Circle Economy's latest position paper lays out how VET is a key mechanism to ensure a skilled workforce can thrive in and scale up the circular economy, providing key recommendations for governments, educators, industry and civil society.
We are in a time of transition. In an orchestrated effort to protect livelihoods, reduce resource scarcity and tackle climate change, businesses and civil societies around the world are shifting towards greener, more circular ways of working and living. More and more governments are bringing circular economy policies and green recovery plans into play.
But do workers have the skills necessary to both scale-up and participate in the economy that is taking shape? Are we being educated in a way that enables us to harness the full potential of the circular economy? Currently, the answer is no. There is a gap between the skills workers have today and skills they will need in the future—and it is widening, as we embrace circular business models and strategies, digitalisation and greening economies, and as populations live (and work) for longer. But if embraced, these new trends can have a positive impact on the labour market: and all require a enhanced focus on education that equips workers with the right skills and emphasises personal development.
In our latest position paper, Circle Economy's Circular Jobs Initiative (CJI) explores how this skills gap can be narrowed, finding that vocational education and training (VET) is crucial. Without proper vocational up- and re-skilling, we risk not only leaving workers behind but also hampering the transition to a circular economy. And in pursuing a shift where skills overtake job titles as the metric of the labour market and labour mobility and resilience are prioritised, strengthening workers' transversal skills is paramount, the report finds.
This shines a light on VET as a key mechanism to ensure a skilled workforce that can thrive in and scale up the circular economy. The report provides recommendations for governments, educators, industry and civil society, illustrating how VET can help us build circular capacities, leverage existing skill sets and diversify. While the advice given differs per group, some common threads were uncovered—namely, the importance of collaboration between all entities to both generate new skills needs and co-create training programmes, as well as an emphasis on lifelong learning and development. The crucial role of governments as potential VET advocates, funding providers and policy coordinators is also highlighted.
The report vividly illustrates how VET can accelerate the circular transition through the use of case studies, highlighting examples in disparate sectors from construction to agri-food to education. The interdisciplinarity of skills the circular economy calls for is emphasised: a circular construction project, for example, may require more multi-skilled, adaptive operatives than a traditional tradesperson has, representing a gap in the skills needed to push the circular transition forward. This is already being addressed in practice—for example, through the TIP Circulair programme of the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. Leading engineers and professionals mentor young construction apprentices, discussing successes and challenges and jointly improving their circular knowledge—the success of which has reiterated the importance of collaboration, co-creation and action-based learning.
A similar case has been uncovered in India, where the Department of Agriculture at the Pandit Sundarlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education has launched several agriculture and food processing courses, also teaching communication, self-management and basic digital skills, with the ultimate aim of increasing India’s role in the global food trade while championing sustainable approaches.
And of course, VET remains highly applicable in the education sector, which is rife with potential to support workers through the green economy transition—making the most of opportunities to facilitate lifelong learning, provide high-quality careers guidance, accommodate the need for interdisciplinary training, and support a systems-level revising of VET. The paper urges the education sector to recognise both its responsibility and its opportunity in moulding a new generation of workers with the knowledge and skills to spark a new economic model—one that is founded on circular principles.
Topics related to the circular economy are increasingly emerging in higher education in tandem with its burgeoning popularity—yet the role of VET has, until now, been underappreciated, despite being backed by the Sustainable Development Goals and the International Labour Organization's decent work agenda. The time to change this is now. McKinsey predicts that in the EU alone, up to 18 million workers will need reskilling as we shift towards a low-carbon, circular economy. Only if we manage such large-scale shifts in labour markets with foresight and care, can we achieve the innovation and employment potential of the circular economy.
Circle Economy is actively strengthening evidence on the shift in and demand for jobs and skills in a circular economy. Our Circular Jobs Initiative defines and identifies circular jobs, analyses the environment needed to create them and maximise their societal benefits. We work with employers, workers, governments, multilateral organisations, education institutions and research organisations.
