Project

UrbanCircle

Focusing on cities, UrbanCircle – urban waste into circular economy benefits – seeks to integrate waste management and resource recovery into a circular economy. The project highlights synergies between different waste and resource flows, focusing on water, waste, food and energy.

The project is striving to equip cities with tools to boost their resource efficiency, capitalise on waste and create novel governance structures, based on participatory planning and multi-stakeholder engagement.

Active project

2018–2021

Project contact

Sarah Dickin

Biomethane plant in Bottrop, Germany. Photo: Hans Peter / Wikimedia.

There are many direct and indirect benefits of improved natural resource management in urban areas, benefits that may substantially contribute to human wellbeing. Unfortunately, most cities are missing out on these opportunities.

Instead, inadequate waste management, like open dumping of solid waste or poorly functioning sanitation, are common around the world. Wasteful resource management causes pollution and environmental degradation, affecting our health. It is also a missed economic opportunity: safe reuse of valuable nutrients and organic matter in waste streams can boost food production, generate renewable energy, and offer many business opportunities. Sustainable waste management can help to deliver on climate mitigation, reduce eutrophication as well as make cities more self-sufficient.

UrbanCircle will improve understanding of co-benefits and trade-offs between the flows of natural resources in cities, an area which has not received enough investigation, mainly due to complex cross-sectoral interdependencies. This process will include governance analysis and model development, drawing on empirical studies, co-designed with local stakeholders in Sweden, Colombia and Kenya.

The project work also involves piloting the Resource Value Mapping (REVAMP) tool. This tool enables cities to estimate their resource recovery potential basing on inputs of the quantities of organic waste streams they have, including wastewater and faecal sludge. Depending on local priorities, the tool also makes it possible to compare various resource recovery options on the basis of energy and nutrient outputs as well as potential revenues using a co-development process, as a novel platform for participatory planning and multi-actor engagement.

The outcomes will contribute to a more integrated urban policy making, facilitating identification of cross-sectoral synergies and trade-offs framed within the 2030 Agenda, contributing to the long-term sustainability of resources and the resilience of urban centres.

Project partners

Aerial view of Giannitsa city sewage treatment plant, Greece

Understanding the interactions between biowaste valorisation and the Sustainable Development Goals: insights from an early transition stage

Journal article / This study informs the scientific community and decision-makers on planning for sustainable biowaste valorisation that addresses context-dependencies.

26 March 2024 / About Sustainable Development Goals

Biogas plant from above, Grasleben, Grasleben, Deutschland

A review of how decision support tools address resource recovery in sanitation systems

Journal article / This paper reviews 24 decision support software tools used for sanitation planning and how they address resource recovery aspects.

19 June 2023 / About Sanitation

Organic waste, compost, compost heap, Germany, Europe

Sustainability assessment of increased circularity of urban organic waste streams

Journal article / This paper presents a framework for assessing the societal impacts of increased circularity of resource recovery from organic waste streams at city scale.

28 September 2022 / About Bioeconomy and Sustainable lifestyles

briquettes of dried animal dung for fuel pictured

Energy from excreta: harnessing energy from one of the most abundant materials on the planet

Other publication / In this book, SEI's Daniel Ddiba and other leading energy researchers share their views on challenges and solutions related to the energy system of the future.

31 July 2022 / About Sustainable lifestyles

Two people at a whiteboard writing in Spanish and English

Governance challenges and opportunities for implementing resource recovery from organic waste streams in urban areas of Latin America: insights from Chía, Colombia

Journal article / A case study shows enabling factors and governance barriers critical to implementing circular economy strategies for organic waste in urban areas.

25 November 2021 / About Public policy and Sanitation

Implementing resource recovery from urban organic waste in low- and middle-income countries: tools to support planners and policy makers

Other publication / This research explores the importance of applying circular economy principles to the management of organic waste streams through resource recovery.

30 June 2022 / About Sustainable Development Goals and Sustainable lifestyles

Waste pipe or drainage polluting environment

Recovering resources from organic waste streams with the REVAMP tool

Feature / Explore your city or community's resource recovery potential of urban organic waste streams on the new web-based platform for SEI’s newly launched REVAMP tool.

19 November 2021 / About Business, Cities, Finance, Household energy, Innovation, Public policy, Renewables, Sanitation and Water resources

The circular economy potential of urban organic waste streams in low- and middle-income countries

Journal article / How can the circular economy potential of urban waste streams in low- and middle-income countries be realized?

27 May 2021 / About Finance

Governing the circular economy: Assessing the capacity to implement resource-oriented sanitation and waste management systems in low- and middle-income countries

Journal article / This paper identifies factors that facilitate or limit governance capacity for circularity in the form of resource recovery from urban organic waste streams.

9 September 2020 / About Sanitation

childs toy made of old drink cartons, at Waste to Best, Naivasha

Setting the stage for the circular economy: Waste resource recovery opportunities in Naivasha, Kenya

SEI report / This inventory report is a first step towards creating scenarios and roadmaps for a circular economy based on organic waste resources in Naivasha.

9 September 2020 / About Cities and Sanitation

UrbanCircle: turning urban waste into circular economy benefits

SEI brief / UrbanCircle uses the REVAMP tool to help cities identify the opportunities in their organic waste.

28 May 2018 / About Sanitation and Water resources

Exploring the circular economy potential of Naivasha’s organic waste

Feature / SEI has taken the first step towards creating scenarios and roadmaps for a circular economy based on organic waste resources in Naivasha.

24 May 2021 / About Bioeconomy, Cities, Energy access, Household energy and Pollution

Dung beetle rolling its food at Kruger National Park, Lesotho

Can poop power the planet?

Feature / Poop is a sustainable alternative source of energy that could help reduce emissions that lead to climate change.

15 April 2021 / About Adaptation, Bioeconomy, Cities, Climate policy, Energy access, Fossil fuels, Household energy and Sanitation

Money from waste? Revamp your view on sanitation

Perspective / Resource recovery from sanitation and waste management can be a lucrative business. You can get it up and running in your city with support of the REVAMP tool.

26 July 2018 / About Cities, Food and agriculture and Sanitation

REVAMP: Bringing urban waste into the circular economy

Feature / In Chía, Colombia, inadequate waste management is putting lives and ecosystems at risk. We worked with locals to crunch data and calculate scenarios for change.

1 April 2019 / About Participation, Sanitation, Water resources and Wellbeing