Circular Principles and Indicators

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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 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

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

Agri/Food

Extracting resources and processing them to produce materials for use bysociety

Materials and Fuels

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

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

Prioritise regenerative resources

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

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

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

Inform

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

Manage

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

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

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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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  May 29, 2020  Project deliverable 
Open Access
   
Corbin, Liz; Coudard, Antoine; Garmulewicz, Alysia; Powell, Zoe; Singh, Apurva; Smith, Charlene; Bolumburu, Pilar D3.1 Circular Principles and Indicators lays out the key concepts and components of WP3’s Circular Urban Metabolism framework - (1) Circular Principles, (2) principle-level and pilot-specific key performance indicators, and (3) urban metabolism assessments - as well as the methodologies undertaken to derive them and the resulting outcomes. In doing so, it chronicles the activities undertaken and results derived by WP 3 within the first year of the REFLOW project. 

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Amsterdam

Berlin

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Paris

Milan

Cluj-Napoca

Vejle

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.

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Metabolic 

Materiom

REFLOW activities associated with urban metabolism, material flow analyses, and environmental impact assessment were led by Metabolic and Materiom as part of Work Package (WP) 3: Circular Engineering. The purpose of WP 3 is to map and measure each pilot city’s urban metabolism through a core set of methodologies including material flow analysis (MFA) and environmental impact assessment. The work was done in close collaboration with each pilot team and results are used to support the continual development and testing of the circular economy strategies within each pilot city. The core objectives of WP 3 are:&nbsp;-&nbsp;To co-create principles and best process for urban circular resource flows across the pilot cities.-&nbsp;To co-identify, develop, and scale innovative solutions for urban circular resource flows across the pilot cities.-&nbsp;To assess the environmental performance and impacts of pilot cities, their interventions, and strategies.&nbsp;Toward achieving the above mentioned objectives, the following three overarching tasks were led throughout the project:&nbsp;-&nbsp;Circular Principles &amp; Indicators: Co-development, with pilot cites, of a set of principles and key performance indicators (KPIs) for circular urban resource flows. The purpose of the principles is to communicate key principles and best process that partners should strive towards when building circular resource flows within cities.&nbsp;- Circular key performance indicators (KPIs): Support pilot cites in setting progressive circular economy targets and goals within their REFLOW Pilot Acon Plans (REFLOW D5.1, 2020) as well as a core set of KPIs that enables pilot teams to monitor progress towards their pursuit.&nbsp;-&nbsp;Urban metabolism: To map and measure the urban metabolism of each pilot city and support the pilot teams in devising circular strategies and intervenons that best address the unique context, challenges, and opportunities of their city