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This collection features a selection of case studies, mainly based on the [2024 Circularity Gap Report](https://www.circularity-gap.world/2024). 

In this year’s Report, we shift from exploring the what to the how: exploring the different ways that we need to ‘change the rules of the game’ and create a set of conditions that discourage the overshoot of planetary boundaries and ‘undershoot’ of human development. This process has resulted in us spotlighting 12 of the original 16 solutions, highlighting the country profile that they are most relevant to, as well as placing people at the centre of this story for the first time. Based on extensive interviews and desk research, this Report aims to show governments and industry leaders that if they want to turn theory into action and scale an economy that delivers on needs within the safe limits of the planet, they need to dismantle harmful entrenched processes and align enabling elements. 

[Circle Economy](https://www.circle-economy.com/) is a global impact organisation with an international team of passionate experts based in Amsterdam. We empower industries, cities, and nations with practical and scalable solutions to put the circular economy into action. Our vision is an economic system that ensures the planet and all people can thrive. To avoid climate breakdown, our goal is to double global circularity by 2032. 

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. 

To learn more about these interventions to accelerate the circular transition, read the [latest Circularity Gap Report 2024](https://www.circularity-gap.world/2024), as well as previous editions of the global [Circularity Gap Reports](https://www.circularity-gap.world/global).

Global Circularity Gap Report 2024

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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

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

Increase Awareness

Impact on the health and happiness of human populations

Well-being

Direct and indirect reduction in economic costs

Cost Savings

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)

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

Reduce Energy Consumption

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

Biodiversity

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

Producing indoor products for the home and office, such as furniture, including upholstery, carpets and wall-coverings, as well as cutlery, cookware, glassware, crystal, silverware, utensils, kitchenware and household specialties

Home and Office Furnishings

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

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

Refining and processing ores and producing ferrous and non-ferrous metal and glass products, including packaging

Metal and Glass

Extracting and gathering wood through forestry and producing wood and paper products

Wood and Paper

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

Agriculture

Providing repair services or maintenance services for products or parts

Product maintenance, repair

Providing upgrade programmes or upgrade services for products or parts of products

Product upgrade

Providing DIY repair kits or spare part programmes for enabling self-repair

Self-repair, spare part service

Extraction and reuse of parts from end-of-life products for use in new products

Part recovery

Activities to clean, decorate, and restore products back to working condition for original or new purposes

Refurbishment, remanufacturing, renovation

Marketplaces or services that enable the second hand sale of own-brand products

Own brand second-hand sale

Marketplaces or services that enable the second hand sale of products

Second-hand sale, distribution

Providing products through sharing between consumers, customers, etc.

Peer to peer sharing

Designing products of multiple parts that can be easily disassembled

Design for disassembly

Designing products so they are able to be easily repaired

Design for repair

Designing products to be reused for the same or different purposes in multiple lifecycles

Design for reuse

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

Joint industry ventures, projects, pilots

Engaging in discussions with customers to educate and raise awareness of the circular economy and explore circular opportunities together

Customer dialogue, marketing 

Specific programmes or initiatives to help customers become more circular 

Customer programmes

Participating in government programmes that support and advance the circular economy

Government programmes

Facilitate discussions and meetings between internal team members to identify circular opportunities

Dialogue with internal stakeholders

Provide guidance or professional training to educate employees to use circular economy principles

Training on the circular economy

Data, knowledge & information sharing

Implement innovation programmes

Develop infrastructure to support sustainable lifestyles

Institutional design to enable circularity

Cross-departmental collaboration and engagement

Advocate for circular change

Environmental assessment & permits

Public-civil partnerships

Tax breaks

Subsidies

Awareness raising events

Develop infrastructure to support resource cycling

Information campaigns

Build countries consume 13% of the global material footprint, while they account for almost 50% of the population. 

Examples include countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia such as: 
- Bangladesh
- Ethiopia
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- The Philippines
- Some small island states, ...

Minimal contribution to the overshoot of planetary boundaries: these countries contribute 20% of land use change, 30% of
freshwater use, 23% of phosphorus emissions to soil, and 11% of nitrogen emissions.

To find out what country profile your country belongs to, explore [this interactive story](https://circularity-gap.world) and search for your country on the final map.

Build

Grow countries globally account for 55% of all raw material extraction and 52% of the material footprint, while housing around 37% of the global population.

These are larger Southeast Asian countries and countries in Latin America and Northern Africa, as well as those with an economy in transition in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.

