Amsterdam strategy for circular economy

 

Amsterdam - 2015
 
Domain of aplication: Local, regional
Status: Existing
Stakeholders: 
• Amsterdam City Council
The Amsterdam Metropolitan Area has joined forces to move towards a circular economy because of the great opportunities it can offer to the region. Its main aim is finded smart solutions for the limited availability of resources through redesign and closing of energy, water and material loops, before 2025. Simultaneously, innovation and new business development will be realized in the Amsterdam region. 
The vision is that it can lead to cost reduction, create new business and employment, and save resources and energy. In addition, it can stimulate the development of knowledge, innovation and start-ups, and increase the provision of supply of key resources. Thus, it offers societal merits in all respects: People, Planet and Profit.
The strategy to realize this mission is fivefold:
 
1. To get an overview of the main waste streams in the region and the extent to which these streams are already recycled or reused. This overview forms the basis for action.
2. To identify opportunities for the region to strengthen business development, employment and innovation focused on creating a circular economy.
3. To pursue those activities that fit in the strategy of the Metropole region as a circular resources hub.
4. To set up online and offline communication that increases publicity and communication on the Metropole region of Amsterdam as a circular resources hub.
5. To strengthen the involvement and consciousness of citizens about the circular activities of their region.
 
 
 
The Amsterdam Metropolitan Area is in an outstanding position to become a leading circular resources hub in Europe. It is a comparatively densely populated region in which large amounts of products and materials circulate, and many innovative and sustainable entrepreneurs are active. The region has an excellent logistic network across all transport modes (including a main harbour and global airport -Schiphol- and prime railways and roads), and a coordinated spatial planning. It composes of a broad spectrum of economic activities and knowledge infrastructure, while societal support is present for initiatives in the area of the circular economy.

 

 2 cases of circular initiatives

1. Closing the loop of construction- and demolition waste

An example of this initiative is the Circle City initiative in Rotterdam, where a social housing corporation, a sustainable demolition firm, a recycling company and a municipal cleansing company joined forces - and were able to implement a sustainable demolition strategy with a positive business case. The added value was clear: it led to efficiency improvement in the demolition and construction process and to cost savings, new jobs and environmental merits.

The region of Amsterdam aims to copy this Circle City example. Precondition is cooperation in a consortium of companies and implementation of new financial and organizational arrangements. Moreover, a virtual marketplace for the supply and demand of recycled materials needs to be created to enhance the use of these materials at large scale. In addition, physical locations should be assigned to store recycled materials temporarily. These should aim to enhance high environmental, social and economic performance. Moreover, they can promote the use of recycled materials in new buildings and the design of sustainable buildings.

2. Closing the loop of plastics

Plastic recycling is a relatively new phenomenon in the Netherlands. Besides the recycling of PET bottles collected via a deposit system and company specific plastics, no attempts were made to recycle plastics of household and industry at a large scale. Since 2007, the national government introduced a recycling system for plastic. In order to finance the start of this system a packaging tax was introduced and a Plastic Hero collection system set up. This triggered municipalities to install the Plastic Hero system and consumers to take part in the collection of plastic waste. The goal is to recycle 52% of the plastics in 2022. However, the system is so successful that this target will be reached in 2017.

As Germany was ahead of the Netherlands in recycling plastics, we first brought the collected plastic waste to this neighbouring country to be recycled. When the success of the system became evident, the first recycling factory was established in Rotterdam in 2010. At present, several regions, among which the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, are in the decision-making stage of whether or not to follow the example of Rotterdam. To avoid divestments in too many plastic recycling facilities, the region aims to coordinate the locations of these facilities. Moreover, the region promotes innovations and R&D in plastic recycling aimed at enhancing the resource efficiency of all kinds of plastics even further. This activity will be part of the regional approach as well.

 

Links: 

How Amsterdam goes circular

Developing a road map for the first circular city