ses déchets verts. Après la formation, vous recevez à chaque saison des informations pratiques et techniques sur le compostage.
Vous n’avez pas de jardin ? La Métropole vous propose des formations gratuites de deux heures pour apprendre à utiliser un vermicomposteur, qui permet de composter chez soi, sur un balcon ou dans une cour intérieure.

Inscrivez-vous en ligne sur Toodego
 Chiffres-clés

1/3 des déchets ménagers, que l’on jette dans les poubelles grises, sont des déchets alimentaires. La majorité d’entre eux sont compostables.
500 sites de compostages collectifs ont déjà été financés par la Métropole de Lyon. Objectif de 1500 d’ici 2026.
20 000 composteurs individuels seront distribués gratuitement en juillet 2021
2023, date à laquelle toutes les villes et centre-bourgs de la métropole de Lyon seront équipés de point d’apport volontaire des déchets alimentaires
2024, date à partir de laquelle le tri des déchets compostables sera obligatoire partout en France.
 
       Des jeunes collégiens entretiennent un compost collectif.© Thierry Fournier // Métropole de Lyon  
  

The City of Lyon has created 70 newspaces for composting in neighborhoods, and from 8 to 15 places in schools. To date, 500 neighborhood composting sites have already been funded by the Métropole de Lyon. The goal is to reach 1,500 collective composters by 2026.

Shared composting

The collection service is made on request of citizens. The collection on
demand allows the collection of certain types of waste that cannot be
collected by the conventional ways. This service enables the collection of
waste of big size and weight, which hardly could be transported by the
citizens themselves. It also enables the differentiated treatment and
valorisation of waste streams, instead of being mixed in the residual waste
collection or dumped away in the streets.