This report captures the circular vision of the region and its industrial network. It identifies the economic sectors with the highest potential for implementing circular strategies, honing in on the 16 most impactful strategies. This document is the result of collaboration between different agents and entities, led by the Association Àmbit B30, and with the input of Fundació Fòrum Ambiental, inèdit and Circle Economy.
As a frontrunner in the circular economy, the study sets the B30 region next to other European cities and regions that have taken part in a Circle City Scan—such as Bilbao, Amsterdam or Prague. Representing the circular vision for the B30 region, it presents a visual roadmap that identifies the opportunities and starting points for fostering the transition to a circular economy. The document prioritises the economic sectors with the greatest potential for circularity and proposes 16 circular strategies in these areas—the greatest potential emerging in the agri-food, packaging, metal and chemical sectors. As the Spanish government looks to invest in the circular economy—designating close to €4 billion to circular initiatives leading up to 2023—the outcomes of this Scan provide crucial insights for other regions and nations across Europe kick starting their own circular journeys. With €70 billion in EU recovery funds to be spent across Europe, governments can look towards the experiences of the B30 region to catalyse their own structural transitions in industrial territories.
The president of the Association Àmbit B30, Josep Monràs, has emphasized that 'one of our main objectives is to decisively support the circular economy as a means for change and economic and social progress, and must especially play a role in post-pandemic recovery'. In this sense, he has added that 'the transversal work and synergies catalysed by the Xarxa d’Acció Circular de l’Àmbit B30 will be key in enhancing the economic reactivation of the industrial network'.
Despite the outstanding challenges, the B30 region carries great potential for the promotion of circular economy strategies, due to its business and industrial congregation, as well as the innovative capacity of nearby research centres and universities. It groups 23 municipalities that together hold a significant concentration of high-tech industrial activities, and host a large number of first-level educational, research and technology centres. It is the first industrial conglomerate in Spain, accounting for 17% of Catalan GDP, and 23% of Catalan industrial GDP.
The diagnosis of the territory's political, economic, environmental and social reality, as well as the overarching strategy for the development of the region, have allowed us to pinpoint the four sectors with the highest potential for circularity: agri-food, packaging, metal and chemicals. Combined, they provide more than 58.000 (14% of the region’s jobs) jobs and add €5 billion (17%) to the local economy, while also ranking top in terms of circularity potential.
Qualitative data from expert interviews has been used to delve into each of these sectors, searching for the areas where there may be more opportunities to catalyse the circular economy, retain value and create impact. A sectorial MFA (Material Flow Analysis)—a diagram displaying resource inflows and waste outflows—complemented this field research, strengthening the identification of potential strategies and prioritising the flows with the strongest economic and environmental impact.
Finally, a wide-ranging exploration of circular opportunities—based on international examples and experiences and complemented with a multisectoral workshop—has allowed us to identify new needs and challenges and connect key actors. This analysis pinpointed the 16 priority circular strategies for the four economic sectors relevant to the B30 region.
With quantitative and qualitative information, synergies between the key sectors were identified, focusing, and framing the different challenges and opportunities, both sector-specific and cross sectoral. The dispersion of products makes it necessary to improve the traceability, recovery and refining of metals, in order to reintroduce them into the economy. Several opportunities were identified for improvement in the efficiency of processes in the chemical sector. Another set of strategies revolves around preserving the value of food resources to avoid waste, biorefineries and revalued food products. This is closely connected to new solutions for packaging, bioplastics and new materials for the agri-food sector. The study also reveals the potential contribution of the region's chemistry industry to the circularity of the economy. Finally, several opportunities were identified for new business models and solutions as product-service systems.
This publication is the result of the work carried out by the circular economy working group of Àmbit B30, an entity whose mission is to consolidate and promote the growth of the B-30 region as a main economic and industrial driver both within the country and throughout Southern Europe.
