Resources & Publications

As the recognition of the circular economy continues to grow internationally, so too does Circle Economy's reach; this time into the Czech Republic. Here, Circle Economy will lead city changemakers within Prague through a multi-phase process, from orientation to implementation aimed at creating a practical roadmap for the transition towards a circular city. The innovative methodology has been applied to cities and regions throughout Europe, including Amsterdam, Glasgow and Bilbao-Bizkaia. This new additionally follows the announcement of Circle Economy expanding to China.In late June 2018, Circle Economy and INCIEN officially kicked off Prague’s Circle City Scan with a collaborative workshop marking the beginning of the city’s journey towards a circular economy. The project focuses on the creation of an inclusive circular vision for the Czech capital and supports the co-development of tangible circular strategies, weaving circularity into the fabric of the city. Launching the project in the same spirit in which it will continue, the kick-off brought together stakeholders from a broad array of sectors, including local government, waste management, innovation and urban development. Hosted at the United Nations Information Centre, the collaborative workshop aimed to collectively determine how the circular economy can synergise with the character of the city. Similarly, the project will be conducted in partnership with INCIEN; a Czech, non-profit organization that focuses on innovative environmental management and on projects that share a common goal; to transition from a linear to a circular system.

"We are really excited about the collaboration with Circle Economy. With this partnership, we can combine unique circular knowhow, and experience, within a local context and network in order to develop scalable solutions with a positive impact on the local economy and the environment. We hope Prague is just the beginning and other cities in Czech and Slovakia will soon follow. " - Vojtěch Vosecký, Co-founder, Operations Manager, INCIEN

Importantly, no two cities are identical. Therefore, the workshop provided an important first step to rooting local knowledge and ambitions for the city within the core of the project. This approach allows the identification of key areas in the city with the greatest transformative potential.

“Prague’s rich history and dynamic recent growth present a compelling opportunity to embed circularity into the city’s future development. Combined with its strategic location within Europe, Prague can act as a circular beacon, helping to accelerate the broader growth of the circular economy over the continent. The knowledge and commitment of INCIEN are invaluable and we are excited to work together to develop Prague’s circular vision. ” - Ilektra Kouloumpi, Senior Project Manager, Circle Cities Programme

Building on the momentum of the kick-off workshop in Prague, this project will move on to further scope the inner material workings of the city, analysing its resource flows and pinpointing the sectors within the city that hold the greatest potential for impact in the circular transition. The third and final phase identifies tangible pilot projects to be implemented within the city which serve as a starting point for the transition towards a circular economy. An Action Agenda is created to provide an overview of the immediate actions that the municipality and its stakeholders must take, both in the short and the long term.

“The creation of a circular vision for the City of Prague will provide a foundation for the realisation of new and purposeful collaborations between government, businesses and citizens to implement circular strategies. A city that works for all of its citizens cannot be realised in isolation. We, therefore, call upon Prague’s citizens, businesses and city officials to join us in this collective journey towards the creation of an inclusive and circular Prague.”- Annerieke Douma, Director Program and Business Development, Circle Economy

Learn more about our work with cities here:

[cta link="https://www.circle-economy.com/tool/cities/#.W0MbNtgzZE4"]Circle Cities[/cta]

On July 8, at the Eco Forum Global Annual Conference in Guiyang, China, Circle Economy and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability officially launch their partnership to accelerate the global transition to a circular economy through cities. In addition, the announcement also kicks off collaboration with ICLEI East Asia on developing the first regional partnership towards the practical implementation of the circular economy within East Asian and European cities.

The announcement marks the beginning of a multi-year collaboration between Circle Economy - an impact organisation committed to delivering practical and scalable solutions to transition towards a circular economy - and ICLEI, a leading global network of 1,500+ cities, representing 25% of the global urban population and committed to building a sustainable future. The partnership will leverage the expertise, experience and ambition of both organisations, with the objective to support local governments in decoupling urban economic development from resource consumption and environmental degradation.

“We all overuse our resources. “Overshot day,” the day we’ve spent more resources than we can renewably supply, arrives on the 10th of August this year. Every day after that is a day we live from the earth’s substance itself.Thus, we all have to change the way we purchase, consume, and manage our resources and waste. This is the responsibility of individuals, citizens, inhabitants, businesses, and governments, and this change must be focused through local governments.As ICLEI we are committed to supporting our Members and all other committed cities to develop and implement strategies towards sustainable procurement, avoiding waste, and creating synergies in which the output of the one becomes the input of the other - in brief, creating the "cyclical economy".ICLEI Deputy Secretary General Monika Zimmerman

