The Circularity Dataset Initiative by the Ministry of the Economy of Luxembourg develops an industry standard providing a regulated framework for circular data on products throughout value chains, from raw materials to finished products, from the use phase to re-usage and recycling.
The project addresses the difficulty for stakeholders to access reliable data on the circular properties of a product. Trade secrets are hindering transparency and reporting standards are lacking, forcing manufacturers to send out different data sets in diverse formats to customers and product platforms.
The objective is to save costs, increase value and enable circularity by developing a process and an internationally accepted dataset template, and data is verified through an auditing process.
The Italian Phosphorus Platform was set up to mirror the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform. It aims to make Italy self-sufficient in terms of phosphorus and to ensure coordination with European policies.
The Platform is made up of stakeholders active in the phosphorus chain, with an emphasis on conservation and recovery. It includes research centres, public and private institutions, businesses and environmental associations.
Phosphorus is a critical raw material for Europe: hardly any products containing it are recycled and the EU is almost entirely dependent on imports from third countries. The Platform aims to close this loop.
The Platform has four working groups: Management and coordination, Technologies and good practices, Legislation, and Market.
The Finnish city of Lahti has been pioneering industrial symbiosis at the Kujala Waste Treatment Centre where all sorts of waste are reused. Several companies have established interconnected material flows, thus making one’s residues another one’s raw materials.
It is an open platform for communication and cooperation which informs businesses about the circular economy and supports wider application of circular business models.
The Forum:
collects and shares information about developments and good practices in the circular economy;
organises circular events;
helps companies forge contacts with a view to implementing circular business models;
promotes collaboration;
contributes to national strategies and a legal framework on the circular economy.
Cradlenet aims to accelerate Sweden's transition to a circular economy and is Sweden's platform for circular knowledge and networking.
It supports companies and organisations as they go circular by offering members advisory services, market intelligence, studies, visibility, education, seminars and networking opportunities locally and nationally, as well as at Nordic level.
It participates in national projects aiming to increase knowledge and develop tools or networking opportunities on the circular economy. It has produced a report and toolbox helping companies transition to a Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) business model and works with political institutions to speed up the transition to circular economy.
The Circular Economy Task Force (CETF) is a business consortium convened by the Green Alliance. The CETF is a forum for policy, innovation and business thinking on resource use in the UK, and pioneers new approaches to preventing and reducing waste.
With the support of the CETF, Green Alliance conducts independent, objective research and analysis to inform resources policy. It brings together stakeholders from government, civil society and industry to develop and test ideas. It has influenced UK Government policy.
The CETF has produced a number of reports on resource policy, recycling opportunities and manufacturing productivity. These include Circular business: what companies need to make the switch and Design for a circular economy: reducing the impacts of the products we use.
With funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Circular Economy Initiative Deutschland (CEID) was initiated in 2019.
In three working groups on Circular Business Models, Traction Batteries and Packaging, 130 experts from more than 50 institutions from science, industry, politics and civil society discussed how to enable and establish circular economic systems.
Recommendations were summarised in the Circular Economy Roadmap for Germany. The roadmap was published on 11 May 2021 and officially handed over to the BMBF.
Given the growing demand for electric vehicles, CEID is currently engaged in the Battery Pass project. This focuses on the sustainable production, use and recycling of lithium-ion batteries and the digital battery passport.
Circular Economy Transition is a pioneer initiative that aims to accelerate Switzerland's transition a circular economy. It currently takes place in five Swiss cities: Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich.
In close collaboration with Impact Hub Switzerland, sanu durabilitas and with the support of the MAVA foundation, this initiative will contribute to drive the new paradigm for the future of business, policy making and society.
The Policy Hub (founded in 2019) aims to promote circularity in the apparel and footwear industry and propose policies that accelerate sustainable practices. It represents over 700 stakeholders and has partner organisations:
It looks at each stage, focusing on ways to reduce the environmental impact and considering end of life. The Policy Hub seeks to encourage an ambitious policy framework to speed up the transformation of the apparel and footwear industry towards circularity. It focuses on:
In this guidebook, the CSCP classifies cities into four broad categories: a legacy city or a pioneering city in a developed or an emerging economy. Based on this classification, a number of examples from cities across the continents this guidebook documents the journey towards becoming more circular, and provides suggestions for cities seeking to make the shift.
