Circl: Composting food waste in a worm hotel

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Circular food systems entail that the food is produced regeneratively and, where appropriate, locally. Food and packaging waste are designed out entirely, while healthy, low-impact diets are promoted and easy to access. 

[Circle Economy](https://www.circle-economy.com/) is a not-for-profit organisation working to accelerate the circular transition. Through the *Circularity Gap Reporting Initiative*, our mission is to deliver an annual global Circularity Metric that measures the state of the world economy and identifies key levers to transition to global circularity. With nature as our guide, we work alongside cross-sector stakeholders from academia, businesses, NGOs and governments to provide a powerful combination of practical and scalable interventions that transform circular opportunities into realities. 

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Circular Food

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Limes and lemons - Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Business case

Producing agricultural products and processing them into food and beverageproducts for consumption

Agri/Food

Providing recreational and cultural services, including hotels, resorts, casinos, sport and fitness centers, stadiums, golf courses and amusement parks, restaurants, bars, pubs, fast-food or take-out facilities, as well as libraries and museums

Hospitality and Tourism

Processing and producing food and beverages for consumption

Food and Beverage

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

Use waste as a resource

Food losses and waste

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

Industries

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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

In a circular economy:

* Food is produced regeneratively and, where possible, locally; 
* Biomass is optimally used—from agricultural by-products to manure, rainwater or used water; 
* Food losses and waste and packaging waste are designed out entirely; 
* Healthy, planetary diets are promoted and easier to access; and 
* Environmental and economic benefits are balanced with benefits to people and animals.

This definition builds on those of the [Ellen MacArthur Foundation](https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/cities-and-circular-economy-for-food), [Wageningen University](https://www.wur.nl/en/Dossiers/file/Circular-agrofood-system.htm), the [Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy](https://pacecircular.org/sites/default/files/2021-02/circular-economy-action-agenda-food_0.pdf ) (PACE), as well as Circle Economy’s own work in analysing the climate mitigation potential of [circular food interventions](http://circularity-gap.world/2021).

Explore the different themes under this definition below.

Circular food themes

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Explore different themes under the concept of 'circular food'

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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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    Easy, clean and circular!
 That is demonstrated by the Worm Hotel that Le Compostier build for Circl and that is in use by Circl’s restaurant. The worm hotel is placed alongside the Gustav Mahlerplein and is covered with plants at the front and on top. A watergarden gives space to a lush green bouquet of waterplants.
People passing by hardly notice that inside the furniture millions of organisms are at work to make the finest compost available: vermicompost. Only when you open the windows on the sides of the composting furniture you discover what is happening inside; organic waste is turned into a valuable resource for Urban Greening.
 
The chef of Circl, Rudolf Brand, is taking great care of the workers in the worm hotel. He is showing great pride in the fact that the organic waste of the kitchen is not ending in the trash bin any longer and will be used to feed the herb garden of the restaurant.
Composting is not difficult, it actually is very easy! It does not smell and to be able to use the compost in the garden is very satisfying.
    Circl@wormenhotel.nl
Er is nog ruimte beschikbaar.
10 deelnemers
Soort: bedrijf
Startdatum: Gebruik: Na toestemming van initiatiefnemer
Soort afval: GFE
CIRCL, Gustav Mahlerplein, Amsterdam, Nederland

Circl

Le Compostier

<p>Circl, a circular venue in Amsterdam on the Gustav Mahlerplein, partnered with Le Compostier to build a worm hotel. The venue uses the worm hotel to compost food scraps and waste from its restaurant.</p>