Examples include :
- China
- Indonesia
- Brazil
- Mexico
- Vietnam
- Myanmar
- Egypt, ...

Large contribution to the overshoot of planetary boundaries—largely due to the consumptions of local materials in higher-
income (Shift) countries: these countries contribute 50% of climate change, 62% of nitrogen, 60% of phosphorus, 53% of freshwater use and 42% of land use change.

To find out what country profile your country belongs to, explore [this interactive story](https://circularity-gap.world) and search for your country on the final map.

Grow

These countries are home to around a quarter of the global population, yet consume over one-third (34%) of raw materials. Shift countries’ material footprint per capita is 4.6 times that of Build countries (largely due to the overconsumption of consumer goods imported from Grow counties) and 1.6 times that of Grow countries.

These are high-income countries in the Global North, as well as in the Gulf, Australia, and Oceania. Examples include:
- Member States of the EU
- the US
- Japan
- the UK
- Canada
- Argentina, ...

While much of their infrastructure is already built, they still contribute heavily to the overshoot of planetary boundaries: they contribute 42% of climate change, 27% of nitrogen, 18% of phosphorus, 16% of freshwater use and 38% of land use change.

To find out what country profile your country belongs to, explore [this interactive story](https://circularity-gap.world) and search for your country on the final map.  


Shift

Business

Local government

National government

Civil society

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 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

Based on extensive interviews and desk research, this Report aims to show governments and industry leaders that if they want to turn theory into action and scale an economy that delivers on needs within the safe limits of the planet, they need to dismantle harmful entrenched processes and align enabling elements - policy, finance, and people

- Build circular expertise and skills: Ensure people are skilled and trained to ensure a just transition where opportunities and decent livelihoods are fairly distributed across and within societies.


People

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

Whilst no two countries are the same, there are still obvious similarities between some of them, with discernible development patterns and parallels in evidence. Common problems and shared solutions help place unique country identities and individual issues in context.

Whilst this classification is far from clear-cut and exhibits some overlap, it does underline how the discourse on transitioning to a circular economy needs to account for both differences and commonalities, if we are to arrive at a more strategic and instructive analysis. It also allows to highlight a set of key themes that are likely to be central to the countries that fall under the respective profiles. 

Country profiles (Build, Grow, Shift)

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A framework to distinguish between different country profiles and their circular transition needs.

Browse case studies by type of implementing stakeholder.