The technical lead of the project was Fundació Fòrum Ambiental, an organisation that has worked in sustainability and taken part in public-private collaboration for over 20 years, with the support of the strategic eco-innovation study inèdit, an expert in driving circular territory projects and accompanying companies in their circular transition. Circle Economy—a Dutch non-profit impact organisation pioneering projects on the transition towards the circular economy that has worked with over 20 cities in different geographies—has also participated in the project. The participation of various associations, local bodies and companies in interviews, group meetings and workshops has also been essential in providing knowledge about the region and setting proposals.
Work towards the region's circular vision for 2020–2021 will be based on the roadmap and lessons presented by the publication, under the brand XACB30 (Xarxa d’Acció Circular a l’Àmbit B30: Circular Action Network at the B30 region). The aim is to strengthen partnerships between the agents of change that are already working on boosting the circular economy within the B30 region. These actors are currently offering training, qualifications, and external support, scaling up experiences and creating a space that brings together news and resources on the circular economy within the area.
VIENNA, 28 April 2021 - A partnership led by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has issued a call for expressions of interest for pilot projects aiming to accelerate the circular economy in two critical value chains in developing countries, namely textiles and garments, and plastic packaging. Submissions from European Union-headquartered multinational corporations (MNCs) working with suppliers in developing countries to implement circular practices are welcomed.
Apparel brands of all sizes interested in circular business models that extend the practical lifetime of clothes can now use Circle Economy’s ‘Circular Toolbox’ to get a rental or resale pilot off the ground in under a year.
Circular business models, such as resale and rental, offer commercial opportunities for brands to innovate their business model while expanding the practical service life of clothing—allowing brands to do more with less. When intelligently designed, they can also reduce the total environmental impact of the industry.
‘The fashion industry’s sustainability efforts thus far have been dominated by a focus on sustainable materials. While this is a very important driver for impact reduction, with a growing population that is consuming at hyperspeed, it’s becoming blatantly clear that a shift toward using sustainable materials alone is not going to cut it. Increasing the utilisation of our garments is considered one of the most effective ways to reduce the overall impact of the clothing industry. Resale, rental and subscription models promise to do just this: optimise the lifetime and active use of garments and provide pathways to decouple growth from resource use.’ — Hélene Smits, Circle Textiles Programme Associate at Circle Economy
By providing brands with the tools they need and a clear process and timeline to follow, the Circular Toolbox—and the circular innovation process it supports—aims to make it as easy as possible for apparel brands to adopt circular business models.
‘Numerous guides to circular business models exist, but few provide the level of detail needed for apparel brands to practically move from A to Z, and design and launch a model in the market.. Numerous consultancies also exist that can provide more tailored support to brands looking to explore circularity, but for most SMEs, this is not a realistic option. With the Circular Toolbox, we aim to remove those barriers for as many brands as possible and offer them a one-stop-shop to to independently drive circular business model innovation within their company.’ — Gwen Cunningham, Circle Textiles Programme Lead at Circle Economy
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The online toolbox guides users through a five-step circular innovation process, from getting sign-off from the top and putting a team together all the way to piloting a new concept on the ground. Resources include design thinking and research tools, workshop sheets and facilitator’s guides, a podcast featuring brands that have undergone the same process and, crucially, specific guidance as to how and when to use each tool.
The circular innovation process outlined in the toolbox was tried and tested through the Switching Gear project, which guided four brands—Asket, Lindex, ETP and Kuyichi—in the development and launch of circular business model pilots.
Exploring circular business models is part of Lindex’ transformation as a company and part of us reaching our sustainability goals. With the project, we got support not only in the development of a new model, but also in anchoring and building knowledge across our organisation. The methodologies and the tools that we used throughout are something that we will use in any new circular business model that we intend to explore going forward—this is also why I can highly recommend using the Circular Toolbox to anyone interested in exploring rental or resale business models.
— Annette Tentsam, Strategy Lead Circularity & Environmental Sustainability
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Apparel brands interested in using the Toolbox can do so at www.thecirculartoolbox.eventbrite.com.
For interview requests, please reach out to Circle Economy through their website.
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Towards an inclusive, fair and sustainable industry
The past two decades have seen a dramatic decrease in the amount of times clothes are worn. Coupled with a shift towards fast fashion, average consumers today buy 60% more items than they did 15 years ago and wear them for half as long. 70% of closets usually go unworn and it is estimated that 33% of women wear items as little as 5 times before disposing of them.
