Berlin began its circular economy transition in 2020 with the adoption of the Waste Management Concept 2020-2030, aiming to implement measures to reduce household, water and construction waste. To advance this transition, it established the Coordination Office for Circular Economy, Energy Efficiency and Climate Protection in Business in 2022 and the Zero Waste Agency in 2023, and commissioned a study to analyse the circular economy’s potential in the industrial sector.

Despite these efforts, the circular economy in Berlin is still often perceived only in terms of sustainable waste management. This paper looks at challenges holding back progress on the circular economy, including policy coherence, and provides recommendations to accelerate the transition.

Businesses in India and around the world are adopting the circular economy as a new production paradigm. However, while the economic and environmental dimensions of the circular economy have been explored, its social impact (decent pay, gender equality, labour conditions) has been overlooked.

By surveying 100 workers  and interviewing 40 managers in India, the authors developed an inventory of circular jobs with the respective demographic. They found that circular jobs in India are of low quality due to relatively low wage and job security indicators (especially for female workers). Informal migrant women in resale, repair and recycling are most vulnerable. Resale and rental based on internet platform models have the highest earning quality for men and women. 

The apparel value chain is essential for the livelihood of millions of workers around the globe, but working conditions in this sector are far from satisfactory. The circular economy has been used by businesses as a framework for achieving sustainability but there is a lack of knowledge about its social impact.

This paper explores the social impact of the different circular strategies implemented in the Netherlands, Spain and India. It assesses social impacts related to the quality of jobs, workers’ sustainable livelihood and gender equality and inclusion. 

It finds that the social ambition of the circular economy is low, and that current circular strategies follow the same feminisation and precariousness of working conditions found in the linear apparel value chain.

ADVANCE Circular is an Erasmus+ project, focusing on linking the tourism industry with VET (Vocational Education and Training) to embrace circularity. The brochure describes the project which aims to assess the readiness of the tourism sector and VET institutions for adopting circular principles in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia and Spain.  
 

"Are we ready for circularity?" is part of the second stage (Mapping the Scene & Creating Bridges). It finds that despite progress in raising awareness of circularity, significant efforts are needed to overcome financial, educational and regulatory barriers. Strengthening strategic partnerships, increasing funding support and enhancing training opportunities will be vital to advance circularity readiness in the tourism and VET sectors in these countries.

This paper reviews digital tools that support the transition to a circular economy in the built environment. 

It explores how computer-aided design, building information modeling and computational plugins can assist architects and engineers in creating more sustainable buildings. While Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) remains the main approach for evaluating environmental impacts, the study highlights other methods and tools that can help assess circular design strategies, such as computational methods to design with reused elements and circularity indicators. The paper identifies both the strengths and limitations of these digital tools. 

This research is useful to academics and to practitioners designing buildings aligned with circular economy principles.

With progress on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) badly off track, solutions are needed - and the circular economy has clear potential.

This Chatham House paper explores how the circular economy could support each of the 17 SDGs and argues for this concept to be put at the heart of emerging plans to drive sustainable development towards 2050. 

It identifies five priorities for action: embedding principles of justice and inclusivity into the circular transition; increasing international policy coordination; reforming the financial architecture to ensure the circular economy gets the investment it needs; rewiring the global system of trade to make it easier to trade circular products and services; and developing common standards and metrics.