27 September 2018

An action agenda for the circular city

A new report published by Circl Economy, TNO and the City of Amsterdam, presents ‘a vision and action agenda for the circular city’ taking the city of Amsterdam as example.

The report zooms in on two key areas in which the city has direct impact on circularity: The construction value chain and organic waste. It presents a set of action points for both of these areas that help to establish a circular production and consumption model on the city level.

The report highlights the importance of innovation in the soil, road, and construction sector – a sector that thus far has not achieved much attention in terms of circular development but which bears great potential due to large volumes as well the direct influence that many local governments can exert in this regard – through regulation as well as circular procurement. Innovation procurement processes challenging the market to for example redesign existing buildings or develop new products from used materials are a key tool for public authorities in this regard. 

Further information on circular procurement can also be found in this guide, published by the European Commission and authored by ICLEI. For more information about Circular Amsterdam click here.