The Switching Gear project, supported by the Laudes Foundation, is part of the Bridging the Gap initiative, a group of six organisations working to stimulate sector-wide collaboration, facilitate innovative technologies and the design of best practices to enable the implementation of circular business models in the fashion industry’s supply chain. Other strategic partners of the Bridging the Gap group include the World Resources Institute, WRAP, London Waste and Recycling Board, QSA Partners and Forum for the Future.
About Circle Economy
Circle Economy is an impact organisation founded to achieve prosperity for all within planetary boundaries. With nature as their mentor, they help businesses, cities and governments identify opportunities to transition to a circular economy and provide a powerful combination of practical and scalable solutions to turn these opportunities into reality.
About Switching Gear
‘Switching Gear: Towards Circular Business Models’ was a Laudes Foundation-supported project, led by Circle Economy, that guided four apparel brands on a circular innovation process towards the design and launch of rental and resale business model pilots by 2021.
The project ran from 2018 to 2021. The Circular Toolbox brings together tools and insights from the project into a practical guide for other apparel brands looking to explore circular business models.
About the Switching Gear Enabling Network
To support the practical implementation of these pilots and enable the wider uptake of circular business models in the apparel Industry, Circle Economy also joined forces with strategic partner Fashion For Good to drive the formation of a global Enabling Network of over 50 circular solution providers and innovators, frontrunning brands and relevant experts, which will continue running past project end, until December 2021. Should you be interested to join the Enabling Network, please get in touch through the Circle Economy website: www.circle-economy.com/programmes/textiles/switching-gear/join-us
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Apr 6, 2021: This article was edited to link readers to the recording of the launch event instead of the event's registration page as well as to the actual toolbox.
Are you an apparel brand looking to explore rental or resale business models? A consultant supporting brands with circularity? Or just generally interested in the topic of circular business models?
Sign up to join our upcoming event, this April 1st, at 4pm CET, and learn more about the story of the four brands that have embarked on a journey to design and launch their own circular business model pilot through our Circle Textiles Programme’s Switching Gear project.
We will also share more information about how you, too, can follow along a similar circular innovation process for your brand through the Circular Toolbox, launching the same day.
Can't make the event? You can sign up up to a week after the event date in order to receive the recording and more information about the toolbox.
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Textile supply chains are moving towards new directions, where sustainability and competitiveness are directly linked to building strategic partnerships along the value chain to share innovation, inspiration, and state-of-the-art solutions beyond business as usual. Specifically, the fashion industry is in the process of rethinking how it manufactures, consumes and disposes of textiles and apparel.
In the last 15 years, clothing production has approximately doubled. Globally, the USD 1.3 trillion clothing industry employs more than 300 million people, while cotton production accounts for almost 7% of all employment in some low-income countries. At the other end, the latest trends and data show that the negative impacts of the textile industry are set to dramatically increase by 2050 should there be no shift in the business as usual modality.
For Egypt, the cotton value chain forms an important pillar of the local economy. It is characterised by the fact that the entire value chain, from cotton cultivation over ginning, spinning, weaving all the way to the manufacturing of final garments and home textiles is present. Post-industrial cotton textile by-products from the manufacturing stages represent a large growth potential for the industry in Egypt, with around 23 kilo tonnes of scraps that could be cycled back into fibre.
Making use of the untapped potential of by-products and waste streams is an important part of the circular economy, a metaphor for an economy where we move away from the take-make-waste consumption patterns and keep products and materials in use for as long as possible. Currently, the world is only 8.6% circular, leaving a massive amount of materials being wasted each year. The fashion industry is no exception to this, as less than 1% of the material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing and less than 15% of clothes are collected for recycling.