Cities are now responsible for 70% of resources that are consumed globally and 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Acknowledging the huge environmental footprint of cities, both organisations recognise the crucial role of the circular economy to help close the global resource Circularity Gap, as well as create liveable and future-proof cities that also provide employment opportunities for every citizen. During the ICLEI World Congress in Montreal in June 2018, ICLEI reaffirmed its commitment towards the circular transition in cities, underlining Circular Development as a fundamental transition pathway within ICLEI’s Strategic Vision 2018-2024. Embodied in this partnership is the commitment to deep collaboration through the sharing of knowledge, resources, good practices and expertise to drive the co-development of urban circular economy initiatives. With this agreement, Circle Economy also becomes an official partner of ICLEI’s Urban Transition Alliance, which empowers cities with industrial legacies across the world to become leaders of sustainable urban development. Taken together, this partnership creates a global approach in the creation of the circular cities of the future and presents a key step in the pathway towards circular urban developmentContinued work surrounding circular cities is continuing to demonstrate the many tangible benefits a circular economy can bring to cities. Not only can circularity make huge contributions in the reductions of greenhouse gases to achieve the Paris Climate Agreement as 67% of these emissions are related to material management, but within the socio-economic sphere, circular strategies can also generate net increases in employment throughout a city to support the creation of a competitive and future-proof workforce.

“Harnessing the power of cities is vital towards a sustainable future that can thrive within the boundaries of our planet for all its citizens. This partnership between Circle Economy and ICLEI enables an actionable approach to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy in cities. The impact for cities is clear: improvements to net employment and social cohesion as well as reductions in carbon dioxide emissions - in short, answers to the big challenges cities face today” Annerieke Douma, Director Programme Development, Circle Economy

Recent decades have witnessed dramatic urban growth, particularly in East Asian cities. To support this growth in a sustainable way, these cities should strive towards circular economies that are productive and human-centered instead of extractive driven. Cities alone have the potential to reduce China’s CO2 emissions by 30%, which is a practical and realistic answer to environmental degradation and will provide solutions for job creation. Today’s announcement also marks the beginning of a close collaboration between Circle Economy and ICLEI East Asia with the goal to facilitate the practical implementation and measurement of circular economy strategies within the member cities of ICLEI East Asia. These innovative methodologies, developed by Circle Economy, have been applied in cities throughout Europe, and ICLEI East Asia will utilize their local expertise, and that of their member cities, to jointly apply these practices into regional action and create feedback loops to further improve the approaches.

Read more about our cities work:  

[cta link="https://www.circle-economy.com/tool/cities/#.W0MbNtgzZE4"]Circle Cities[/cta]For questions and press inquiries please contact: Circle Economy: melanie@circle-economy.com

ICLEI: dana.vigran@iclei.org

Circle Economy, PGGM, KPMG, WBCSD, and EBRD have joined forces to co-author the 'Linear Risks' essay which demonstrates the real business threats linear economic business practices are creating, including risks associated with the use of scarce and non-renewable resources; prioritization and sales of products produced with virgin resources; the failure to collaborate; and failing to innovate or adapt. These are all factors that will negatively impact the ability of organizations to continue business as usual.

More and more companies are confronted with ‘Linear Risks’ like price volatility, supply chain failures as well as fines or lawsuits due to changing legislation. This linear approach does not only cause serious business threats, it also hinders our ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement, or close the global circularity gap of 91%. As these risks are grounded in the linear setup of our economy, there is an urgent need to start a dialogue with the financial and business community on the potential implications with a view to exploring solutions.

This essay, co-authored by Circle Economy, PGGM, KPMG, WBCSD, and EBRD, aims to raise awareness and create a constructive dialogue with the financial and business community to better understand and model ‘Linear Risks’ - the exposure to the effects of linear business practices which will negatively impact an organisation’s ability to continue as a going concern. Businesses face these risks if they utilize scarce and non-renewable resources, prioritize sales of new products, fail to collaborate, and fail to innovate or adapt. If unresolved, these could have serious effects on the financial industry and our global economy.

The circular economy can provide a solution to mitigate these ‘Linear Risks’. The circular economy is an emerging economic concept that provides new business models and strategies to continuously reuse materials and resources to their fullest potential and is aimed at achieving social well-being while operating within the boundaries of our planet. We call upon all relevant stakeholders to effectively address ‘Linear Risks’. We suggest four distinct follow-up measures:

1. Collaborate to deepen the understanding of ‘Linear Risks’ by building on this essay with risk managers and translate ‘Linear Risks’ into financial risk management language
2. Understand the short-term and long-term implications of these 'Linear Risks' and how they influence the business and financial community across various time scales
3. Create forums with investors and business stakeholders to test the concept of ‘Linear Risks’ and work towards a practical implementation agenda to integrate ‘Linear Risks’ into established enterprise risk management (ERM) processes
4. Specifically address the disclosure challenges of ‘Linear Risks’ and explore how the current movement for disclosure of climate change risks in portfolios can serve as a model to incorporate ‘Linear Risks’.

