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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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Starter Kit collection

Business 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 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

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)

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

Extracting resources and processing them to produce materials for use bysociety

Materials and Fuels

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

Transportation and Logistics

Producing transportation equipment for the movement of goods and people by air, rail, sea, and land, including airplanes, spacecraft and military equipment, ships, boats, rail locomotives and rolling stock, motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, and related equipment, as well as repair services for such equipment

Transportation Equipment

Extracting resources and minerals from the earth, such as coal, oil, gas, iron, bauxite, sand, clay, etc.

Mining

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 industry peers to engage in business activities or exploratory projects that advance the circular economy

Joint industry ventures, projects, pilots

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

Inform

Data, knowledge & information sharing

Implement innovation programmes

'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

Voluntary agreements around circular ambitions

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

Process waste into valuable industrial inputs or consumer products; distribute processed waste to users.

Process waste and ensure its re-entry into industry at its highest value

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

Governments

The most common and visible problems associated with vehicle use and transportation in cities are road accidents, air pollution, or traffic congestion. However, vehicles also present a problem at the end of their life. They continue to take up space in landfill (although sometimes in a compacted form), and even if fossil fuel vehicles are phased out, the shift to electric vehicles in the short term could lead to more internal combustion engine vehicles being scrapped, and to a mountain of battery waste in the longer term.

High-value reuse, and recycling of vehicles and their components, is key to a sustainable future of mobility. When reuse is not an option, advanced recycling technologies can extract valuable raw materials, such as lithium and cobalt, before batteries are disposed of. This would not only reduce the burden on incinerators and landfills, but could provide a new, local and circular source of critical materials for the automotive industry. 

Although only few initiatives exist at the municipal level to support high-value reuse and recycling of vehicle components, many initiatives are being supported at national level and businesses are taking the lead in implementing pilot projects across Europe. In the future, local governments could support the recycling of materials by implementing environmental standards for pollution reduction, dismantling, crushing and shredding of vehicles, as well as financial incentives (such as tax rebates and subsidies.) for remanufacturing of cars and part recovery. Alternatively, cities could ban the landfilling of scrap metals and batteries without any previous treatment. Collaboration and engagement with local businesses can help local governments to accelerate research and disseminate knowledge about circular economy approaches to end-of-life vehicle management. 


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🚌  Recycling of vehicle components

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

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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     TRUDEAU, FORD MAKE ANNOUNCEMENT AT HONDA PLANT IN ONT.   
                  The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.         Dana Hull, Bloomberg News        (Bloomberg) -- Redwood Materials Inc., the startup founded by former Tesla Inc. Chief Technical Officer J.B. Straubel, is launching its battery-recycling efforts in California. Ford Motor Co. and Volvo Group are the first automakers to join the program.California has led the transition to electric vehicles in the U.S. with plans to end the sales of new cars and trucks powered by gasoline or diesel by 2035. Last year, battery-electric and plug-in hybrids accounted for more than 12% of all light-duty vehicles sold in the state. As those cars age and are retired, Redwood will extract key metals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper so they can be used in new battery packs and drive down the costs for the industry.Redwood said its goal is to create a “sustainable closed-loop system” that will allow end-of-life battery packs to return to the U.S. supply chain. The company is working with state agencies, including the California Environmental Protection Agency, to look at how efforts can be further streamlined.“We’re jumping in with California and launching this recycling program,” Straubel said at a press conference on Thursday. “California is the oldest EV market, and batteries are already coming back.”Redwood formed a partnership with Ford in September, and Ford invested $50 million in the company, which is based in Carson City, Nevada.“This new program with Redwood Materials will help Ford lead America’s transition to sustainable and carbon-neutral EV manufacturing and ultimately help make electric vehicles more sustainable and affordable for our customers,” Ford Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley said in a statement.©2022 Bloomberg L.P.        

California

Carson City

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Government of California

Redwood Materials

Municipality of Carson City

Ford Motor Co.

Volvo Group

<p>Also causing environmental challenges, electric cars are starting to be integrated into circular approaches. Redwood Materials Inc., by partnering with car manufacturers, state agencies and cities, is for instance triggering the reutilisation of materials from famous car brands.</p>