In such context, ‘The Egyptian Cotton project’ of UNIDO, in collaboration with Circle Economy, just launched the first of its kind report “Egypt’s Market: Environmental and Economic Assessment of Post-Industrial Cotton Waste Recycling.”. The report highlights results of a denim-recycling pilot, ‘RE.ACT’, rolled out to support the development of circular solutions for denim recycling in the Egyptian cotton textile industry through strategic partnerships between Italy and Egypt, rallying industry stakeholders for knowledge and technology transfers.
On 1st December 2020, UNIDO in collaboration with Circle Economy delivered a workshop showcasing the promising results of the pilot report to a variety of local industry stakeholders and government representatives. The pilot was implemented by T&C Garments, Filmar SpA, Albini Group and Marzoli Textile Engineering part of the Camozzi Group.
According to cotton-textile private sector partners, circularity is likely to be one of the key business trends of the next decade. They all agreed on the opportunities provided by such pilots and the need of supporting joint initiatives in this endeavor to work together for making circularity in textile the new normal.
Marco Marzoli, CEO of Filmar Network highlighted that sustainability is at the core of Filmar’s work as it represents an important lever of development and value creation for a more sustainable growth. “That is why we are committed to support circularity in textile by investing in new business models and strategic partnerships. The participation to the UNIDO Re.ACT pilot has been truly inspiring: as member of the UN Global Compact and UNIDO’s partner, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting joint initiatives in this endeavor and work together for a more sustainable future”.
Stefano Albini, President of Cotonificio Albini Spa highlighted that this project can be the starting phase to implement a virtuous value chain of recycling in Egypt. “Recycling of post-industrial fabrics scraps and also, in a short future, of post-consumer garments will be an important step to enhance the sustainability in our Textile and Apparel business. Thanks to Unido for having managed this project with all the participants.”
“We are focused on continuous innovation in mechanical regeneration of fibers” stated Cristian Locatelli, General Manager of Marzoli Textile Engineering, part of Camozzi Group. “Developing and adopting green technologies means for us at Marzoli to carefully balance economic with environmental sustainability. Circularity of fibers, thanks to fabrics regeneration, is creating a synergetic value chain among all the stakeholders. The new paradigm of a circular fiber supply chain will accelerate learning and development of know-how for all participating stakeholders pushing innovation and opening up to new potentials.”
This pilot tied a strategic partnership across the supply chain from manufacturers, producers, spinners and weavers uniting to trial post-industrial denim waste transformation into NE 30/1 cotton yarns to create high-value knitwear and fabrics. The finished fabrics produced a promising quality knitwear capsule collection through an educational ‘Knitwear Design for Sustainability’ workshop delivered by Italian fashion designer Marina Spadafora to Egyptian and Italian Fashion design students.
Local stakeholders including Marie Louis Bishara, President of the Ready-Made Garment Export Council and Cherine Khallaf, Representative of the Egyptian Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, shared their excitement in seeing such a promising opportunity for the Egyptian and global markets in advancing recycling in the cotton supply chain, highlighting that Egypt already has the full supply chain in one place and should grab this opportunity.
Emphasis was placed on advancing circular processes, the importance of collaboration and shared competencies, and pursuing technological advancements such as artificial intelligence in improving the processing of fabrics. In turn, such an opportunity would have a significant positive impact on the economic and environmental arena in Egypt, responding to rising market awareness and demand for cleaner high-quality products.
The business case and life-cycle assessment conducted with the support of Circle Economy’s expertise on the recycled yarns produced in a scaled-up scenario, highlighted that the comparison with virgin alternatives is positive, with lower impact for all considered categories: water consumption, total energy demand and global warming potential.
The economic assessment sheds light on the attractive opportunity that bringing a recycled cotton yarn value chain to life at scale in Egypt may present for industry stakeholders and on the rising opportunities for the Egyptian textile industry and market.
Egypt’s strong national roadmap (Egypt's Vision 2030 Strategy) towards economic competitiveness and diversification further highlights the potential of the Egyptian cotton value chain, its fibre and products, to significantly improve the environmental and social sustainability of textile production to stay competitive within the global markets. Government representatives shared that indeed Egypt is already on its way to a complete make-over of the cotton-textile industry, through all the supply chain in collaboration with the public sector, investing 250 M Euros into sector initiatives including but not limited to factories’ revamp, while investing in sustainable agricultural practices for cotton production.