Building on this essay, we intend to spark further research to develop specific ‘Linear Risks’ metrics and tools that make it easier for investors to account for them in their analysis. And eventually, we hope that ‘Linear Risks’ will become an integral part of decision-making in the financial and business community.

“The best thing since the Internet” or a solution looking for its problem? Could it be both?

Blockchain is often touted as the key to improving trust and transparency across industries and moving towards more equitable and collaborative systems. But could it also be the key to a circular economy?To explore the potential for blockchain to support and accelerate circular supply chains, Circle Economy and Circle Lab hosted a series of Twitter chats on June 12, 13, and 14, where they invited people around the world to join the discussion online, share their insights, and explore what problems currently hindering circular supply chains the technology could help solve.Insights from our conversation below:

A primer on blockchain

First things first: what is blockchain, and what problems is it really trying to solve? Blockchain is essentially a ledger or a spreadsheet that is duplicated thousands of times across a network of computers (or “nodes”) and is designed to be regularly updated and continually reconciled. It’s the technology powering Bitcoin, but its applications go beyond cryptocurrency:

A6 My favourite one is @bext360 - really cool application of blockchain for to make the coffee supply more fair and transparent #circlechat

— Shyaam Ramkumar (@shyaamramkumar) 12 June 2018

A6 Another interesting case is @CryptoKitties: “collectible, breedable, adorable” digital cats, and one of the most popular use cases for #blockchain outside of #crypto! Do you know of other examples? #CircleChat

— Circle Lab (@thisiscirclelab) 12 June 2018 

What really makes blockchain unique is its decentralisation, and as such, using the technology really only makes sense in situations where no alternative, centralised solution can do the trick:

Any problem that can be solved with a central database. E.g. storing data for yourself, large volumes of data or even any system where you can simply trust a central party. #circlechat

— Circularise (@circularise) 12 June 2018

Thanks! Not saying it’s impossible, only that the benefit of using the tech and decentralizing trust needs to be substantial to justify its impact

— Daniel Hires (@projecthires) 11 June 2018

Blockchain and the circular supply chain

From a lack of proofs of concept and economic incentives to a regulatory environment that still favours linear business practices, we’re in no shortage of barriers to circular supply chains. Most relevant here, however, is the current inability of supply chain actors to track the provenance of materials, components, and products throughout the chain so that anyone along the way can assert their circularity – from the moment they were first extracted or created, all the way through their (many) life cycles.

A3 Supply chains have become so complex that it is difficult to have an understanding of the types of materials in products, or where it is sourced from #circlechat

— Shyaam Ramkumar (@shyaamramkumar) 13 June 2018

Plus who made it, how and where. As we go down the tiers, the visibility and traceability diminishes. #circlechat https://t.co/hGPEpn5Ed3

— Shijo Thomas (@shijothom) 13 June 2018

A3. #circlechat

It is not so much related to transparency and trust, but more related to opaque trace-ability and visibility. How certain can I be of the materials used in a product and the origins of those materials? How scalable is achieving visibility?— Shijo Thomas (@shijothom) 13 June 2018

By translating complex chains of custodies into distributed, immutable, digital trails, blockchain could enable manufacturers, recyclers, all the way to consumers to confidently assert the circularity of their products:

#Blockchain may actually help to share dismantlement & BOM information at end of life content across multiple owners, if may help to share information on circular assets - from cars to industrial machines or spares.#circlechat

— Stefan Weisenberger (@belobregovic) 14 June 2018

A6 #circlechat1. If the solution can capture all circular transactions from manufacture to re-manufacture.2. Maintains traceability of materials and processes.3. And the above is verifiable and scalable.

— Shijo Thomas (@shijothom) 13 June 2018

#Blockchain plays it advantage where multiple parties are involved. Supply chain work more efficiently if you can share information between parties (and do not wait for paper trail) .#circlechat

— Stefan Weisenberger (@belobregovic) 14 June 2018

And applications already exist! Bext360, for example, uses a combination of new technologies, including blockchain, to monitor coffee beans and provide fair compensation to farmers, and A Transparent Company also uses blockchain to improve transparency in the fashion industry!But it’s not all that easy.

Garbage in, garbage out

Blockchain is often cited as a particularly effective solution to situations where there is fraud or lack of trust in a system – but is that really the case?

Blockchain's is relevant in scenario with multiple parties that do not trust each other. Just thinking of scrap recycling where you need to proof whether the material is stolen or not.#circlechat

— Stefan Weisenberger (@belobregovic) 14 June 2018

The notion that blockchain can guarantee all data authenticity and cut out the need for trust entirely quickly falls apart when data entered in the blockchain is wrong or tampered with in the first place. This is how someone managed to convince the technology they were the original artist behind the Mona Lisa, for example:https://twitter.com/projecthires/status/1007305539670429698Humorous as it may be, this example sheds light on the serious implications of assuming data on the blockchain is always authentic – from fraudulent information on data of origin for different materials to potentially much more harmful implications on e.g. child labor or fair working conditions:

100%! In its most low-tech version, it could simply be a bribery to the person who certifies e.g. that a fisher was fishing in a certain area or with certain "sustainable" methods..

