ICLEI Circulars accompanies local and regional governments along their circular development journey, regardless of their starting point.
Funded by the European Union (EU) since 2007, SWITCH-Asia focuses on accelerating the adoption of circular economy practices among textile and apparel MSMEs in the Chinese cities of Huzhou and Shaoxing. ICLEI Circulars provides technical support and benchmarking expertise to foster greener business models throughout the entire value chain, from sustainable design and production to recycling and end of life strategies.
The project ran from 1 March 2022 to 31 December 2025.
The UrbanShift City Academy is a global platform that offers eight online courses focused on city planning and climate action for decision-makers and technical staff. ICLEI Circulars developed the Circular Economy module, which helps cities create inclusive strategies, tailored to local needs and available in multiple languages.
The project ran from 21 October 2020 to 19 October 2025.
Piloted in the cities of Apeldoorn, Bodø, Mikkeli, Porto, Seville, Høje-Taastrup and Roskilde, CityLoops focused on a series of demonstration actions to close the loop of two of the most important waste streams in Europe: Construction and demolition, and bio-waste.
The project ran from 1 October 2019 to 30 September 2023.
CLEVER Cities reimagined urban development by putting nature at the center of social and environmental transformation. Working through “Action Labs” in Hamburg, London, and Milan, the project tested nature-based solutions such as green corridors and revitalized public spaces, designed not only to improve biodiversity and climate resilience but also to build stronger, healthier, and more inclusive communities.
The project ran from 1 June 2018 to 31 May 2023.
The Circle Lab for Cities program provided a framework and digital tools that support circular development planning and implementation at the local level. Cities could learn about the circular economy, explore their city’s data to identify and match their climate challenges with the right circular solution, and act to advance their transition to a circular economy in priority sectors.
The project ran from 15 November 2021 to 30 April 2022.
With a focus on the intersecting areas of food, health, and climate change, the ACE Africa project guided entrepreneurs and new start-ups through an incubation program, providing a platform for exposure to and interaction with mature circular economy businesses, funders, and government officials.
The project ran from 1 May 2021 to 1 October 2021.
PlastiCircle tested innovations in waste collection, transport, sorting and recycling, and aims to transform plastic packaging waste into valuable products. It helped develop smart containers to increase collection rates of plastic waste; cost-effective waste transport systems connected to IoT cloud platforms; innovative optical sorting technologies to improve sorting; and new value-added recycled plastic products.
The project ran from 1 June 2017 to 30 June 2021.
CIRC-PACK focused on developing bio-based and recyclable plastics and improving recycling processes. By creating new bio-based and/or biodegradable plastics for the manufacture of a wide range of products, this project aimed to reduce the environmental footprint of packaging. It also helped enhance the design of products to facilitate sorting, promote reuse, and encourage recycling.
The project ran from 1 May 2017 to 1 May 2020.
Rapid urban growth is increasing waste in cities; reusable packaging offers a solution. The project ‘Circular City Labs (CCL) – Testing reusable packaging systems in cities’ aims to reduce and prevent waste through reusable packaging systems and strengthen women’s participation in local circular economies. Implemented in Tirana (Albania), Tbilisi (Georgia), and Medellín (Colombia), along with select areas in South Africa, it includes baseline studies, pilot testing for women-led companies, training for women in leadership and circular economy practices.