Summary
Cities, as the engines of economic growth and innovation, hold the key to accelerating the transition to a circular economy. The CCD 2022 Report covering 40 cities highlights that half of them are already in the process of adopting circular economy strategies. The most common circular programs in cities involve material recycling and regenerative infrastructure like urban gardens to promote biodiversity. However, the transition is hindered by a lack of knowledge and financial resources, which must be addressed to speed up progress toward a circular urban future.
Background
The Circular Cities Declaration community presented the CCD Report 2022, the widest ever assessment of circular economy practices across Europe’s cities. Between November 2021 and January 2022, signatories of the CCD were requested to furnish details regarding their engagements in the circular economy, inclusive of their strategies and initiatives.
Each activity was accompanied by a concise overview that covered its extent, objectives, participating stakeholders, and references to supporting materials like web links, publications, and documents.
Furthermore, the signatories outlined their forthcoming actions, the obstacles they were encountering, and the progress they had made with respect to CCD commitments. A total of 40 signatories contributed reports, offering an exclusive insight into the practical application of the circular economy concept at the regional level in Europe.
Key Insights
Over 2022, ICLEI Europe, supported by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, analysed the signatories’ reporting and developed the CCD Report 2022, firstly to celebrate and showcase the significant gains cities are making towards the circular transition, but also to highlight the most important trends and challenges related to this transition.
Some of the key conclusions include:
- Cities are hubs of humanity – often fuelling a country’s economic growth and innovation. They are also resource and energy hungry. Because of this, cities are critical in helping us transition to a circular economy.
- Considerable progress is being made. Half of the 40 cities involved in the report already have circular economy strategies in place or in development.
- The report highlights how our urban areas are becoming circular, but also how the transition can be accelerated. Residents, city authorities, national governments and the private sector all have levers they can pull to help us go circular.
- The most common circular economy programme within cities involves material loops such as the collection and treatment of building materials and food. There is also increasing evidence of regenerative infrastructure such as urban gardens being developed to encourage biodiversity back into our cities
- Progress towards making cities circular is not as fast as it could be due to a lack of skills and knowledge. This information gap must be bridged. A lack of finance options is also holding back the pace of transition to a circular economy. The private sector and national governments must help unlock new opportunities.
Signatories featured in the report
Ghent and Leuven(Belgium); Prague (Czech Republic); Capital Region of Denmark, Copenhagen, Høje-Taastrup and Roskilde (Denmark); Espoo, Helsinki, Lappeenranta, Mikkeli, Oulu, Tampere and Turku (Finland); Est Ensemble Grand Paris, Grenoble and Lille Metropole (France); Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany); Trikala (Greece); Budapest (Hungary); Genoa, Florence, and La Spezia (Italy); Wiltz (Luxembourg); Albergaria-a-Velha, Braga, Évora, Guimarães, Loures, Porto, and Torres Vedras (Portugal); Haarlem (Netherlands); Oslo (Norway); Ljubljana and Maribor (Slovenia); Murcia and Picanya (Spain); Eskilstuna, Malmö and Umeå (Sweden), and Izmit (Turkey)
Download the CCD report 2022 here
Source: Circular Cities Declaration