— Daniel Hires (@projecthires) 14 June 2018

#CircleChat @thisiscirclelab

A1 - If it can guarantee that all supply chain stakeholders provide accurate, uniform and verifiable data, then #blockchain is suitable. Else, it would be another system with garbage in and garbage out.— Shijo Thomas (@shijothom) 14 June 2018

Not a bandaid for trust

If blockchain cannot guarantee data authenticity in a system with inherent trust gaps, what can? Could pairing the technology with additional processes and on-the-ground, independent certification help ensure the validity of the information?

A4 #blockchain is a silver bullet in many people's minds and will automatically enable authenticity, but the data that you put into the blockchain needs to be authentic in the first place and a community to verify this #circlelchat

— Shyaam Ramkumar (@shyaamramkumar) 12 June 2018

A2: Transactions are unalterable. That's great. Now you need to create the link between a physical object and the digital representation - anything from identifying characteristics, to QR codes etc. . #circlechat

— Stefan Weisenberger (@belobregovic) 14 June 2018 

It seems like third party audits, tamper-proof technology linking physical objects to their digital identity, and trustworthy partners still have useful purposes to serve in a blockchain-based system – especially where sensitive and hard-to-measure information is involved.

Well a good example, I think this was with diamonds, to use measurable characteristics of an object that uniquely identify it. This ID can then be linked to movements.#circlechat

— Stefan Weisenberger (@belobregovic) 14 June 2018

That's one of the issues with certifying working conditions for fair clothing. You need to have a independent certifier on the ground that you trust, I believe. #circlechat

— Stefan Weisenberger (@belobregovic) 14 June 2018

Exactly. Third party audits. But even that can be tricky in countries with high corruption. #circlechat

— Agnes Krown (@AgnesKrown) 14 June 2018

Changing mindsets: from competition to collaboration

If trust still has a role to play in a blockchain world, then so should education, as a change in mindset will be key in getting stakeholders to work together, rather than against each other.

Tech are there, or can be built. But in a larger system, awareness and changing perception is a harder nut to crack. Without that, you can't force anyone to invest, and hence no tech can help

— Anti-National Indian (@IndianChutney) 13 June 2018 

Since the industrial revolution, supply chains have mostly followed a competitive model of doing business, limiting their opportunities to find, create, and leverage synergies.

A3 Sadly, supply chains can be very conservative in the way they deal with relationships and trusted parties, which can hinder collaboration towards #circular #supplychains #circlechat

— Shyaam Ramkumar (@shyaamramkumar) 13 June 2018 

A reluctance to share information, deeply rooted in the global race to low costs, coupled with information asymmetry that continues to benefit many actors in the supply chain – regardless of efforts being unnecessarily duplicated – all contribute to a competitive and counterproductive mindset.

Complete transparency is a risk. e.g. as a trader you can be willing to share product features (conflict mineral free), but you do not want to share the identity of the mine and be cut out next time. #circlechat

— Circularise (@circularise) 13 June 2018

It is still easier to just do your own thing and make money. Also, a lot of money is made by keeping information secret. Information = value in supply chains. #circlechat

— Circularise (@circularise) 13 June 2018

A4 #circlechatI think the monopolization is a result of limited knowledge in the industry on where to compete and where to collaborate. In supply chains, there can be a thin line between the two. The result is a duplication of efforts for all parties.

— Shijo Thomas (@shijothom) 13 June 2018

Consortium blockchains, and other versatile uses

To nudge supply chain actors further towards collaboration, initiatives like Circularise are leveraging blockchain, zero knowledge, and smart questioning to enable privacy and confidentiality among those that want to remain anonymous, don’t necessarily trust each other, but are still committed to greater transparency and collaboration within their supply chains.

A5: At second thought: #blockchain may actually help to expore just the data you need to share - between partners or competitors that do not trust. Thus, #blockchain could help to deal with confidentiality.#circlechat

— Stefan Weisenberger (@belobregovic) 14 June 2018

Consortium blockchains are another alternative for those supply chain participants that already trust each other but are not willing to share their data in a public forum. Semi-private and partially decentralised, consortium blockchains are controlled by a number of pre-selected nodes and deliver a number of advantages at the intersection between centralised systems and fully public blockchains.