"It has been truly inspiring to see the commitment of industry partners towards environmentally and socially-sound textile innovation, and the initial results of the study support this and show a significant potential in the untapped market for recycled cotton yarns within the Egyptian cotton-textile sector." - Natalia Papu Carrone, Research Analyst at Circle Economy
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Circle Economy is delighted to announce the launch of v3 of the Knowledge Hub: the open-collaborative library for case studies about the circular economy.
Anyone interested in contributing to the global transition to the circular economy—from entrepreneurs, innovators and researchers to policymakers, consultants and educators—can now openly collaborate in adding and editing case studies to the global library. Experts in specific fields can take on the role of curators to maintain content quality. Finally, organisations with existing case libraries can upload their cases to this common library within dedicated, branded Knowledge Hub ‘collections’ that they can share with their communities.
‘Evidence is critical to inspire action. At the same time the circular economy field is still fragmented and knowledge often difficult to access. By making this knowledge openly accessible and enabling anyone who would like to support the transition towards a circular economy to contribute their know-how into one shared place, we aim to bridge this gap. This is what the Knowledge Hub is all about.‘ — Martijn Lopes Cardozo, CEO, Circle Economy
The use of case studies is popular amongst circular economy practitioners and researchers. Finding the right case study, however—one that is contextually
relevant—, is not always easy.
By compiling over 2,000 case studies, making them openly accessible on the Knowledge Hub and tagging them with key information such as relevant industries, impacts or location, we aim to remove this barrier to knowledge.
Over the past few years, the Knowledge Hub has seen a steady increase in readership, with over 1500+ direct monthly visitors and 10 partner organisations, including ICLEI, Circular Economy Club, Australian Circular Economy Hub Planet Ark, Zero Waste Europe and more.
‘Knowledge-sharing through an open-source database with compelling examples of what works, and what does not, is crucial to develop a global coalition of successful circular economy practitioners. Only together can we challenge the incumbent linear economy and change the rules of the game so that our legacy serves the interest of our future generations. The Knowledge Hub is the go-to source for circular economy case studies, reports or policies. With its convenient filters, open-source set-up and democratically-curated content, it is the ideal place to find convincing case studies or to give your circular economy initiative the exposure it deserves.’—Jelmer Hoogzaad, Founder of Shifting Paradigms
Thousands of people around the world are compiling case examples to demonstrate the potential of a circular economy on a regular basis, from individual professors selecting examples to showcase in their sustainability or business innovation course, to regional circular economy platforms working to compile regional case studies of lighthouse projects and more.
By enabling everyone to add and edit any case study on the Knowledge Hub, in the same way Wikipedia does, we now aim to harness the collective power of circularity advocates around the world and foster the spirit of open collaboration that is so crucial to the transition to the circular economy.
In growing the Knowledge Hub, we always prioritised breadth over depth so as to ensure knowledge can be found. Now, to make sure depth is also available in the library, circular economy and industry experts are taking on the role of ‘curators’: reviewing and giving case studies that pass quality thresholds a stamp of approval.
‘I am excited to be a curator of the Knowledge Hub. This is such a great initiative that aims to share best practices from around the world and make them accessible to all in order to accelerate the much needed transition to a circular economy. Whether you are an expert, a student or a practitioner, come check out our curated case studies and contribute with your expertise and passion.’ — Simona Grande, Researcher at University of Turin, Expert curator on the Knowledge Hub
The wealth of knowledge bases that exist around the world speak to the unique knowledge needs different stakeholders have. Businesses in Australia may not be interested in hearing about the same examples as local governments in Nigeria, for example. Non-governmental organisations working to curate examples relevant to their context may have particular cases in mind they would like to advocate for. While we acknowledge the uniqueness of needs, the entire circular economy community would benefit from knowing about these examples. What if this were to happen automatically and without additional coordination efforts?