Implementing 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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  The state would be the first to pass legislation setting broad sustainability regulations for the industry.  Last September, as New York Fashion Week was taking place for the first time in a year, Kathy Hochul, the new governor, sat front row at the Prabal Gurung show, marking a fresh era in the relationship of the fashion industry and the state government. “This is where all the eyes of the world are when it comes to fashion,” she later told Vogue.
Just four months later, the eyes of the world may open a little wider. On Friday, the Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act (or Fashion Act) was unveiled: a bill that, if passed, would make New York the first state in the country to pass legislation that will effectively hold the biggest brands in fashion to account for their role in climate change.
Sponsored by State Senator Alessandra Biaggi and Assemblywoman Anna R. Kelles, and backed by a powerful coalition of nonprofits focused on fashion and sustainability, including the New Standard Institute, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, as well as the designer Stella McCartney, the law will apply to global apparel and footwear companies, with more than $100 million in revenues, doing business in New York.
That is pretty much every large multinational fashion name, ranging from the very highest end — LVMH, Prada, Armani — to such fast-fashion giants as Shein and Boohoo. Specifically, it would require such companies to map a minimum of 50 percent of their supply chain, starting with the farms where the raw materials originate through factories and shipping. They would then be required to disclose where in that chain they have the greatest social and environmental impact when it comes to fair wages, energy, greenhouse gas emissions, water and chemical management, and make concrete plans to reduce those numbers (when it comes to carbon emissions, specifically in accordance with the targets set by the Paris Climate Accords).
Finally, it would require companies to disclose their material production volumes to reveal, for example, how much cotton or leather or polyester they sell. All of that information would also have to be made available online.
“As a global fashion and business capital of the world, New York State has a moral responsibility to serve as a leader in mitigating the environmental and social impact of the fashion industry,” Ms. Biaggi said in a news release, calling the law “a groundbreaking piece of legislation that will make New York the global leader” in holding the fashion industry “accountable.” She also said that the act would ensure that “labor, human rights, and environmental protections are prioritized.”
Companies would be given 12 months to comply with the mapping directive (18 months for their impact disclosures), and if they are found to be in violation of the law, they would be fined up to 2 percent of their annual revenues. Those fines would go to a new Community Fund administered by the Department of Environmental Conservation and used for environmental justice projects. The New York attorney general would also publish an annual list of companies found to be noncompliant. While similar legislation regarding due diligence is being debated in the European Union, and while Germany, France, Britain and Australia have laws requiring due diligence when it comes to human rights and slavery, there is no general legislation in any country governing the greater social and environmental actions of the fashion industry and mandating change.
In 2010, California passed the Transparency in Supply Chains Act, which addresses modern slavery, in 2019 banned sales of new fur products, and last year passed the Garment Worker Protection Act, but the New York act focuses on the manufacturing end of the business, broadly defined.
“Fashion is one of the least regulated industries,” said Maxine Bédat, the founder of the New Standard Institute. In part that is because its sprawling supply chain can include multiple countries and continents. As a result, efforts at sustainability vary widely. Imposing government regulation would regularize the reporting and “make sure there isn’t a competitive disadvantage to doing the right thing,” Ms. Bédat said.
Though many brands have become increasingly vocal in acknowledging their own responsibility when it comes to climate change and human rights violations, efforts to rectify the situation have been left up to the companies and an assortment of nongovernmental watchdog consortiums like the Fair Labor Association, which addresses wage issues, and Higg, which addresses supply chain reporting. They can vary widely.
Ralph Lauren, Kering, LVMH and Capri Holdings, for example, are among the companies that have already committed to using the Science-Based Targets Initiative, a tool for reducing carbon emissions created by the CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute and the World Wide Fund for Nature. But Shein didn’t hire its first environmental, social and governance (ESG) head until December.
“Often there is a knee-jerk reaction by businesses against the idea of regulation,” Ms. Bédat said, noting that numerous stakeholders were consulted in drafting the Fashion Act, including retail brands and manufacturers such as Ferrara, which is based in the garment district and has endorsed the bill. But, she continued, “even the auto industry, which initially rebelled against fuel efficiency standards, has now embraced them.” The Fashion Act, Ms. Bédat said, “is an effort to meet industry where they are, recognize the good faith efforts they are already making and come up with a common standard, but do so with some teeth.”
The bill will now make its way through Senate and Assembly committees, with the sponsors aiming to bring it to a vote in late spring after state budget negotiations are complete. “Before officially introducing the bill, we built a broad coalition of support that includes leaders in the fashion industry, manufacturers, labor rights activists and environmental activists who are passionate about seeing the bill become law,” Ms. Biaggi said via email.
Though she said she expected “that some companies impacted by this legislation won’t initially support these new standards,” she added: “This diverse and active coalition makes me confident we can pass this legislation in both chambers later this legislative session.”
Then, said Ms. Kelles, New York may really “set a trend.” 