A5: I believe it helps if you operate not an open, but a consortium #blockchain. This would be between business partners that normally have a certain level of trust. #circlechat

— Stefan Weisenberger (@belobregovic) 14 June 2018

Collaboration and transperency for sure. I may prefer to expose information on current transports or transactions rather in a protected environment of customer supplier and service provider - and not with everyone.#circlechat

— Stefan Weisenberger (@belobregovic) 14 June 2018

Designed properly, a blockchain could enable its participants to collaborate without compromising on key competitive advantages or on confidentiality and privacy issues, and would, in and of itself, present advantageous gains not to warrant additional incentives for participants.

There should be an agreement on standardized information to be shared. It should also consider safety of all supply chain participants, because we're dealing with multicultural industries. #circlechat

— Agnes Krown (@AgnesKrown) 14 June 2018

A6: My POV: a good #blockchain scenario has inherent value through cost savings or efficiency. You would not even need incentives.If you look at it from an end-consumer side: if I can trust a product is genuine and "purposeful", I might pay a premium.#circlechat

— Stefan Weisenberger (@belobregovic) 14 June 2018

Hammering the right nail in

Finally, it is worth noting that because blockchain is, to some extent, a solution looking for the right problem to solve, it’s just as important to recognise when not to use the technology. Taking a problem-first approach and asking the right questions is often crucial in identifying what an appropriate solution should, or shouldn’t look like. For example:

#CircleChat @thisiscirclelabA2 ; Honestly, i don't think this is a valid question. Is lack of trust and transparency a technology problem? Would implementing Blockchain, magically increase trust and transparency?

— Shijo Thomas (@shijothom) 14 June 2018

I don't get why this needs to be on a blockchain though? Isn't the biggest trust issue that the temperature measurement is not being tampered with (rather than the data collector being untrustworthy)?

— Daniel Hires (@projecthires) 14 June 2018

Why do we need Blockchain for tracking and monitoring? This is already being done by so many logistics systems.

— Shijo Thomas (@shijothom) 14 June 2018

This is a good point, many applications seem to plug #blockchain technology because of the hype rather than it having an actual use case #circlechat

— Shyaam Ramkumar (@shyaamramkumar) 12 June 2018

As tempting as delving into the world of blockchain is, we should be cautious not to try and fit square pegs into round holes.

What about today?

Is the technology appropriate for circular applications, as it currently stands today?

#Blockchaintechnology is in its infancy & lots of teams around the world are working on fixing the most fundamental flaws in the technology. Energy consumption in #blockchain is an issue today, but does that mean that we should wait with #circulareconomy applications? #circlechat

— Circularise (@circularise) 12 June 2018

Is the energy use of blockchains offset by the environmental positive impact they can make by improving circular economy applications? Is there any research or scientific evidence on this? #circlechat

— Nosy Noah (@nosy_noah) 12 June 2018

To drive the adoption of and improve the technology, we definitely need more organisations and individuals experimenting with blockchain, and there is great potential for the technology to address key circularity barriers. But ultimately, the circular economy calls for systemic change, and technology is but one of the many drivers we need along the way.

Key takeaways:

1. Make sure blockchain is the right solution to your problem
2. Educate your ecosystem to move away from competitiveness to collaboration
3. Design your blockchain so it delivers value and meets the needs of supply chain participants
4. Make sure you have the right mechanisms in place to ensure data is authentic

[hr]

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[cta link="http://eepurl.com/dlR5tz"]Yes, please![/cta][hr]

During the WeMakeThe.City festival celebrated in June, Circle Economy launched the ‘City-as-a-Service’ publication, which offers a first glimpse into the ‘circular city of the future’. This publication is an initial and practical exploration of how service models will shape the way in which societal needs can be met in a future urban environment and how cities can take a leadership role in a transition towards a circular economy. The publication builds upon the concepts of the ‘City-as-a-service’ report, as initiated by ABN AMRO.

Circle Lab invites the global community to tackle humanity’s biggest challenges with circular solutions by applying the most up-to-date knowledge on the circular economy

After a successful launch in March 2018, Circle Lab introduces a new product feature today: the world's biggest circular economy database, openly accessible and searchable for everyone. This is the result of a joint effort with many partners, geared towards making the best knowledge on the circular economy available to the public globally. The goal? To encourage anyone who wants to support the transition towards a circular economy to contribute their know-how to an ever-growing knowledge base. This is happening within a thriving community of users who are aggregating, connecting and sharing their expertise on the circular economy in order to make it available to everyone. In short, a "wikipedia for circularity".

The future of impact is digital, and the circular economy is 1,000 steps ahead

Thousands of cities and businesses worldwide are striving to adopt the circular economy. However, they often face the same problem: limited access to expertise, structured information, and knowledge about the circular economy, as well as how to measure and implement circular strategies.

