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Circular Rotterdam by 2030: harnessing social, economic and environmental benefits of the circular economy

Last updated: Aug 18, 2022

Summary

A report released as part of the City of Rotterdam’s ambitious bid to become a fully circular city by 2050 has found that significant environmental, social and economic benefits could be harnessed by implementing the circular economy. The Circular Rotterdam report, commissioned by the City of Rotterdam and produced by Metabolic in partnership with Circle Economy, Blue City and Spring Associates, focusses on four key sectors in the city: agri-food and green flows, construction, consumer goods and healthcare. It was produced to inform the city’s efforts to create 3,500 to 7,000 new jobs and reduce material consumption by 50% by 2030 through the creation of circular economy.

Problem

Currently, only about 22% of the solid waste generated in the city of Rotterdam is recycled. Yet by 2050, the city aims to be fully circular. While in 2015, the city’s construction sector produced 393,783 tons of waste – the equivalent of 58 Erasmus Bridges, few years later it was still 350,000 tons. What comes to the consumer goods, around 30% of the total mass is collected separately and recycled, whereas only a small proportion of organic waste is processed similarly. The health care sector - albeit presenting a small part of the city's overall waste production - has nonetheless potential reducing the amount of the waste it generates.

Solution

The report found that reducing the city’s 350,000 tons of construction waste is possible by building houses and offices in a way that allows for easy disassembly or renovation - instead of demolition - by using sturdy, long-life materials, as well as reusing materials and components in a way that construction and demolition are connected.

For consumer products, the current share of collection and recycling could be substantially increased through redesigning and promoting alternatives that use fewer materials, and the construction of an Upcycle Mall with specialized recycling facilities for different types of waste. The fact that the majority of the consumer goods are produced for a global market outside of the city and country, makes the influence on these streams of the city small. The amount of packaging materials - counting for 35% of all current consumer goods waste streams - could be reduced by up to 40% by switching to packaging-free stores.