Visit the Circular Norway collection →
This is what the new Knowledge Hub ‘collections’ are for. ‘Collections’ enable knowledge organisations to upload their case studies to the common Knowledge Hub library and to make these cases accessible not only to their audience, but to all Knowledge Hub users. Visually, ‘collections’ look like dedicated, branded environments, which allow organisations to offer their communities a curated access to case studies. In time, we aim for ‘collections’ to remove the need for these organisations to build stand-alone, siloed libraries on their own website—so that knowledge can truly be shared.
‘Circular Norway hope that by sharing case studies on the Knowledge Hub, we can inspire others to become more circular. Because the KH is global and open-access, we think it’s the best place to gather all things circular. There are so many filters, so our Norwegian readers can easily find Norwegian examples, but they can also be inspired by others. We think that if everyone starts using the Knowledge Hub actively, it can become the go-to place for circular economy reports, business cases and policy developments.’ — Sofie Pindsle, Project Manager, Circular Norway
‘By researching and collecting circular economy case studies across Africa, we want to give exposure to entrepreneurs and to inspire other people on the African continent to join in the circular economy movement. We are sharing these cases on the Knowledge Hub because we believe it is better to build a rich, global library to advance knowledge-sharing and learning and would like to invite every individual and organisation interested in the circular economy to visit the Knowledge Hub, check out the cases available and publish their case studies.’ Deborah — Deborah Ohui Nartey, Research analyst at Footprints Africa
January 26, Amsterdam – Circular economy strategies can cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 39% and play a crucial role in avoiding climate breakdown, reveals a report from impact organisation Circle Economy launched today during the World Economic Forum’s virtual Davos Agenda Week. The Circularity Gap Report finds that the 22.8 billion tonnes (Gt) of annual emissions associated with creating new products from virgin materials can be eliminated by applying circular strategies that drastically reduce the amount of minerals, fossil fuels, metals and biomass consumed by the world’s economy.
It finds that changes to the ways we construct and use houses, commercial and industrial buildings can achieve half these savings. Changes to how we travel and transport goods and the way we feed ourselves account for most of the rest. The report also offers strategies tailored to countries at different levels of development as they plan to stimulate economic recovery from the Covid pandemic and strengthen their climate commitments ahead of the COP26 UN climate summit in November. Annual emissions reached a record high of 59.1Gt in 2019 and the UN Emissions Gap Report 2020 finds that by 2030 they must fall by 15Gt to keep global warming below 2°C and by 32Gt to achieve the safer limit of 1.5°C.
'The Circularity Gap Report offers not only a sober warning of the danger of climate inaction, but a clear map forward. Collaborative effort among government, business and civil society is necessary to scale the circular economy and drive down emissions. Only through collective investment in and commitment to circular practices can we shape a more sustainable, resilient future.' - Børge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum
The world is currently on course for climate breakdown. Current climate pledges would see global temperature rise by 3.2°C this century. China and the US have recently announced plans to achieve net zero emissions around mid-century, but these are not yet formal national pledges and they are still not enough to meet the Paris Agreement commitment to keep global warming well below 2°C, and ideally 1.5°C. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that going beyond 1.5°C to 2°C would significantly increase extreme weather events with devastating social, environmental and economic consequences.
The Circularity Gap Report has now identified a set of circular strategies that can keep the planet on a well below 2°C trajectory by cutting emissions by 22.8 billion tonnes beyond what is achieved by current pledges, a 39% reduction from 2019 levels.
The report calculates that 70% of all emissions are generated by the extraction, processing and manufacturing of goods to meet society’s needs - the clothes we wear, the phones we own, and the meals we eat. The world is consuming more than 100Gt of materials a year and just 8.6% are reused.
The strategies it identifies would cut annual material consumption to 79Gt, by reducing the volume of materials used to create products and services, using resources for longer, and replacing finite resources like fossil fuels with regenerative resources like renewable energy. They would also increase the proportion of materials that are reused from 8.6% to 17%, nearly doubling the circularity of the global economy.