“Information on the circular economy is currently spread across many organisations and industries or gated behind members-only communities. This defeats the very basis of a circular approach and makes it very hard to disseminate, and even harder to implement such strategies. By bringing all circular economy insights, best practices, and research for the first time into one place in Circle Lab for everyone to openly explore and learn from, we want to break down these information silos and accelerate knowledge transfers across sectors and borders.”Shyaam Ramkumar, Knowledge & Innovation Manager at Circle Economy 

Fast growth towards the biggest library that helps to accelerate solutions

Today, Circle Lab is introducing over 1,000 case studies and examples of the circular economy. This number is set to grow quickly: the platform will soon also host another 500 case studies specific to the textiles sector, as well as all 3,000 initiatives identified throughout the Circular Economy Mapping Week, hosted by Circular Economy Club and supported by Circle Economy.

“The Circle Lab community is growing rapidly with soon 3.000 case studies available. Add we expect more to come. It is a solution and action oriented community that is dedicated to solve linear issues with circular solutions as the circular economy will be the new normal. In the future everyone will be able to upload case studies and initiatives. In order to make the best information available, we will also put in place a review and quality assurance process with topic experts. It is all about a good balance between quality and quantity" Harald Friedl, CEO at Circle Economy 

Insights from 6 months of testing: most popular case studies previewed are in tech, textile and construction sectors

Circle Economy first opened access to a beta version of the platform in August 2017. The testing yielded interesting insights and has already brought together over 4,500 users who have used and contributed to the online space. The early initiative also spurred collaborations with many other like-minded organisations willing to collaborate and scale positive impact. Among these partners are: fetch, Renewable Matter, the Circular Economy Club, Amsterdam Smart City, and Circul’R:

"Partnerships are key to our mission to scale circular impact. It is all about community and problem solving. We invite all change-makers that share our vision for an open and inclusive circular economy to join us on this journey."Katie Hans, Project Manager Circle Lab

Comments from some of our partners:

“The circular economy is a key lever in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and we strongly believe in opening up communication channels and access to knowledge in order to accelerate change. We’re excited to be sharing the innovations we’ve curated on our own platform, fetch, on the Knowledge Hub and hope this will inspire other organisations to join us in building an open and sustainable economy.” Alison Azaria, Founder at fetch

“We are proud to be supporting the development of a digital infrastructure for the broader circular economy community to benefit from and engage with. Online tools are a unique opportunity to foster collaboration and scale impact on a global level, and we’re excited to see openness and transparency drive Circle Lab’s growth.”Margriet Schreuders, Head of Charities, Nationale Postcode Loterij

Circle Lab adds to a more transparent and fact-based approach to the circular economy transition. After a test phase that kept the team busy over the last 6 months, the product was further refined, and insights from usage data that emerged clearly show:

• Most read were case studies on the potential impact of emerging exponential technologies on the circular economy, such as blockchain;
• Second on the list was the textiles industry, with case studies from larger brands like Adidas as well as circular innovators like Repack topping the most read list
• Very much sought after were also examples from the built environment sector, which accurately reflects the importance of the sector as a potential driver for circular impact (as shown in the Circularity Gap Report)

“Through user insights we aimed to improve the usability and refine the framework that we use to explain and make sense of the circular economy. It has made the product much more accessible and we will therefore hopefully see more impact in practice.”Shyaam Ramkumar, Knowledge & Innovation Manager at Circle Economy

The next step for Circle Lab – Stay tuned!

Circle Lab will continue to expand and introduce new services. Next month, Circle Assessment, a digital tool for businesses to assess their current state and explore circular strategies, will also be available on Circle Lab. Circle Assessment was developed and tested by Circle Economy over the last 2 years and has already helped over 100 organisations worldwide get started on and accelerate their circular journeys.

"The approach of Circle Lab is inspired by inclusiveness, transparency and openness. We hope to be able to offer more tools to the Circle Lab community - developed by any partner or contributor who wants to make them available on the platform in order to make the circular economy a reality in the near future"Katie Hans, Project Manager Circle Lab

Ways to get involved

Join the Circle Lab community and explore over 1,000 case studies, articles, and reports on the circular economy here: www.circle-lab.com/knowledge-hub. To learn more about partnership opportunities for your organisation, visit www.circle-lab.com/about or get in touch with us at hello@circle-lab.com[cta link="https://circle-lab.com/knowledge-hub"]Start exploring[/cta]

For queries, please contact:

Katie HansCircle Lab Project Managerkatie@circle-economy.comCircle Lab has been made possible in part by a grant from the eBay Foundation; a corporate advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

Note to Editors

About Circle Lab

Circle Lab is an open access innovation platform where the circular economy is being explored and implemented. It is initiated by Circle Economy and is growing into a multi stakeholder, integrated suite of online solutions that streamlines the circular innovation process for businesses and cities around the world. By breaking down information silos and fostering open source collaboration, Circle Lab aims to boil down the complexity of the circular economy and fuel cross-industry and cross-border collaboration.Directly driven and informed by the online community’s needs, Circle Lab is a place that inspires global and local communities to:

• Learn about specific business strategies and policy instruments that can enable the transition to a circular economy
• Explore over 1,000 case studies by circular economy strategy, policy instrument, impact area, location, or industry and sector
• Contribute their own initiatives to the platform and learn from one another
• Collaborate on circular economy challenges and incubate the circular solutions that emerge

About Circle Economy

At Circle Economy, we believe in a visionary future for our planet — one in which we do not have to compromise in order to achieve economic, social, and environmental prosperity. As an impact organisation, we connect and empower a global community to create the conditions for systemic transformation towards a circular economy. Our mission is to empower a global community of businesses, cities and governments to accelerate the transition to the circular economy through practical and scalable insights and solutions that address humanity's greatest challenges.

