We are ICLEI Circulars

From raising awareness and political momentum on the urgency of shifting away from unsustainable consumption and production patterns to designing policy approaches that address concrete challenges, ICLEI Circulars supports the ICLEI network in transitions to sustainable cities through circular economy practices.

Nairobi

Kenya

Nairobi is one of Africa’s leading cities for the implementation of circular approaches. Through government and organisational support that affords local businesses incentives to undertake circular projects, the city has seen a growth in the adoption of circularity. Nairobi faces major waste management challenges such as health risks due to the lack of a sewer system across the city, and the illegal disposal of sewer waste.

Organisations such as Sanergy, a social enterprise with investment from Finnfund and Kenyan state support, have undertaken improved solid waste management projects such as waste treatment. The group collects treat and upcycle waste with the aim of developing the largest organic recycling plant on the continent. Through their circularity based initiatives, Nairobi has begun the journey of reducing, reusing, regenerating and recycling solid waste.

Malmö

Sweden

As a signatory city of the European Circular Cities Declaration, Malmö aims to incentivize circular urban development through net-zero initiatives, together with the industrial sector and its citizens. Several strategic plans are integrating Circular Economy approaches to facilitate this vision: the Goal 12 of the Environmental Programme for the City of Malmö 2021-2030, the Waste and Eco-cycle Plan 2021-2030, and the Strategy for Climate Neutral Constructions in cooperation with the Local Roadmap for Malmö 2030 are documents that directly address the need for ‘’resource efficiency’’. Circular development efforts across action plans can be translated into a set of priorities that the city is currently focusing on.

Changchun

China

The city has designated a 10-square-kilometer circular economy industrial park to boost its circularity. Given that automotive manufacturing is the main industry, Changchun has the ambition to unlock the potential of end-of-life vehicles and keep the materials in use. The park will have incineration, food waste treatment facilities, medical waste treatment facilities, and car dismantling facilities. The city has invested to reallocate a thermal power station from another site to this industrial park, in order to maximally utilize material streams and resources. It is expected that the industrial park will attract further innovative circular economy investment. ICLEI´s Green Circular Cities Coalition is supporting Changchun to introduce a benchmarking practice into the city’s planning.

Turku

Finland

The city of Turku is committed to a resource wise future with zero emissions, zero waste and a low ecological footprint with the sustainable use of natural resources by the year 2040. Turku aims at being carbon neutral by 2029 and climate positive with negative net emissions thereafter. To support these goals, Turku collaborates with regional partner to develop the Circular Turku roadmap. Read the Circular Turku report to learn more about Turku´s existing circular economy best practices.

Mayor Minna Arve holds the Global Circular Development Portfolio at ICLEI and as such plays a championing role to support the localization of the circular economy within the network.