'Governments are making huge decisions that will shape our climate future. They are spending billions to stimulate their economies after the Covid pandemic and they are committed to strengthening their climate commitments ahead of the Glasgow Climate Summit. Circular economy strategies hold the key to a resource-efficient, low-carbon and inclusive future.' - Martijn Lopes Cardozo, Circle Economy CEO
The report finds that three key societal needs are responsible for almost 70% of global emissions and are the areas where circular strategies can have the greatest impact: housing, mobility and nutrition.
Housing – including commercial and industrial buildings - generates 13.5Gt of emissions every year. It consumes vast amounts of virgin resources, it makes abundant use of carbon-intensive materials such as cement and steel, it creates significant emissions from heating and cooling, and it generates huge amounts of waste. With circular strategies, 9.5Gt of construction and demolition waste could be diverted from landfill and reused, reducing the need for virgin materials; cement and steel could be substituted for more lightweight, regenerative materials; and a shift to renewable energy would reduce emissions from heating and cooling. Together these would cut emissions by 11.8Gt and reduce demand for materials by 13.6Gt.
Mobility generates 17.1Gt of emissions a year, primarily from burning fossil fuels for passenger and freight transport. New design approaches to make vehicles lighter will reduce consumption and strategies like car sharing can make their use more efficient. Circular strategies can cut emissions by 5.6Gt and material use by 5.3Gt.
Nutrition generates around 10Gt of emissions a year, including 4Gt of emissions a year from land use alone. As global populations and increase and more people adopt western diets more land is needed to grow crops - especially for animal feed - and for pasture, and this drives deforestation. Regenerative agriculture and aquaculture can reduce the environmental impact of fish, cattle and crop farming while producing good yields. Switching to more plant-based diets will have a lower footprint. Circular strategies can cut emissions by 4.3Gt and material use by 4.5Gt.
'For billions of years, our home planet was in a perfect cycle: New life constantly emerged out of the same carbon that existed as life before. We need to restore this balance and achieve carbon neutrality without delay. For that, we need to eliminate waste and create products that last, can be repaired and ultimately can be transformed into new products.' - Martin Frick, Senior Director Policy and Programme Coordination at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
Different strategies are appropriate to countries at different stages of economic development and the report presents blueprints for action for countries in three broad categories.
Low-income “ Build” countries such as India and Nigeria are home to 48% of the world’s population but struggle to meet their basic needs. Their economies are dominated by agriculture and they are still building basic infrastructure. They use 19% of global resources and generate 17% of emissions.
Priorities include:
1) Reforming agriculture to avoid monocropping and deforestation;
2) Applying circular principles to building projects, such as using lightweight materials like wood, clay and loam;
3) Minimising the need for motorised transport in cities by creating self-sufficient neighbourhoods and introducing electric scooters and public transport;
4) Formalising and training waste pickers and setting up recycling plants.
Middle-income “Grow” countries such as China and Brazil, home to 36% of the world’s population, are industrialising rapidly and building infrastructure to lift their populations out of poverty and accommodate a growing middle class. They are global manufacturing hubs and the world’s biggest agricultural producers. They use 51% of resources and generate 47% of emissions.
Priorities include:
1) Switching to sustainable agriculture, especially for exports;
2) Mainstreaming resource-efficient, low-carbon construction materials;
3) Meeting growing energy demands with renewables;
4) Setting up infrastructure to collect, sort and process waste materials, especially construction waste.
Higher-income “Shift” countries such as the US, Japan and European countries, are home to 16% of the world’s population but consume 31% of resources and generate 43% of emissions. They have already developed mature housing, transport and infrastructure to meet the needs of their citizens.
Priorities include:
1) Reducing their consumption of animal products and cutting food waste;
2) Extending the lifespan of buildings and infrastructure through renovation, requiring the reuse of construction materials, and designing new materials so they can be reused;
3) Extending vehicle lifespans, switching to sharing models such as car clubs and using digital technologies to reduce the need for physical travel;
4) Ensuring waste is properly valued to maximise its potential for reuse.
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