About the circular economy

Circularity is an emerging concept that provides new business strategies and economic policies to create value again and again. In a circular economy, materials and products are used to their fullest potential and are continuously reused in a system that is waste-free. By making efficient use of our resources, the circular economy aims to achieve inclusive economic, social and environmental prosperity, all within the boundaries of our planet.

Three circular solutions – developed by over 60 people from 13 countries across the world – are set to help transform Glasgow’s thriving events industry.Circular Glasgow, a joint initiative from Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and Zero Waste Scotland has announced the winning solutions to the first challenge hosted on Circle Lab. Also partnered by Scottish Event Campus and the Glasgow Convention Bureau and Major Events team at Glasgow Life, the challenge asked citizens and companies from cities across the world how local businesses can improve the economic, environmental and social legacy of major city events and conferences.The three winning ideas include a deposit-based reuse system for food and drink containers, circular designs for event marketing and branding, and a scheme that will repurpose organic waste into energy and fertilisers. Circular Glasgow is delighted that the SEC has pledged to continue its support, acting as lead incubation partner in piloting the implementation of the winning solutions.[caption id="attachment_14547" align="alignnone" width="1024"]

The SECC complex, SSE Hydro and Clyde Auditorium
Admiral Fallow, local talent[/caption]An open invitation is now being made to city venues, SMEs, entrepreneurs, consultants and investors that interested in collaborating and sharing relevant expertise to ensure these solutions are successfully implemented.The winning solutions evolved from a month long online crowdsourcing effort, culminating in ten solutions that helped to envision what a truly circular events space could look like.Circle Lab, an online platform supported by eBay Foundation and powered by Circle Economy, is designed to engage and educated a global community to solve universal challenges with circular solutions.The next phase of the challenge now aims to translate the open source concepts that emerged from Circle Lab into actionable and measurable pilot projects.Alison McRae, Senior Director of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said: ‘Glasgow is world renowned for its major events and this Circle Lab challenge has generated a number of solutions on a global platform which can benefit our business community. They are about introducing new ways of doing business – with potential to give a real competitive advantage - and are also better for our city. Alongside the SEC, we are inviting businesses who are involved in, or benefit from events and conferences in the city to come forward and take advantage of these open source ideas. The pace of change is daily and there is a real opportunity for Glasgow to lead the way on this.’

Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland, said:“I am delighted by the winning solutions of this unique challenge, uncovering truly circular ideas to transform the thriving events industry in Glasgow. Already a leading city in hosting events, these innovative solutions will help to maximise the potential of resources and could see Glasgow leading the way in developing new business models to deliver sustainable events.“I’m delighted that our partnership with Glasgow Chamber of Commerce continues to provide a hotbed for this kind of thinking. This initiative shows that the circular economy can benefit a broad range of sectors and provide the new businesses opportunities we need as the world changes.”Harald Friedl, CEO at Circle Economy, said: “In four short weeks, Circle Lab brought together over 200 contributions from 60+ people hailing from 13 different countries, and another 1,000 were following the challenge online, contributing on social media, and reaching out to us personally throughout the challenge. But simply dreaming up a circular world isn’t enough, which is why we’re so excited about the incubation phase, where we’ll be working together with both the Circle Lab and the local Glasgow communities on moving beyond intent and bringing our collective vision to life.”The next phase of the challenge is a unique opportunity for other venues and SMES with expertise in this field to come forward and position themselves as front-runners, on a global stage, in the field of the circular economy by contributing to the incubation process. Depending on the outcome, teams working on solution based pilot projects will have the opportunity to showcase their work at the Circular Economy Scotland Hotspot 2018 - which over 300 of the world’s leading decision-makers, trade representatives, investors and circular economy entrepreneurs are expected to attend.The interaction between local and global communities that the Circle Lab platform affords will continue throughout the incubation phase and will enable all participants, both in-person and online, to benefit from global insights and to engage with and support local stakeholders in the process.To get involved, contact the Circular Glasgow team at circularglasgow@glasgowchamberofcommerce.com or visit www.circularglasgow.com[hr] Circular Glasgow complements Zero Waste Scotland’s and the Scottish Government's nationwide support for SMEs to develop circular economy business ideas, including its £18million Circular Economy Investment Fund and Circular Economy Business Support Service. Both are supported by the European Regional Development Fund through the £73million Resource Efficiency Circular Economy Accelerator Programme.Circle Lab has been made possible in part by a grant from the eBay Foundation, a corporate advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

