Article / Report

Impact on increased knowledge and understanding as a result of the case study

Increase Awareness

Providing public and private education and support services at any level or for any profession, and governmental and public administration services, including judicial, regulatory, and legislative activities, taxation, defence, public order and safety, immigration services, foreign affairs and the administration of government programmes

Education and Government Services

Providing various support services for businesses and governments, such as research, testing, certification and consulting services, cleaning and maintenance services, security and protection services, legal, accounting and bookkeeping services, information management, data processing, and business process outsourcing services

Research & Commercial Services

 Develop research, structure knowledge, encourage innovation networks and disseminate findings with integrity


Strengthen and advance knowledge

Impacts

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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

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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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Last summer, Million Hailemariam, who came to Switzerland as a refugee from Eritrea, passed his final apprenticeship examinations, thereby completing his apprenticeship as a plastics engineer with a Swiss federal certificate of competence at Ypsomed. He is now a permanent employee – and is keen to stay with us for a few more years. We take a look back at the completion of his apprenticeship and discuss his plans for the future as well as personal experiences that have had a profound influence on him. Read more … From refugee to plastics technologist EFZ



Bern

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Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH, Economics (Switzerland)

Berner Fachhochschule

ETH Zurich is a public research university in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. Founded by the Swiss Federal Government in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the school focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

ETH Zurich

KOF Business Cycle Research Center

Based on a specifically developed concept for mapping the circular economy at the company level, the approximately 8,000 companies of the KOF enterprise panel, which is representative for Switzerland were surveyed in 2020 by means of a written survey (response rate: 29,1%). For 27 specific activities in the field of the circular economy, it was surveyed in which areas the companies have achieved measurable changes in the period 2017 to 2019.It is apparent that most companies enter the transformation process via activities to increase efficiency in the production area. These activities to increase efficiency are of central importance, since for most companies they are the basis for extending the activities to other production stages and dimensions of the circular economy, such as closing the loops by re-manufacturing and increasing the lifetime of the products.

Status report of the Swiss circular economy

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RUNRES - Establish a circular economy for resilient city region food systems

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

Jobs

Impact on the health and happiness of human populations

Well-being

Contribution to social parity, or impact on social disparity

Equality

Direct and indirect effects that increase revenues or the potential for new revenues, for example from new products, customer segments, partnerships or business models

Revenue Potential

Efficiency gains on operations or transactions either through cultural or technological shifts

Productivity

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

Innovation

Scalability

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)

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

Biodiversity

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

Agri/Food

Producing and gathering crop and animal products from land and water through farming, hunting, and fishing

Agriculture

While resources are in-use, maintain, repair and upgrade them to maximise their lifetime and give them a second life through take back strategies when applicable

Stretch the lifetime

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

Use waste as a resource

Consider opportunities to create greater value and align incentives that build on the interaction between products and services

Rethink the business model

Utilise bio-based, reusable, non-toxic and non-critical materials

Regenerative materials

Replace freshwater with less impactful alternatives and enact water efficiency measures

Regenerative water

Designing to reduce waste during production and use

Design out waste

Designing to enable multiple uses and lifecycles of a product and its materials

Design for cyclability

Designing products that are made to last and to ensure longer use

Design for durability

Engage with the government on circular policies and programmes

Government collaboration

Engage internally to guide employees and facilitate greater knowledge sharing between internal divisions

Internal collaboration

Engage with the local community where facilities or offices are located

Community collaboration

'Inform' increases the overall levels of awareness and builds the necessary skills and knowledge around the circular economy to foster long-term change.

Inform

Extra-curricular education

Conduct research

Implement innovation programmes

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

Manage

Infrastructure

Develop infrastructure to support sustainable lifestyles

'Mobilise' sets the direction of and builds momentum towards long-term change, while also determining how this direction is determined and governed.

Mobilise

 Convene Towards Action

Matchmaking platforms

'Regulate' changes the rules of the systems to achieve compliance through enforcement. 


Regulate

 Regulation

Environmental assessment & permits

'Incentivise' sends market signals and support to businesses, citizens and governments to promote certain activities.

Incentivise

Public-private partnerships

Public-civil partnerships

 Spatial Planning

Compact city development

Develop infrastructure to support resource cycling

Economic Frameworks

Slow strategies aim to keep materials in use for as long as possible, for example through design for durability and repairability. A more circular economy is also a slower one: materials, components, and products—and even buildings and infrastructure—that we lock in stocks are made to last. This will lower material demand in the long run, in essence also serving to narrow resource flows.

Slow

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

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

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 director of the Department of Water and Sanitation (Iris Mathye) is inspecting co-composting packaging at Duzi Turf

South Africa

Ethiopia

Rwanda

Zurich

Congo Republic

A research group in sustainable agrosystems from ETH Zürich is developing a circular economy system for regions in Rwanda, South Africa, DRC, and Ethiopia, tackling the challenges of food security and sanitation as a synergy. They collaborate with local teams in each region based on establishing vibrant and inclusive transdisciplinary innovation platforms.

Business case

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


Construction and Infrastructure

Providing residential and non-residential construction services, such as architectural, engineering, planning, real-estate, contracting, and inspection services

Construction and Real Estate Services

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

Construction Materials and Products

Ensure renewable, reusable, non-toxic resources are utilised as materials and energy in an efficient way

Prioritise regenerative resources

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

Using renewable energy like solar, wind, etc. or renewable fuels like biomass, etc.

Renewable energy, fuels

Employing artificial algorithms and robotics to identify, enable and/or implement circular strategies (eg. effective resource use & logistics planning, circular business models & design)

Advanced robotics, artificial intelligence

Cemex

Synhelion 

In light of high levels of carbon emissions, a Swiss initiative came up with a technology that uses solar energy to produce cement in a more eco-friendly way.