2022 will continue to bring increased focus on sustainability and social accountability requirements and practices for the fashion, apparel and beauty sector up-and-down the supply chain.
Some of this increased focus will undoubtedly come from state and federal lawmakers and governmental agencies, as new or proposed legislation and regulations are being actively considered or are planned to be rolled out in the coming year. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and various state agencies and legislatures are pursuing or considering measures such as additional chemical use restrictions and prohibitions, new notification and reporting requirements on chemical use and imports, limitations on product disposal options, and extended producer responsibility obligations.
In addition, the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”), indicated in summer of 2021 that the agency would initiate a review in 2022 of its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims, colloquially known as the “Green Guides.” The Green Guides are a resource the FTC originally created in 1992 to help businesses avoid making unfair and deceptive environmental advertising claims and to assist the public in understanding and appreciating the statements included in such claims. The Green Guides have not been revised since 2012 and, as currently written, may no longer provide comprehensive guidance for businesses and consumers alike given the current sustainability-focused advertising landscape, especially because the Green Guides currently do not cover “sustainability,” “organic,” or “natural” environmental claims. While the FTC did not expressly indicate a specific focus area for its planned revisions to the Green Guides, some suspect that the agency’s revisions will address claims related to sustainability, organic, and natural, as well as climate-related claims, which are top-of-mind for consumers when making purchasing decisions. Brands should be on the lookout for the revisions to the Green Guides and understand them as they may significantly affect the types of environmental advertising claims that are available.
Legislators from the Empire State have their own ideas on how to increase focus on sustainability and social accountability in the fashion industry. In January 2022, the New York state legislature unveiled the Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act (the “Fashion Act”), which is a bill that attempts to make New York the first state in the United States to effectively “hold the biggest brands in fashion to account for their role in climate change.” As currently proposed, the Fashion Act would apply to global apparel and footwear companies with more than $100 million in revenue who do business in New York (so, in other words, a majority of multinational fashion brands). The law would require, inter alia, qualifying brands to map a minimum of 50% of their supply chain and disclose whether in that chain the brands have a significant real or potentially adverse social and environmental impact when it comes to issues such as fair wages, energy, greenhouse gas emissions, etc. and then disclose targets for preventing and improving those impacts. Failure to comply could result in fines of up to 2% of a brand’s annual revenues over $450 million. Brands should keep tabs on the Fashion Act, which is currently making its way through New York legislative committees with an aim towards a vote in late Spring 2022, and the new local requirements that may follow therefrom.
Notwithstanding these planned governmental actions and the impact they may have, the greatest increased focus on sustainability and social accountability in the industry may be driven by non-governmental stakeholders, starting—as most initiatives usually do—with consumers and trickling down to investors, shareholders, and lenders. Now more than ever, there is high consumer demand for goods to meet certain environmental, social and governance, or “ESG,” criteria. Sustainably sourced materials, organically produced fibers, zero-carbon footprint, not tested on animals, no child labor, fair trade, all natural ingredients, plastic-free, environmentallyfriendly packaging – these are just some examples of consumers’ expectations that are driving purchasing, investing, and commercial decisions. And, as companies commit to these certifications and practices to meet consumer expectations, this in turn drives sustainability obligations up-and-down the supply chain, impacting producers and providers of ingredients, components, packaging, and labor.
Failure to comply with these sustainability and social accountability commitments and requirements can have broad ramifications – such as governmental agency enforcement (e.g., enforcement actions brought by the FTC or National Advertising Division for making unfair and deceptive environmental advertising claims), lawsuits (e.g., for failure to comply with New York’s proposed Fashion Act), loss of customers and licensing rights due to breach of contract claims, and other negative impacts to overall brand reputation, to name a few. So regardless of where you are in the supply chain, it will be challenging but important to have robust programs to keep up with the changing regulatory, contractual, and market requirements. In addition to monitoring and ensuring compliance with your reported sustainability and ESG commitments and existing laws and regulatory requirements, some other measures companies should consider:

Stay abreast of upcoming relevant legislation and regulatory requirements and restrictions and consider and plan for how they may affect your business;


Ensure robust processes to inventory all chemicals used in products and identify those chemicals to limit, phase out or prohibit in advance of regulations;


Inventory relevant contractual requirements and commitments and track execution of such obligations;


Assess supply chain contracts to ensure relevant requirements and commitments are passed through to suppliers;


Confirm compliance with commitments, both internally and within supply chain; conduct periodic auditing of operations and contract performance; require routine verification; and confirm execution of corrective measures to address non-conformances.

Those companies who monitor and plan ahead, including by implementing strong compliance programs, will be best suited to ride the ever-expanding sustainability wave, bolster market strength, and ultimately grow and protect brand reputation.


© 2022 Foley & Lardner LLPNational Law Review, Volume XII, Number 90 

Japan

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Kominka Japan is a volunteer led organization of MINKA or KOMINKA (old house) enthusiasts, craftspeople and the sustainability driven in Japan. The group has an active facebook page and hosted a MINKA Summit event 4/21-24 2022 in the rural Kyoto area of Japan. They are working toward non-profit status.

Japan is suffering an “empty house problem”. 
Our mission is to slow the ongoing disappearance of traditional Japanese architectural heritage and to help turn abandoned houses into homes.


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Kominka Japan 

Kominka Japan volunteer organization in Japan has held their first annual MINKA SUMMIT attended by 300 people from across Japan. This was a 3-day event of talks, old house (MINKA) visits, talks by experts, authors, carpenters and influencers connected to Minka in Japan, and a Minka Mall where companies and organisations had information and product booths to support a rural, Minka lifestyle. The MINKA visits were a popular way to see traditional houses on the market that can be renovated, as well as visit remodeled houses to talk with the owners and gain insights to inspire participants to go to other rural areas of Japan to buy old homes with a similar aim of repairing for a more sustainable lifestyle or entrepreneurial ideas like guest houses, home office spaces or eateries.