The World is only 9% Circular

by Harald FriedlWith over 90% of the raw materials used globally not cycled back into the economy, our planet is left with a massive strain on its natural resources and climate that needs to be urgently relieved. What has got us where we are today, in every sense, is the linear economy.Over decades, even centuries, since the boom of the Industrial Revolution, it has delivered tremendous living standards, wealth and comfortable lives to some people, in some parts of the world, at certain times. It has done so, though, at a high cost. That cost continues to be extracted from the planet and many of the people on it, with neither the gain nor pain distributed equally. Embedded deep within the “Take-Make-Waste,” tradition of the linear economy lies a toxic cocktail of negative consequences, ranging from social inequality to depletion of natural resources, environmental pollution and worsening of the risks and effects of climate change.Our world economy is only 9.1% circular, leaving a massive “Circularity Gap”This alarming statistic was the main output of the first Circularity Gap Report, in which we, at Circle Economy, launch a metric for the circular state of the planet. The Circularity Gap Report provides a fact-based framework to measure and monitor progress in bridging the gap, year after year.Being able to track and target performance via the Global Circularity Metric will help us engage in uniform goal-setting and guide future action in the most impactful way. The report presents a detailed metabolism visual showing how main resource groups satisfy key societal needs, such as housing, mobility and nutrition. It also presents the leaks in the system with an overview of what happens to resources after use in the economy.In truth, momentum is already building towards the adoption of circular economic models. We are witnessing circular economy strategies being embedded within businesses and adopted into government policies. On the global level, two recent examples of international collaboration, in particular, have accelerated the mainstream political and business agenda: The Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To measure economic sustainability only from an environmental perspective is to miss the point and misunderstand the purpose. By definition, managing an economy is the art and science of “how we run our global household.” An economy should be designed and run to the needs of the participants of the household, provide stability, keep societies together and the household going for future generations. In short, any successful economic model must meet the needs of the society it serves, not merely manage responsibly the natural resources it uses – it is a matter of people and planet, together. The circular economy is, therefore, an action agenda with measurable impact framework that extends beyond the remit of mere resource efficiency. As a multi-stakeholder model, its systemic approach boosts capacity and capability to serve societal needs, by embracing and endorsing the best humankind has to offer: the power of entrepreneurship, innovation and collaboration.Today’s Take-Make-Waste economic model is not fit for purpose. Embedded in this tradition of the linear economy lies a toxic cocktail of negative consequences. We now call upon businesses and governments to take leadership to develop an action agenda and contribute to the global targets set in the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. We have identified 4 steps to take action in bridging the circularity gap through leadership and action: 1) Build a global coalition for action; 2) Develop a global target and action agenda; 3) Translate global targets into local pathways for circular change; 4) Improve our understanding of how different levers for circular change affect aspects such as material saving, value retention and climate mitigation.Closing the circularity gap will reduce income inequality and improve access to basic needs and opportunities. In other words, the pursuit of the circular economy is a way to create an economy that works for everybody. The circular economy is a positive, dynamic and interconnected solutions-based framework: it builds on key human qualities, such as creativity, collaboration and entrepreneurship; and is a roadmap towards achieving the SDGs and a powerful tool in the fight against human-made climate change.This article was originally published in Renewable Matter Feb-March 2018

March 30, 2018, Amsterdam

Building on the successes of research that measured circular employment in cities in the Netherlands, Circle Economy and EHERO continue their partnership to investigate the impact of circular economy strategies on cities and their job creation potential. The project is supported by the Goldschmeding Foundation, a philanthropic foundation, with a key focus on people, work and economy.The 1-year project aims to enable city officials to better integrate circular economy strategies into their policy agendas. To carry out the systemic changes that the circular economy calls for and to ensure that policymakers and governments know how and where to implement the circular economy, EHERO and Circle Economy aim to uncover: The effects of circular economy strategies on employment in cities and what this means for labour market needs.

"Living in the era of urbanisation, cities across the globe have put employment and related skills high on their agendas. We see cities as central drivers in bridging the gap to a circular economy with enough jobs for its citizens. Therefore, insights on the future employment effects of circular policies are key drivers in defining strategies of a city"Annerieke Douma, Director of Program and Business Development at Circle Economy

The Circle Cities Dashboard ultimately will provide policymakers with insights into available circular strategies so that they will be better equipped to adopt them. Provide a methodology to model employment effects of circular economy strategies; and increase the understanding of skills gaps that might emerge in the transition to the circular economy. The first results of the project will be expected later this year.

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